As I was watching the Frontline news documentary Generation Like, I couldn’t help but feel a pit in my stomach. The initial footage of a thirteen-year-old boy sharing with the world his skate tricks was innocuous enough, but then the documentary rears its ugly head and takes a turn, showcasing a brash Steven Fernández aka Baby Scumbag doing riskier stunts and pranks in order to garner approval in the form of “likes” or “retweets”. The rationale provided was that by broadening his repertoire, he would earn more notoriety.
#producecontentresponsibly #likecontentresponsibly
This model is reminiscent of something that I had seen before back in my youth. CKY or Camp Kill Yourself, was a collection of videos (1999-2002) put out by a skateboard distribution company that not only contained compilations of skate tricks, but pranks and stunts that were pulled off in public (might I add that these were mostly based out of West Chester, PA. It’s proximity to where I grew up added a whole other level of cool to them). Even though I didn’t skateboard, this series appealed to high-school me because of the daring stunts that they would pull, and how quirky and random the humor was. Before long, this was scooped up by a producer, and along with a wider cast, the series Jackass on MTV was born. The franchise became so successful that three movies were produced, as well as various spinoff series featured on MTV. Soon enough, they were cast in Hollywood movies, national commercials, and product endorsements. Some of them even capitalized on their fame by coming out with their own product lines. How could this possibly create a pit in one’s stomach?
It turns out that in the desire to produce and create content, these guys were getting involved in life-risking stunts. To help them gain energy, and courage, as well as numb the pain, they would turn to substances like alcohol and hard drugs. Obviously, it is not a sustainable lifestyle: one member of the cast passed away, while another is on the brink of self-destruction. On a more positive note, some of the other members received treatment and are sober. More here.
When CKY was first filmed, these guys were in the later teens/early twenties. Baby Scumbag is just thirteen years old. If he is being egged on to do even more challenging stunts just to increase his reach at this age, what wouldn’t he be capable of doing now or in the future?
So what does this have to do with Citizen Sociolinguistics?
In Chapter 4, Rymes provided some examples on how feedback loops seen in the comments section of YouTube videos can increase and invite dialog and thus fomenting the loop to continue revolving. This encouragement could lead to further production of content either by the original author of the video and/or by someone in the comments section.
Sean Monahan, for example, is one such YouTube author who has created a substantial amount of content on his channel that focuses on the Mid-Atlantic accent. Although he may have a variety of reasons for doing so, the encouragement he receives in the form of likes might be a motivating factor and I wouldn’t blame him. Apparently, every time we receive a like on our social media content, our brain releases that feel good hormone dopamine which could, in-turn, motivate us to continue updating our posts. Imagine that on-top of this, there is an incentive for fame and even potentially money?
Much like Steven Fernández and the CKY/Jackass crew, what wouldn’t YouTubers of linguistic wonderment or arrest be capable of doing? How would they push the envelope to break apart from the rest? As an example, is there potential for a YouTube author to appropriate another way of speaking simply to gain attention? What agenda is that person operating under and for what ulterior goals? What are our likes and retweet actually encouraging and what might they encourage down the line?
A final example worth examining is the rapid rise and the unprecedented fall of nine-year-old social media “sensation” Lil’ Tay. By appropriating black ways of speaking and culture, incentivizing feedback loops through the “Lil’ Tay Challenge,” and pushing the envelope by glorifying wealth and reckless behavior, it was revealed that her Instagram account was heavily orchestrated by her mother and step-brother. Upon this revelation, people saw through the facade and were angered by the fact that a nine-year-old was exploited by the people who were close to her for social media clout.
Thank you for this enlightening and well-articulated post.
ReplyDeleteWhat seems apparent from the wonderful examples you share is how social media has accelerated and amplified many of the social phenomena you describe (the hunger for attention and fame, the need to feel valued and ratified, etc.). Internet and social media have changed our relationship to time and space. It has sped up time and we can find ourselves sucked into an accelerated spiral, with possible long-lasting risks (such as those you mention). It seems that for young adolescents the process of likes increased the natural (and potentially dangerous) tendency of seeking instant gratification. On the other hand, it has also decreased or even banned space and brought us closer to people all the way across the globe. Thanks to Youtube for instance, I was able to reach out to a famous citizen sociolinguist/sociologist, a New-Zealander living in Paris and commenting on her daily life/French language (Not even French: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3rqI7xVHL-TbaZNh1_A_Qg) and have my students record a video of questions for her, to which she publicly replied through her channel, which was an exhilarating learning experience.
So I feel somewhat torn between the wonderful things social media made possible and its ever-increasing dangers.
And I wonder a little more every day - How to be a responsible researcher, educator, and parent in our day and age?
Yes, thank you for this very interesting post!
DeleteI realize that my first reaction to your thoughts has already been very well-articulated by Sophie in her reply. That is -- the "attention-grabbing" & gratification behaviors exemplified by Baby Scumbag's youtube behaviors and the reaction to them, and CKY and MTV a decade before, seem to me like modern, intensified, sped-up manifestations of ancient human desires: to be seen, to be valued, to be liked. I couldn't say it better than Sophie does: it seems that Internet and social media really have changed our relationships to time and space.
As Sophie also alludes to, I think that this continuously evolving dynamic necessitates a rethinking of many of the debates that humans have been grappling with for millenia: how do we adapt to a changing world, and continue finding our place among societies and media in a way that embraces new technological advancements without sacrificing safety, health, and our core values?
However, a key way that I think this current debate, in the context of "generation like" and social media, is different from similar debates that have occurred in the past is the seemingly unending lifespan of stuff that anyone -- and especially (young) kids -- posts online/to social media. It makes me worried, in a way reminiscent of your feeling a pit in your stomach, to think about the ways that choice content might influence not just others, but their creators, years down the road -- when these creators are no longer in flesh or spirit the people they were when they posted/engaged in primarily attention-grabbing stunts, but still have these acts intractably tied to their name and (online) persona. I don't know the way forward, and am not convinced there is only one way to "hack" these feedback loops -- yet I do appreciate what you say about responsible production and consumption of content.
To end on a less sober note -- I think I might be exactly the age of the group of high school students who were featured in the documentary. I know that my relationship, and my peers' relationships with digital technology/navigating approval in a world of instant gratification has evolved since 2013/14 -- which gives me hope that younger generations' relationships will also evolve for the positive over time :)
I really appreciate this eloquent and illuminating post. It reminded me of a piece of YouTube news that horrified me a while back, the news of Logan Paul and the videos he posted of Japan, especially the one of the "suicide forest."
ReplyDeleteThe backlash was so strong that Logan Paul was forced to make an apology video and it seemed that YouTube cut some ties with him, but he is still going strong on YouTube with almost 20 million subscribers. It seems that a feedback loop that generates good money can do anything it wants.
But what comes to mind in thinking about these cases is not how powerful the feedback loops are, but its "opposite," so-called "cancel culture." Can feedback loops really be "stopped" or at least diminished through by "cancellation"? What does that even mean? Don't movements that aim to "cancel" certain figures end up making them more notorious? In citizen sociolinguistics terms, is "silencing" a form of citizen's arrest, or does it generate more drama and (in a world where attention is the primary currency) more likes, "participation," and revenue?
--Andrew