A Dark Descent Into The Insocialility of Social Media

A rapid and very likely punishing descent into the bowels of social media and celebrity and what it means to society at large is at stake in Megan Angelo's "Followers." I rather like the fact that there are two stories in play, one future and one present, and the idea that these will find a way to come together in some way. Though its set in the future, the idea of people watching someone's daily life, while explored in movies before like the "Truman Show," have become more and more a reality, especially with the advent of people on websites like Youtube and Twitch competing for views while broadcasting their lives to whoever pays or is willing to watch. It makes what she writes seem incredibly more realistic because of the way she has it play out, with advertisers making by-the-minute substitutions based on viewer's preferences, and how they try to influence people to buy other products, much in the same way many "Influencers" on Instagram try to do the same. I have not been so excited to read a book, (even if this was only a sampler), in a long time, as this has all the potential of making anyone rethink the incessant need to be "liked" online that tends to define all social media platforms. Megan has a lot of really great ideas floating through this and would be really interested to see how those play out over time!