Selfies, memes, art, and jokes: how access to an audience on the internet makes us all “entertainers” in one way or another
A while ago I had a really, how to say it, outlandish interaction with a close friend of mine.
Firstly, some context: I love Spotify. I listen to an average amount of music, but even more often I catch myself looking at the “friends’ activity” tab on the desktop player to snoop on my friends and see what they are listening to. It’s actually very useful to check in on them without inquiring directly: I’m pretty good at context cues, and if I see that someone is listening to the “Alone Again” playlist at 2am in the morning, I’ll know to avoid asking about their significant other in the following days.
You can then imagine my surprise and slight concern when I saw a friend of mine (whose consent I have to both report on this incident and show our conversation) listening to the song “Obama Prism” by Iceboy Ben on loop at 3.45 in the morning. Truth be told, I genuinely feared for his mental wellbeing. Not to sound snobbish, but that song isn’t really what you would expect someone to listen to on loop at 3.45 in the morning. I texted him and asked about it, only to be ghosted until the morning after. His explanation?
Me n the Braxlerpark boys set ourselves the challenge of getting Obama Prism as our #1 in the next spotify wrapped
So sometimes I play it on loop at night or when I’m not using spotify
Without listening
My friend, 2022
I was baffled at first, but then I just outright thought: that’s funny. It would indeed be an unexpected result to showcase to all his social media following. If you’re not aware, Spotify Wrapped is a yearly campaign in which the music streaming service gives users their stats of usage throughout the year. This data is often shared by these same users on their social media, in a way to tell their followers and friends what they’ve been listening to, for how long and such. Now, some people will tell you they don’t care, others (me included) will develop their and their friends’ whole personalities on these “reports”. It doesn’t matter.
What matters in this instance is the fact that my friend knew three small things.
- That there will (almost certainly) be another Spotify Wrapped.
- That he will engage with the campaign and post it on his social media.
- That surely someone will see it.
ACT I: The stars align
“What is genius? It is imagination, intuition, promptness, and speed of execution.”
The 1975 Italian comedy drama My Friends thus describes the genius associated with a good joke, clearly stating how, to make a good joke or prank, it is necessary to have a strong foundation. That is, the right opportunity needs to occur at the right time in the right situation, and only then can one decide whether to take it or leave it untouched.
Spotify Wrapped will happen. Obama Prism is a semi well-known meme song that went viral for a while. The opportunity to combine the two in an outlandish mix is clearly there, and oh boy is the timing right. My friend started this project around February, leaving more than enough time to let the song climb their personal charts until the end of the year. Opportunity? Check. Timing? Check. Can you really blame a man for trying to create something?
ACT II: All the world’s a stage
I like to think that Shakespeare’s quote “all the world’s a stage” (As You Like It, 1623) had less to do with the circle of life and more to do with how, if given an audience and a stage, man will try to perform. I would be lying if I said I never posted anything in my life with the intention of making someone chuckle – or more realistically, exhale loudly through their nose.
This now decade on the internet has shown me that, if anything, people will try to perform when their art will be seen. Arguably, even the mere act of posting a picture on Instagram is performative: we’re literally showing it to our friends and followers, perhaps seeking external validation through their likes and comments. What is more performative than that?
ACT III: Hear ye, hear ye
If seeking an audience, someone to lend you an ear or even just see you, what better place to go to in 2022 than the internet? I’m not even talking about going viral on TikTok or becoming famous overnight thanks to an even slightly funny six-second video (I miss you, Vine). Even just my followers on Instagram are subjected to my stories and posts that I publish on my personal account. Knowing that someone will surely see whatever I put online can give many people that tiny boost of confidence to try and put something out there, be it a drawing that they made or simply a picture they took.
CURTAIN’S CALL: fake-deep final words and thank you’s
At any point in time, everywhere, humans have felt the need to be heard and seen – duh, you’ll say, otherwise we’d be deaf and blind. Well, yes. But we also wouldn’t have any type of artistic expression, and with the digitalization of almost every aspect of our daily lives, it is only natural that we’d also seek audiences, too, in the cyberspace. Rather than making practical jokes and pulling pranks in real life, where people might react negatively, it could also be considered “safer”, in some ways, to keep things virtual, by leaving a literal protecting screen in front of us.
Although this screen will not protect my friend if I find out he stopped listening to that song and I wrote this whole thing based on nothing 🙂 .
where I found things:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Friends_(film)
my private chat with my friend
Shakespeare, William. As You Like It.
Ben, Iceboy. Obama Prism. 2020. https://open.spotify.com/track/4r4jPBwuzjLYAbEFfWMmMp?si=89cf4fe4be844327
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