In my second year, one of my required courses for the Bachelor of Media Studies Program was INFO 250: Networks, Crowds, and Communities, where we studied how communication and messaging disperses through networks. A large part of this class was spent discussing the role of social media in communication in the modern age, and in order to incorporate media analysis into these discussions, we had an assignment where we had to analyze a documentary made about social media through a critical lens.
I analyzed Fake Famous on HBO, a documentary showcasing a social experiment where the director seeks to uncover the current nature and trends behind influencers, and whether they can be manufactured through buying “bots” (fake followers) and simulating the extravagant lifestyle that other “real” influencers seemingly have. In my paper, I explored how the film portrays but doesn’t critically investigate how white women, in particular, rise to fame and dominate the influencer space.
Read the essay here: Fake Famous Critical Film Analysis
For this assignment, I had to compile research conducted on the topics of social media influencers and how racism has impacted and become institutionalized within digital spaces. I definitely developed a lot more of my critical thinking and argumentative writing skills through writing this paper — it was the first time that I was writing a paper that discussed a lot of the ideas I wanted to touch on in my analysis of the film but didn’t center on the film itself. It was the most original thought I had asserted in my academic career thus far, and the critical thinking skills I gained from it definitely benefitted me in my practical experiences since.