The Media Isn’t What You Think it is
The derelict abandoned world of art, news and communication
Most professional screenwriters grew up wanting to write Films and TV shows. But when is the last time you went to the cinema aside from to see Maverick or Barbie? It feels like movies barely exist any more. Sure, some get made, but who is paying attention?
As for TV, nobody is watching. Primetime on TV in the UK - that golden 9pm slot - gets less than a million views now. We got comfortable saying “it’s all about streaming these days”, but when was the last time a Netflix show knocked your socks off?
You joined Facebook to see your friends updates. But now, according to Meta’s own data, only 17% of what you see on their site is content from people you’re connected with.
X, which you wish was still Twitter, is now a right wing propaganda machine, and it’s practically pay to play. You might have 2000 followers but unless you pay for a blue tick, maybe only twelve people are seeing your tweets.
Instagram used to be a platform for sharing photographs. But now they’re pumping out video reels from strangers and if you’re hoping to see pictures of your friends and family you can forget it, because that’s not what you’re being shown.
I started You’ve Got Media, thinking I would write freely about films and TV and even social media but, it’s only after I started that I realised -- nothing in the media is anything like we think it is. I wasn't sure what it actually is I'm meant to be writing about. The entire culture is changing before our eyes.
How do you even get the news these days? Do you trust the legacy media, or do you trust the conspiracists?
Maybe you chose to trust ‘The Free Press’, the news source started by Bari Weiss after she left the New York Times. But now this supposedly free thinking independent news source has been bought out by Paramount for $150million.
What upcoming movies are you excited about?
What TV show from this year have set your soul on fire?
When did you last have a fun heartwarming experience on Twitter?
Nothing is the way we think it is.
As for TikTok, it’s not even human beings posting content anymore! Most of what I see is footage made in Sora 2, we’ve got Queen Elizabeth II body slamming Stephen Hawkin, and we’ve got Freddie Mercury singing about AI and we’ve got Martin Luther King being arrested for speeding.
And we’re ACTUALLY WATCHING THIS STUFF and sharing it with friends.
A lot of us still want to read books but don’t have the discipline to turn two pages without picking up our phones.
But when we look at our phones we think it’s 2017 and we’re about to have a meaningful debate on Twitter.
Those days are gone.
‘Social’ media is gone.
The photographs have vanished from Instagram.
Your friends are not on Facebook.
And none of us can name any of the last five movies that Tom Hanks starred in.
I’m here. I’m still human. And I’m determined to continue ‘You’ve Got Media’. But first, I need to figure out what the media even is now and what it means in the modern era.
Stay tuned. I'll be back after I've prompted Sora 2 to make a video of Margaret Thatcher dancing to Taylor Swift in the middle of Toys R’ Us.
I feel everything you've said. I'm not really across socials as much as I should be but there is a lot of enshittification going on about the larger platforms. I guess when they get too big the question is whether the centre can hold...
I feel the same. It’s ironic we have more information available to us than at any other time in history and yet it’s turned into 24/7 garbage overload. It’s actually unhealthy. I think this platform is one of the few places left where thinking minds can gather. As for media, it’s better to rely on primary sources and unbiased (i.e., not bought) critically thinking minds. I’m one of those, as are others I have found on here.