9/30 "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction"

Though Benjamin’s piece, “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction,” was published in 1969, it is extremely prescient in regard to just how documented the world has become. “Any man today can lay claim to being filmed” was in reference to the film industry, but with social media, this statement is even more true. People are able to document their lives in video more easily than ever, catching not only themselves on camera, but other passerby who did not consent to being captured. While most people in the background are just that, the unpredictability of the internet can cause someone to become an overnight sensation if they were in the right photo at the right time. While the incident has long faded from memory, the debacle of Alex from Target comes to mind. Photographed during his work by a customer who found him attractive, his image soon blew up on social media, with people starting a hunt for him. As with any social media trend, the frenzy died down within a week, but it remains a prime example of social media’s attention imperative and the disappearance of privacy that goes with it. The “spell of personality” and the personality that actors would create and ship out for consumption by the masses is done by everyone who has ever posted on the internet. Though an obvious example would be influencers whose whole job is to form parasocial relationships with their audience in order to sell products, it can happen to anyone with any following of any size. It is easy to feel as if you know someone on the internet through posts without truly knowing the person. One time, perhaps two months ago, I was told by a stranger on the internet that they idolized me, and while they (hopefully) mean no harm, its hard to believe that anyone thinks that highly of me without even knowing what I look like. “At any moment the reader is ready to turn into a writer,” and just as I consume others posts on my feed, others are consuming mine, forming an image of me that is just as divorced from myself as the images of the Old Hollywood actors that Benjamin spoke of.