Blog Post #3 - Lucca Maggiolo
After watching the film Eighth Grade, it is clear that the concept of technological determinism is very prevalent in Kaylas life. With that being said, technological determinism is around the presumption that technology is a kay factor when it comes to impacting our culture and societal way of life. Since technology obtains the power of affordance, we have grown up around technology and media enabling and/or constraining our everyday actions. This notion is therefore part of the reason that digital media results in a high amount of individuals experiencing anxiety.
The starting scene caught my eye by Kayla waking up by her phone alarm where she then proceeds to watch a Youtube makeup tutorial while she does her own. This scene pairs well with the idea around social media influencing society in order to look a certain way and obtain a certain beauty standard that overall may spike an anxiety emotion for individuals. Nancy Baym makes a great point about technology by saying "the more you use them, the more they use you, and the more you are influenced by them" (Baym, 2015, p. 29).
In this scene it shows that even at the age of eighth grade, Kayla feels the pressure to wear makeup in order to fit in and potentially be seen. Once she is finished getting ready, she uses Snapchat where she scrolls across various filters. Kayla then takes a photo with one of the filters where she captions it along the lines of "just woke up like this". Once again, through the use of technology and the media anxiety that it holds, Kayla certainly did not display her true self. Although, displayed a version of herself that is influenced by technology and overall impacts society.
Work Cited
Baym, N. (2015). Personal Connections in the digital age. Polity Press.
I relate to Kayla because I am notorious for comparing myself to other girls that I see on social media. I recognize that this is a sad way to live life because I am never able to appreciate myself for who I am since I am always focused on how I could look better to both myself and to others. Social media has consumed me and I seem to have conditioned myself to think I need to wear certain things or look a certain way to be considered pretty. This is not true but social media creates these unrealistic expectations and standards so users fall into these traps and will do what they feel they need to do in order to be accepted in society. Like you said, Kayla feels she needs to hide her imperfections with makeup and convince others that is her true self to get respect and recognition from others. Times where she is unable to wear makeup or use Snapchat filters will most likely make her feel anxious. Technology really does impact how we view ourselves and this can lead to the creation of unhealthy habits. Great post!
ReplyDeleteGoing off of what Ashley mentioned about filters, I am also guilty of that as well. I find that when I am not using a filter sometimes I look off or not as pretty as the other girls that I see online. When I find myself feeling this way I have to remind myself that I am beautiful inside and out and that a filter doesn't make me look better but it instead hides my true beauty. Essentially a lot of other people also feel this way because society/social media has made us believe that we must look and or dress a certain way to become accepted. Similar to how Kayla felt throughout the movie, she felt as if she needed to look a certain way/ act online in order to fit in with her peers. It truly is unfortunate that people have to change who they are or the way they look due to an anxious feeling of acceptance.
ReplyDelete