Portfolio Assignment #6
What did you learn?
How do these articles/media relate to your own experiences?
How did they change or impact what you thought about the idea of authenticity?
Reading these articles on promotional culture & digital Media really is relevant not only in my life but to the world now in general. The articles might be years old like the Buzzfeed article but its still a article that is should be read today. in the Buzzfeed article I relearned what i already know basically. That social media platforms make people act out of malice sometimes or they can be taken so seroius to the point where its stressful as if its a job. I say this as I recently made an Instagram and posted my first post on it. While doing so I made sure I followed as many people I know or barely know to then making sure they follow back. My goal was to get my post to a 100 likes and let me tell you that I was glued to my phone for a few hours just obsessing over this goal to be achieved. With me stressing over a small feat like this, I can only imagine the anxiety levels for an influencer. As the article points out how people have sponsored posts and even edit their picture to perfection or even how they take pics of their food for so long to the point its cold. I loved how the article opens up about the person taking pictures with 2 different outfits on the bridge because thats only the tip of the iceberg. Authenticity is a rare thing to come across on social media but then when you think about it, authenticity is not what gets the most likes. I’ll be the first to tell you that social media platforms can bring more anxieties in your daily life than work or school sometimes. Promotional culture thrives more in the social media space and this is evident by the infamous Fyre Festival. The film shows the initial rise of Fyre as a promotional piece to its downfall to its actual day of the event. The major take away of the promotion for the event was the celebrity endorsement and the big promises it was making. Mansions, A list artist lineup, celebrities appearances, luxurious food and service was just some of what the people behind FYRE festival were making. This and the media marketing including top models like Kendell Jenner and Bella hadid is what made this festival seem too good to be true. That didn’t matter however as there were people who bought tickets to the event even if they were well over thousands of dollars.This comes back on how everything presented on social media (where this festival was marketing mostly) is not what it makes itself out to be usually. The promises were indeed too good to be true as the festival ended being a disaster but this brins back the subject on authenticity on social media platforms. Learning on how most things presented on these platforms is usually not the whole truth. I run into constant advertisements on these platforms but when looking closer into them, theres something that wasn’t told on the initial ad that would throw most off. The things people do for social media is crazy but the things people do for promotion on social media is unthinkable.
