I have been ruminating about how we think of “content creators”, watching, consuming online content specifically revolving around people living their lives as “entertainment”. The Get Readies With Me, Unbox what I bought (hauls), Days in the Life type content. Do I watch some? Yes. Mostly unintentionally - it is on my FYP and I don’t scroll. Do I understand it? No. It amazes me that there are people who make “content” going “thrifting” in Gikomba.
This is not about whether content creation is art (it’s not) - I have already expressed my thoughts on that and influencers on this post.
It is about the question: “what compels us to watch these things?”
There is something to be said that we have been made to believe that we should make our lives interesting enough to be consumed, that even going to a supermarket and then posting “hauls” is interesting content. And that we are watching it. Granted, I do not consume long form content of the same on YouTube but there are those who do. Why is this the case? Is it a form of escape replacing what movies and reality (scripted) TV has been? Are the mundane things we consume online a coping mechanism? What is the line between being entertained, escapism and behavioral addiction?
As someone who’s been online since the early 2000s, I have never been compelled to share my life to the extent that some people do - Mainly because I feel discomfort.
As time has gone by - there is a push of sorts to show others how well we are living life. And there is an unwritten script about it - travel, food, events, milestones etc. Even when people share hardship, sadness, loss and grief - there is a level of performance to it. What trips me out is that we are told that sharing this way is connecting. I beg to differ.
We talk about using social media with intention (both producing and consuming content) but I think it is easier said than done. Especially because intention requires some level of self awareness. For example, I refuse to be convinced that people who are trying to sell us their lives are doing so without performance. You cannot want to make a living from social media and then try to convince us that you are showing us your “real life.” You are trying to make yourself consummable enough so that some ad agency somewhere reaches out to give you work.
But why am I watching?
Who convinced us that watching someone else living their lives is interesting and entertainment? Social media is truly insidious.