mirrorball

Chapter 1 Reading

The song "mirrorball" from Taylor Swift's Album "folklore" describes a person that is constantly under the spotlight. No matter which way they turn someone is always looking and they are always reflecting. This person has to perform every second of every day. However, life is not a pretty show all of the time. Life is often messy, hurtful and mundane. Yet keeping the attention of the viewer is so important to the person that they would destroy themselves just to retain the viewer's attention. The person becomes a reflection of the viewer to keep them looking and entertained. 

In the end, Taylor Swift is a business. When utilizing online platforms building a reputation is important to build a following. In Taylor's case, she has changed themes over the years because this is what she does to keep her audience captured. Staying the same core business, but ever so carefully changing the eras to attract new customers. In general, social media platforms can be a place of great community and caring. Hearing stories about a random local restaurant suddenly bustling with customers because a video went viral. How a shared interest can form an entire following and create discussion. On the other hand, social media platforms can also be used to cause a lot of harm. People are free to say what they think unfiltered from the judgement of others. They are safe behind a screen. They have no serious reprehensions. When those like minded people get together they can cause a lot of damage.  

Another topic I found interesting was what will go viral versus what people think will go viral. With the music industry this has found a completely different path with TikTok. Songs will become popular because the artist releases hints, teasers and promotes the song on the app. Often times what becomes popular is not what was predicted to be popular. In Taylor's case, the songs that are upbeat, happy and cheery are the ones that get the promotion. However, the emotional heartbreaking fan favorites are the ones that get shared the most on social media.  

Artificial intelligence is the hot new topic that everyone seems to be talking about and for good reason. The reading about A.I. influencers made me think of the show where they use real women to make a fake teenager account to catch predators. (I searched and searched for the name of the show, but I couldn't find the right one) I think using A.I. would be a great way to protect the real women's identities. This was they use a computer generated person for the fake social media accounts. I am not sure how well that would work, but it was just a really random thought.