As a teenage girl on social media, I could really understand and relate to what Ted was explaining in this lecture. I found it particularly funny when the value of traces/data/information was being discussed and we were shown an image of “the social media queue”, where the re-enactment of sameness is produced on social media.
As soon as I saw this I knew immediately that I relate to this and im sure you reading this can too. This is an image that was taken in Bali, where there was an extremely long line of tourists wanting to take the same photo.
This proves Guy Debord’s explanation of consumer culture in ‘The Society of the Spectacle’ 2002, of notion of sameness within the media as it is due to “the domination within the productions of the economy bringing a general shift from having to appear – all “having” must derive its immediate prestige and its ultimate purpose from appearances”.
This form of data is captured all around the world, for example in 2017 within only 60 seconds Facebook recorded 243,000 photos uploaded, Instagram recorded 65,000 photos uploaded and Snapchat found that there were 210,000 snaps posted! This proves how much our world is becoming digitized.
References
Debord, G, 2002, ‘The Society of the Spectacle’
Loesche, D, 2018, ‘Done in 60 Seconds’, Statista,
https://www.statista.com/chart/13157/what-happens-in-the-digitalized-world-in-one-minute-in-2017/
Caitlyn's Blog 
Hi Caitlyn,
I enjoyed the overall blog on this week’s topic, as it was very clear and concise which is particularly important to further engage the reader and to of course to enjoy the content being produced. I really liked how you drew on the concept of “the social media queue” and then provided the example of your trip to Bali which very much made me quite jealous. Moreover stating how tourists would line by in a massive queue just to get the one photo to ensure they “have” it like everyone else on social media. I also really enjoyed the end of your blog and how you drew back on the lecture concept of the “What happens in 60 seconds in a year”, I also drew back on this concept in my own blog as I thought it’s pretty amazing how over a year in the span of 60 seconds us as individuals only mean and contribute a tiny piece in this data system.
Jade 🙂
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Hi Caitlyn! I really liked how you focused on one aspect of this weeks topic that you could further explain and relate your own experience to, it definitely made it more relatable and real to have an example of your own of the social media queue! This really enhances the idea of the society of the spectacle, as you have accurately mentioned, and I think it’s particularly interesting to see both sides to an image, the one people share and the one they keep hidden, it really makes you think more about what you see and post on social media! I think it would have been interesting if you further talked about your motivations to take this picture, and why you waited in queue for the shot. Do you think you were participating in the idea of appearing to have? Overall great blog post!
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Awesome blog post, love how you’ve really closely narrowed in on one particular concept explored this week and by sharing your own experience you’ve really made your understanding clear and overall makes the post easier for others to understand. This part of the lecture is something I really could’ve focused on more in my own post as I’m sure I also have taken part in a ‘social media cue’ before. 🙂
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Great read! I really liked how you focused on one particular part of this weeks lecture (one that most of us can relate too haha). I also really liked how you drew from your own experiences of being part of a ‘social media queue’ this really helped enhance the idea of ‘the society of the spectacle’. This is something I feel I should’ve linked to in my own blog post! Amazing work again!
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hey Caitlyn, I liked reading about this because you used your own experiences in explaining this weeks topic! I have also participated in a “social media queue” in Switzerland, but I think in some situations like ours it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity, so go for it! While you focused on the social media aspect of this weeks topic, i drifted more toward the Social Credit System in China and how it’s an invasion of data privacy (in my opinion).
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I really enjoyed this post and how you focused on the concept of the “social media queue”!! In particular, I was drawn in through your example of participating in this notion in Bali, as I also visited the Tegenungan Waterfall and experienced participating in the “social media queue”. Isn’t is crazy the lengths we go to capture an appearance? Like climbing back up those stairs was not easy haha. I choose to examine the concept of big data and surveillance capitalism and drawn on China’s social control system. That post is here https://renaegrech.wordpress.com/2020/05/28/algorithmic-control-iii/ if you’re interested.
Also, if you wanted to read more about the concepts I covered, this article is really informative https://www-tandfonline-com.ezproxy.uow.edu.au/doi/pdf/10.1080/03085147.2019.1690275?needAccess=true&
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I really enjoyed this post and how you focused on the concept of the “social media queue”!! In particular, I was drawn in through your example of participating in this notion in Bali, as I also visited the Tegenungan Waterfall and experienced participating in the “social media queue”. Isn’t is crazy the lengths we go to capture an appearance? Like climbing back up those stairs was not easy haha. I choose to examine the concept of big data and surveillance capitalism and drawn on China’s social control system. That post is here https://renaegrech.wordpress.com/2020/05/28/algorithmic-control-iii/ if you’re interested.
Also, if you wanted to read more about the concepts I covered, this article is really informative https://www-tandfonline-com.ezproxy.uow.edu.au/doi/pdf/10.1080/03085147.2019.1690275?needAccess=true
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