"Historically speaking, it is ordinary people who have made the most movement when it comes to pushing social causes forward."
This line resonated with me the most. These days, on IG, barely any celebrities speak about the atrocities that are happening daily in Palestine, but most of my friends/acquaintances are speaking about it all the time. just because celebrities have fame and wealth, it doesn't mean they have numbers.
They don’t have the numbers or the range. Many of the people speaking up for Palestine are incredibly well-read and have the language to articulate what’s happening, so it is much more useful than an empty hashtag or a statement crafted by a PR team.
That was so cohesive and sharp, thank you. I find what doja cat said a bit paradox, because it is the ‚direct’ politics of the USA that are responsible for the genocide right now (for example), her choice to live the way she lives directly and immediately effect politics. This is what people don’t understand, you cannot be apolitical, every thing you do is political, especially if you have money and influence through the ways you live. To avoid or abstain politics means you don’t want any responsibility concerning a community driven society. And I have always said this: no influencer or celeb has a community, they only have an audience (writing right now about symbolic politics in celeb culture and how that creates an illusion of a world that isn’t living in the present).
Thank you! And yes, those were my exact thoughts about Doja’s response. It was interesting to see people praising her in the comments for “just wanting to create art and that’s it”, you can just want to create art and also not purposely desensitize yourself and your “direct reality” from what’s happening in the world. Interested to see what you’re writing about symbolic politics in celebrity culture, I have a lot of thoughts about that as well. Especially when it comes to Mrs. Knowles-Carter.
Firstly, this is an incredibly well researched, written, and organized piece. Thank you for speaking up about the issue and providing resources!
And secondly, I totally agree. To stand up for justice cannot just take place on social media, nor is blocking celebrities in an attempt to protest their inaction doing anything. I think change like that should also happen on a personal level, with one informing one's friends and family about the situation and trying to change their minds instead of just fighting online.
Thank you!! I agree. I’ve had so many important conversations with friends and family these past few months that have opened minds and hearts. Those moments have a much deeper and lasting impact than any online virtue signaling.
That’s how to tell sincerity in these matters, those who can do more for a cause than click like or block online… Your steps towards change are inspiring and gladdening to hear!
As always...feeding the truth for others to eat {if they so choose} - I saw Amanda Seales and had an opportunity to bend her ear recently...lots of food out here if you are hungry.
Really interesting and thought provoking—I smiled when I saw you read the Intercept cuz I’ve always been the only person I know who reads or listens to their podcasts ha ha. But anyways, I’d be interested how you think influencer culture plays into this because of how much it seems that people are much more self-interested in attaining celebrity status through being viral etc. For me growing up this was not a thing, so it’s interesting to see how now people growing into political citizens with this new avenue of exposure to become “celebrity adjacent.” I’m not an expert nor have I done any research about parasocial relationships and influence culture magnifying the issues our society has with celebrities over the e value of “regular” people. But after reading this piece I’d be very interested in what your thoughts on that are.
Very good question! I have so many thoughts about influencer culture and the way it’s morphed into late-stage capitalism. It used to be that influencers were “cool” people who were just sharing things they genuinely liked for no financial benefit. Now, it’s turned into an avenue for people to become human advertisements. I think what matters most is what you’re using your platform for. If you take away the title “influencer,” what else is there? Some people are influencers but also educators, artists, designers, etc., and can be incredibly effective at mobilizing people— I think of someone like Bisan Owda, who just won a Peabody for her work in Gaza. If you are an influencer whose sole intention is to make money and sell a lifestyle, I’m not sure how sustainable that will be long term. People get bored quickly, and I also think a lot of people are tired of constantly being sold to. It’s going to be interesting to see what happens with the TikTok ban. I’ve seen a lot of videos of content creators saying they are making less money this year. Many of them have gone back to working 9-5 jobs after being able to live off of content creation. I think people with something to offer outside of product or social media antics will be more empowered to pivot and translate their influence into the real world.
Yeah I would definitely agree with you about how it’s morphed—it makes me think so much about Naomi Klein’s book No Logo and how she said she never imagined a human being as a brand (in so many interviews about her new book she brings this up a lot cuz of what you said about how it’s become ppl being sold a human being essentially). I can sometimes feel the ways that ppl seem to be getting irritated how everything is a commodity these days, like nothing is sacred so to speak. I wonder how much the ban will become a sort of positive spin in this area specifically, not even getting into the faux pearl clutching about gov surveillance while allowing American companies to go whole-hog in that nonsense ha ha. But I wonder if it will go back to a version of what it was before like you mentioned.
Yea, the TikTok ban is so hypocritical, lol. I’m not sure that anything will go back to what it once was, but there is room for the influencer economy to be more equitable and intentional than what it currently is, for sure.
Her new book is really fascinating, I believe it came out September of 2023. But her articles for the Guardian lately have been very powerful (her books Shock Doctrine (2007) and This changes Everything (~2015) are heavy).
"Historically speaking, it is ordinary people who have made the most movement when it comes to pushing social causes forward."
This line resonated with me the most. These days, on IG, barely any celebrities speak about the atrocities that are happening daily in Palestine, but most of my friends/acquaintances are speaking about it all the time. just because celebrities have fame and wealth, it doesn't mean they have numbers.
They don’t have the numbers or the range. Many of the people speaking up for Palestine are incredibly well-read and have the language to articulate what’s happening, so it is much more useful than an empty hashtag or a statement crafted by a PR team.
That was so cohesive and sharp, thank you. I find what doja cat said a bit paradox, because it is the ‚direct’ politics of the USA that are responsible for the genocide right now (for example), her choice to live the way she lives directly and immediately effect politics. This is what people don’t understand, you cannot be apolitical, every thing you do is political, especially if you have money and influence through the ways you live. To avoid or abstain politics means you don’t want any responsibility concerning a community driven society. And I have always said this: no influencer or celeb has a community, they only have an audience (writing right now about symbolic politics in celeb culture and how that creates an illusion of a world that isn’t living in the present).
Thank you! And yes, those were my exact thoughts about Doja’s response. It was interesting to see people praising her in the comments for “just wanting to create art and that’s it”, you can just want to create art and also not purposely desensitize yourself and your “direct reality” from what’s happening in the world. Interested to see what you’re writing about symbolic politics in celebrity culture, I have a lot of thoughts about that as well. Especially when it comes to Mrs. Knowles-Carter.
Firstly, this is an incredibly well researched, written, and organized piece. Thank you for speaking up about the issue and providing resources!
And secondly, I totally agree. To stand up for justice cannot just take place on social media, nor is blocking celebrities in an attempt to protest their inaction doing anything. I think change like that should also happen on a personal level, with one informing one's friends and family about the situation and trying to change their minds instead of just fighting online.
Thank you!! I agree. I’ve had so many important conversations with friends and family these past few months that have opened minds and hearts. Those moments have a much deeper and lasting impact than any online virtue signaling.
That’s how to tell sincerity in these matters, those who can do more for a cause than click like or block online… Your steps towards change are inspiring and gladdening to hear!
As always...feeding the truth for others to eat {if they so choose} - I saw Amanda Seales and had an opportunity to bend her ear recently...lots of food out here if you are hungry.
Ooh very curious to know how your meeting with Amanda went
Great! Definitely as expected, but with some hot sauce on it!
This was not just informative but instructional. Thank you!
Thank you for reading and engaging 🖤🖤🖤
A very thought provoking piece. Thank you!
Thank YOU!
Really interesting and thought provoking—I smiled when I saw you read the Intercept cuz I’ve always been the only person I know who reads or listens to their podcasts ha ha. But anyways, I’d be interested how you think influencer culture plays into this because of how much it seems that people are much more self-interested in attaining celebrity status through being viral etc. For me growing up this was not a thing, so it’s interesting to see how now people growing into political citizens with this new avenue of exposure to become “celebrity adjacent.” I’m not an expert nor have I done any research about parasocial relationships and influence culture magnifying the issues our society has with celebrities over the e value of “regular” people. But after reading this piece I’d be very interested in what your thoughts on that are.
Very good question! I have so many thoughts about influencer culture and the way it’s morphed into late-stage capitalism. It used to be that influencers were “cool” people who were just sharing things they genuinely liked for no financial benefit. Now, it’s turned into an avenue for people to become human advertisements. I think what matters most is what you’re using your platform for. If you take away the title “influencer,” what else is there? Some people are influencers but also educators, artists, designers, etc., and can be incredibly effective at mobilizing people— I think of someone like Bisan Owda, who just won a Peabody for her work in Gaza. If you are an influencer whose sole intention is to make money and sell a lifestyle, I’m not sure how sustainable that will be long term. People get bored quickly, and I also think a lot of people are tired of constantly being sold to. It’s going to be interesting to see what happens with the TikTok ban. I’ve seen a lot of videos of content creators saying they are making less money this year. Many of them have gone back to working 9-5 jobs after being able to live off of content creation. I think people with something to offer outside of product or social media antics will be more empowered to pivot and translate their influence into the real world.
Yeah I would definitely agree with you about how it’s morphed—it makes me think so much about Naomi Klein’s book No Logo and how she said she never imagined a human being as a brand (in so many interviews about her new book she brings this up a lot cuz of what you said about how it’s become ppl being sold a human being essentially). I can sometimes feel the ways that ppl seem to be getting irritated how everything is a commodity these days, like nothing is sacred so to speak. I wonder how much the ban will become a sort of positive spin in this area specifically, not even getting into the faux pearl clutching about gov surveillance while allowing American companies to go whole-hog in that nonsense ha ha. But I wonder if it will go back to a version of what it was before like you mentioned.
I have to check out Naomi Klein’s work. She was mentioned in this piece that drives home a lot of these points. https://www.vox.com/culture/2024/2/1/24056883/tiktok-self-promotion-artist-career-how-to-build-following
Yea, the TikTok ban is so hypocritical, lol. I’m not sure that anything will go back to what it once was, but there is room for the influencer economy to be more equitable and intentional than what it currently is, for sure.
Her new book is really fascinating, I believe it came out September of 2023. But her articles for the Guardian lately have been very powerful (her books Shock Doctrine (2007) and This changes Everything (~2015) are heavy).