(image from tumblr)
"So put your rose-colored glasses on and party on." — Katy Perry, Chained to the Rhythm.
Welcome to the world of Oblivia, where everyone lives in a bubble surrounded by a white picket fence. Where citizens mindlessly dance to the same tune they're fed under the impression that it's freedom. Where it's easier to sweep everything under the mat rather than trying to dig a little deeper.
At a first listen, Katy Perry's Chained to the Rhythm sounds like a typical, fun pop song about partying and having a good time. Taking a closer look at the lyrics, this fun world of Oblivia hides something sinister. In Oblivia, no one is truly "free". Everyone listens to their favorite song without another thought, they are chained to the status quo, all too happy to live in oblivion.
Sure, it's just a song, but perhaps Katy Perry is on to something.
"Turn it up, it's your favorite song
Dance, dance, dance to the distortion
Come on, turn it up, keep it on repeat
Stumbling around like a wasted zombie
Yeah, we think we're free
Drink this one is on me
We're all chained to the rhythm"
What if this "favorite song" is actually the influx of fake news perpetrating society. One of the reasons of fake new's popularity is that it's polarizing. It caters towards a certain kind of audience and their own confirmation bias leads them to believe in this incredulous articles. So if this trend continues, is Katy Perry implying that like the citizens of Oblivia, the citizens of the U.S, or even the world will start to stumble around like wasted zombies too?
The future of fake news is a blurry one. Hopefully Big Brother won't have come out and start watching over everyone. Realistically speaking, what could be the possible consequences of fake news? While there is still much debate whether if fake news truly had an impact on the U.S election, there is no denying that it's persuasive and that it's spreads quickly.
According to this study entitled Social Media and Fake News in the 2016 Election by Hunt Allcot and Matthew Gentzkow of New York and Stanford Universities, social media has a big influence on its popularity. This is the fastest way it's spread and most of the time, people tend to share it with out a second thought. Social media is not going anywhere, in fact, its use is getting more and more frequent as the future generations come along.
The problem lies in what is one of the best parts of social media, the fact it can be personalized to the users' preferences. The user is in control of what appears on their news feed by deciding who to follow or not follow. Typically, people tend to like the things that reinforce their own views and when they are over saturated in that reinforcement, it can lead to political polarization.
Flash forward to the future, perhaps more people will polarized causing a lack of understanding and agreement on both ends of the spectrum. Resolutions won't be made if that is the way the world is headed. Generation Z, coming in right after the millennials, is described as cynical and aware. Growing up in the world of economic recession and global terrorism, this group of individuals are more jaded and skeptical. While that may sound promising, this generation is predicted to be more attached to technology then millennial, often spending time on social media and caring less about watching/reading the news.
Going back to Katy Perry's song, the bridge, performed by Skip Marley is a turning point in both the song and the music video.
"It is my desire
Break down the walls to connect, inspire, ay
Up in your high place, liars
Time is ticking for the empire
The truth they feed is feeble
As so many times before
They greed over the people
They stumbling and fumbling
And we about to riot
They woke up, they woke up the lions"
These "lions" can be described as those willing to stand up for the truth and freedom. The lions are those that verify their sources before sharing their posts. The lions are those that go out and march for the rights they believe in. The lions are those that teach future generations how to differentiate between truth and lies. The lions are those that go out and do something rather than simply taking what they are given. At the end of the day, no matter how much the government or social media platforms do to fix this problem, it's up to future generations to decide what they will do and believe in. Will there be another generation of wasted zombies or will the lions wake up and take the reigns?
(image from tumblr.)
Hello Ace,
ReplyDeleteI like your article and your blog post. You have made very good arguments there. In fact the pictures you posted in the post are very nice and eye catchy. I would however recommend, if you don't mind to make the font size a little bigger so it would be easier for your readers. And also the gaps left in-between the paragraphs are wide, which makes it look like they are different things being talked about. You can bridge the gaps between the paragraphs, increase the font size and it will still appear the same, if you are worried about the length. You have a very lengthy post. Good job.
Hi Ace,
ReplyDeleteYour post is very interesting, and I like how you put the gifs and the lyrics. I agree with what you said that it is up to the future generation to fix the problem.
Hey Ace, I thought your post was pretty cool with what you added about Katy Perry's song and I wouldn't have thought of it until you pointed it out! I agree that fake news and all that yellow journalism is something that people can fall into trance to and just be stuck in lies. This generation and the future generation need to understand that things like click-bait actually exist and it's going to get worse so they need to put an end to it or at least make a difference about it.
ReplyDelete