The Specular Economy

(Creativebits 2011)

Have you ever trawled for your name on the Internet? Do you sometimes hesitate before posting a photo or a comment on social media? Have you ever ‘untagged’ yourself from an unflattering photo someone else has posted? According to Marshall, the forces of globalisation on society have created an environment called the ‘specular economy’, in which ‘we are becoming more conscious of how we present ourselves and how others perceive us’ (2010, p. 498-499). The phenomenon of ‘specular economy’ appears to have been drastically expanded with the development of the Internet and social media, as these mediums have become mirrors in which individuals can evaluate themselves and others, and thus play an integral role in the production of persona (Marshall 2010, p. 499). As suggests, social media combines disembodiment and anonymity, leading to new modes of ‘identity production’ (Tennyson, Kirschner & Wu 2008, p. 1817), in which users are in complete control of how they present themselves to the world.

(Google 2013)

Not only has social media become a platform for us to produce our own identity it is also an important mechanism by which we are able to evaluate the personas of others. This occurs in relation to both celebrities and non-celebrities, as social media blurs the line between these two groups. Thus, where once the specular economy was confined to the pages of gossip magazines, it has now been extended to our day-to-day interactions (Marshall 2011, p. 499). This lack of distinction between celebrities and non-celebrities is perhaps best demonstrated by the fact that both groups are essentially represented in the same manner; the activities of both groups of people are presented side by side. In fact, it has been suggested that on social media individuals tend to be more influenced by non-celebrities than by celebrities (Daboll 2011). Also, the nature of social media means that the information that we are presented with from our ‘friends’ or those we ‘follow’ is generally intended to evoke sympathy or jealousy, the very same emotions that gossip magazines attempt to tap into. In this way the ‘specular economy’ of social media can be considered circular in nature, as individuals construct an identity to influence those they engage with in some way, and in their construction of identity are themselves influenced by the personas of others, whether celebrity or not.

Reference List:

Creativebits 2011, ‘Facebook Send Button’, retrieved 16 September 2013, <http://creativebits.org/webdev/facebook_send_button>.

Daboll, P 2011, ‘Celebrities in Advertising Are Almost Always a Big Waste of Money’, AdAge, 12 January, retrieved 16 September 2013, <http://adage.com/article/cmo-strategy/celebrities-ads-lead-greater-sales/148174/>.

Google 2013, ‘Me on the Web’, retrieved 16 September 2013, <https://www.google.com/settings/me?hl=en>.

Marshall, PD 2010, The Specular Economy, Springer Science+Business Media.

Tennyson, RD, Kirschner, P and Wu, J 2008, Computers in Human Behaviour, Elsevier, retrieved 16 September 2013, <http://astro.temple.edu/~bzhao001/Identity%20Construction%20on%20Facebook.pdf>.