I WISH MY PHONE WOULD STOP TALKING TO ME
2024
Found Tiktoks
In In Two Directions: Geography as Art, Art as Geography, Nato Thompson notes “...the death of a subject in the face of a growing industry of visual culture” (page 2). Social media is our new cultural hub, with TikTok holding the reins by inspiring a new era of social media focused on short form video content. Because this content provides a quick, powerful dopamine hit, social media users will scroll on their feed for longer. This has led to short form video content being favored and pushed to our feeds through the app’s algorithm at a much higher rate than the previously favored text- or image-based posts.
I surveyed others to explore how we are collectively interacting with videos on social media, as a way to understand our own lack of awareness and how that may influence our culture. By documenting the last video that surveyed participants remembered liking, and comparing it to the video that was actually last liked, a kind of mindlessness is highlighted. Pushing this content against itself leads to a layered, chaotic experience for the viewers, which amplifies the unassuming yet overwhelming nature of social media. “We become what we experience,” writes Thompson (page 3). Who are we becoming if we lack the ability to even remember the influences social media has charmed us with that day?