The times have changed, people are now, becoming indirectly involved in each others lives and social platforms have started to play significant roles. Users are now finding the need to become popular among others and are doing this by posting viral content on their social media accounts. The type of content that current users post have more to do with “how can I get the most likes” and not “let me share my experiences with the world” [i’m trying to explain how people are not using social media for the intended purpose but using it to gain attention]. There are many cultural artifacts that clearly express the idea of “viral popularity” within the current time.

One cultural artifacts that properly displays “viral popularity” is an episode from a Netflix original series called Black Mirror. The episode is called “Nosedive” and is about a society where people can rate each other after every interaction or by scrolling through another’s social media account. The characters in this episode are fueled by their accounts and ratings. In this world, ratings and social media accounts are so critical to the lives of the characters that it holds the ability to impact their socioeconomic status. The main character, Lacie, is depicted as a perfect woman who has her life together. However, behind the scenes of her life, she’s seen searching through her various laughs, and smiles, to put on for the outside world. Lacie seems to be perfect through her social media account and her above average rating, but in reality Lacie is insecure and lonely.

“Nosedive” accurately describes modern internet culture [specifically the way people act on social platforms]. It portrays viral popularity- the need for people to gain praise [and popularity] through social media and other lifestyle choices. The episode is produced in a world with pastel colors, which could imply to the viewer that it is a perfect and happy world. The connotation of this pastel world could be seen in comparison with a person’s social media page. Typically one’s social media page portrays highlights of their life which could make a viewer of the page believe that this person has a perfect life.

In the beginning of the episode the main character Lacie is seen doing her morning exercise routine, yet throughout the entire routine she is looking down scrolling through her social media account on her phone. This could portray people’s need and fixation on social media and the role that it now plays within one’s daily routine. Moving onto the next scene, Lacie is in her bathroom looking at herself, giggling in different ways to decide on which one would be considered the most attractive and acceptable. By doing this it shows that she is trying to seem perfect in order to get people to like her or give her a high rating. This could symbolize people’s need to feel accepted by others and the inability to be one’s true self. As Lacie makes her way outside to a coffee shop, every interaction she has with someone follows with a rating. Lacie buys herself a coffee and one cookie from which she takes a single bite. Lacie takes a perfect bite from the cookie, which she then spits out, and then she takes a photo and posts it on her page. Then, Lacie takes a sip from her coffee and makes a sour face, implying that she doesn’t actually like coffee. This scene could symbolize the act that people put on for their social media pages to make their lives look ‘perfect’ or more interesting. Additionally, from these three scenes one could imply that what people post on social media is not real; People only post things to get likes or in this case try to gain popularity. One could imply that authenticity on social media is much harder to find.

The second cultural artifact that I chose was a song by Drake called “Emotionless”. In this song Drake raps about internet culture. In his song he states:

“I always hear people complain about the place that they live

That all the people here are fake and they got nothin’ to give…

‘Cause they been starin’ at somebody else’s version of shit

That makes another city seem more excitin’ than it is

I know a girl whose one goal was to visit Rome.

Then she finally got to Rome

And all she did was post pictures for people at home.

‘Cause all that mattered was impressin’ everybody she’s known.

I know another girl that’s cryin’ out for help.

But her latest caption is “Leave me alone”…

I know a girl happily married ’til she puts down her phone

I know a girl that saves pictures from places she’s flown.

To post later and make it look like she still on the go.

Look at the way we live”

 

Drake is referencing social media and describing how people on social media don’t show their true selves. He also talks about how people only show highlights of their life and not the real version [“I know a girl happily married ‘til she puts down her phone”]. This song displays the culture of viral popularity. People feel the need to display a fake persona on social media when in reality they are not actually being their true selves. Drake’s lyrics accurately display the idea of people using social media to post content that would make them seem more lively [“I know a girl that saves pictures from places she’s flown… to post later and make it look like she still on the go”]. The lyrics of this song also convey the difficulty of finding something authentic on social platforms [“that all the people here are fake and they got nothing to give”]. The need for people to feel validated by likes and popularity has become toxic for users [“I always hear people complain about the place that they live…’Cause they been starin’ at somebody else’s version of shit…that makes it seem more excitin’ than it is”]. People are going out of their way to seem like they have the perfect life. However, the lifestyle on social media profiles are not always what they seem.

Both cultural artifacts display the need for users to feel accepted and validated by other users on social media accounts. This need has become so strong that people forget the actual purpose of having a social media account. Viral popularity has resulted in people going out of their way to make their lives seem more interesting than it already is. It is becoming much more difficult for users to find and post something authentic on social accounts. People crave fame and attention and try to accomplish this by being fake.