Digital media has had such a profound effect on society, its only logical that it has made it into the popular American satirical cartoons, Family Guy and South Park. These are two of my favorite adult cartoons, and they touch upon the subject in a variety of instances. We can walk through and analyze a few of these clips.
In this clip, Seth MacFarlane is pointing out how stupid and inappropriate some of the actions on Facebook can be. I feel that this particular example ties closely into the concerns Nancy Baym brings up in Personal Connection in the Digital Age about a certain loss of humanity. Louis posted a status about a serious and tragic loss of a loved one, and Joyce simply liked it, a gesture that highly lacks genuine care or support. Unfortunately, I feel that that type of interaction actually does happen on Facebook, and it reflects poorly on our modern society.
In this clip, Stewie is complaining to Brian about Joe’s use of Facebook, which Stewie deems incorrect. This situation brings up a point we discussed in class. What is relevant and worthy of sharing? Stewie is genuinely angry at Joe for posting something that arrived on his newsfeed that seemed unimportant to Stewie. Also, this is an example of how a social cue can be misinterpreted or misunderstood. Joe’s winky face at the end of his status left Stewie confused as to what the cue actually meant. Was Joe not going to the Cheesecake Factory? Was Joe simply confused about what the winky face implies? Who knows.
In this bit, Peter, Joe, Quagmire, and Brian are all standing together when Brian says something funny. After a brief laugh, Brian tweets his comment out, and it is soon retweeted by Peter. This piece is an example of how even when people are right next to each other, bringing the humor in conversation to a wider audience is something they will choose to do.
This is a clip from a full South Park episode about Facebook. The basic summary of the episode and context of this clip is that Stan is being pressured on to Facebook by all of the other kids and adults in town. They are all obsessed with the Friends list on Facebook and insist that Stan is essentially saying that he has no friends or human relationships because he chooses not to join Facebook. In this clip, Stan’s girlfriend, Wendy, is upset with him because she found out he made a page, but did not friend her. Likewise, Stan’s dad yells at him for not friending his Grandma. This is a great example of how social media can become a surrogate for reality and consume a great deal of time and energy. Stan simply wants to live his real life, yet he is forced to adjust his profile virtually to fit the structure of his real life. This is very relevant in that Facebook seems to almost consume Stan. If you have some free time I would recommend you watch the episode here, to expand your intellect.
-Nick