SOMEBODY TO LIKE
Documentary
School of Journalism, Utrecht | City University New York | 2020
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Are we the next generation?
The generation in a digital age.
A generation that lives not only in the real world of flesh and blood,
but also in an online world
A group that doesn't have to settle for who they are.
A group full of young people and young adults who can be who they want to be.
Better, more successful, slimmer, more beautiful.
A club with the same ideals, the same idea of beauty, the same inspiration,
drawn fromthe same quotes, meme's and tiktok's.
The generation for whom social media is not just a concept, but a lifestyle.
For once, social media may have been the way to escape the real world
Today, the real world is needed to escape social media
In collaboration with // Anouk Bowman
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"When I was born I got a Facebook account right away. Same for my sister, who also had one right away. Likewise, I got an e-mail account right when
I was born. I've had an e-mail account for as long as I can remember"
It's time for social media to take off its insta filter once and for all
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The right angle, the right filter, the perfect light: there are few photos on Instagram that just reflect reality. Many influencers take hundreds and hundreds of photos before choosing the perfect image for their profiles. There is usually nothing wrong with perfectionism, but the representation of reality is lost in a lot of content because of this. This creates a distorted image: how can someone eat an Instagram-worthy hamburger every day, drink a color- and calorie-rich cocktail and still remain so slim?
The documentary Somebody to Like zooms in on the wonderful world of social media. In a world where social media platform Instagram has a staggering five hundred million daily users, Teams or Zoom cannot be thought away from the digital workplace, and a whopping 86% of American teens expressed a desire to become an influencer later on during a university survey, it's pretty clear that social media has incredibly influenced our lives.
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"My screen time today is seven
hours and three minutes"
What impact does the digital realm have on both our mental well-being and that of the younger generation? It is evident that today's youth is maturing in an era dominated by social media. In light of this, this documentary aims to provide an open and comprehensive examination of this online landscape. As filmmakers, Anouk and I bring our own experiences in the realm of social media to the forefront, underscoring the importance of sharing our insights, which we believe is not merely an option but a necessity.
During the documentary, we speak with different teenagers, professionals from the online industry, influencers, psychologists and many more. How do they view the advent of the social media pandemic?
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My girlfriends pretty much pushed me:
"You have to have social media".
I used to have Snapchat, but I threw that away.