Although I do not find gore-filled depictions of zombie apocalypses
particularly scary, the idea of turning into just another member of a
zombie horde is unsettling. Being human involves being an individual
and having some sort of agency over our own decisions. A zombie, on
the other hand, merely obeys its base instinctual drive to consume
and spread. Even a small scratch from an infected host could lead to
your undying allegiance to the undead horde, and the odds of
surviving a zombie apocalypse decrease as the size of plague grows.
The only hope you have left is for time to take its toll on the
rotting carcasses and decay their flesh from the bone.
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| http://i.imgur.com/ms6iWay.jpg |
The tragic reality of living in a zombie infested world is that you
must become like the zombies themselves in order to survive. In The
Walking Dead, the lead
protagonist, Rick, learns this through his struggle to keep his
family and himself alive. Rick learns the dangers of interacting with
both the living and the un-living, rationalizing his problematic
decisions with the axiom, “you kill, you die”. As Rick begins to
fully comprehend the state of his world, his view changes to “you
kill, you live”. Rick is becoming a zombie himself, not through
infection, but by aligning his core motives with that of the undead.
His zombification will be complete when he begins to believe ‘you
live to kill’. At that point, there is no turning back.
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| http://media.caglecartoons.com/media/cartoons/136/2016/07/11/181927_600.jpg |
The parallels between zombie plagues and modern consumer culture are
what I find truly terrifying. Commercial and ads are now constantly
hiding away in our pockets. Aside from phones turning people into
real world equivalents of zombies (ex. Pokemon Go zombie outbreak of
2016), phones provide a way of reinforcing mob behavior. Technology has allowed us to condense everything into a
small package to be easily consumed through social media, and this ease of
consumption is what makes social media addictive. Social media
is built around virulent behavior through its use of likes, shares
and retweets. A good example of virulent mob behavior produced by
social media are ‘challenge videos’. This viral sensation causes
the host to upload a video of themselves preforming a ‘challenge’,
ranging from pouring ice water on their head to eating spoon-fulls of
cinnamon for no apparent reason other than being part of the
collective. The social media zombie functions similarly to the fiction zombie, obeying its base instinctual drive to consume and spread, but, in this case, consume and spread kitten videos, 'dank memes', and BuzzFeed articles.
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| http://www.zerotoalpha.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/social_media_zombies.jpg |
I believe our own society is
reaching a point of no return, where
our social media zombification will be complete.
We are transitioning from ‘you consume, you live’ to ‘you live
to consume’. Living
without participating
in
social media is becoming more difficult. In order to survive in
modern society, one must become a social media zombie. So share those hashtags, click on some ads, enjoy those ‘dank memes’, and join the
rest of horde.
As you stated in your post, people in "The Walking Dead" must act like zombies in order to survive. While this is both saddening and maddening at the same time, does the purpose of survival justify this change in behavior? To an extent, perhaps it might. However, the same cannot be said for our real-world zombie pandemic. Instead of survival, actions are driven by the (perhaps unconscious) desire to conform. Conforming isn't necessary for surviving in the literal sense, but more so for social survival. By keeping up with the trends, we become more socially connected.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that our society is becoming much more consumer driven is very concerning to our future. I do agree with you as you stated it is much more difficult now of days to live without social media. Personally, I do not have any social media but the pressure of society makes it difficult for me because others are constantly involved in social media surrounding me. Living in today's world is turning many people into "social media zombies".
ReplyDeleteI think our society is just as crazy as the rest, don't get me wrong but the phrasing "point of no return" rubs me the wrong way. I think thats a dangerous way to think about OUR society. We live in it and its part of who we are. To say that there is no return means that there is no hope. And I think that is the issue. Rather than trying to fix the problem we are too quick to say its too big. Perhaps I've climbed the "ivory tower" too but I still believe that there is good in this world. Every older generation for ALL of history has said "shit man were screwed, look at these damn kids" but we're still here aren't we? And perhaps a little better off than before. I think we need to educate people more, explain the importance of being an engaged member of society, stop demonizing poverty and start celebrating our difference. Although we did just elect a narcissistic demagogue so who really freaking knows at this point. Either way, lets not give up... not yet anyway.
ReplyDeleteWhat I like the most here is your link between ease of consumption and addiction - and I have to say that I agree. I believe that one of the reasons why systems such as imgur.com are so successful is that they provide users with a method of easily achieving instant gratification through the use of a front page, likes, dislikes, and comments. However, I want to move a bit beyond social media.
ReplyDeleteAs a gamer, I can also apply similar logic to the success of games, or MMOs and Multiplayer Online Battle Arenas (MOBAs). While there are many defining characteristics of a successful video game, I feel that ease of consumption plays a large role in the success of a game.
For example, I look to League of Legends, a popular MOBA that has gone viral in and of itself. By definition MOBAs typically consist of 5-60 minute games, in which the general objective is to win against the enemy team in some capacity. As such, and in League's case, instant gratification is the name of the game, so to speak - which satisfies that condition for addictiveness. However, what really makes League a success beyond gameplay - there are better games out there - is its advertising and publicity campaigns. Not only is League plastered across social media, but its creator, Riot Games, also takes great pains to make the game accessible to new players by staggering the influx of game info, and generally easing them in. As such, the game has grown from a small-time phenomenon into a global one.
Furthermore, it set a standard for future games. Like the standard for social survival set by social media, as you described, MMOs and MOBAs must meet this new standard to truly succeed in the current market - there's no going back to the days of small-time MMOs.