The Specular Economy: Looking at your social media persona through a mirror

Scholarly blog post for Uni

Week 8

Specular Economy

Have you ever you had a dig at someone on your Facebook page, or abused someone in an online forum, or jokingly attacked a celebrity through your Twitter account? If the answer is yes, have you ever taken a step back to realise what your online persona may look like to other users? This is the premise behind Marshall's theory of a Specular Economy (2010), which refers to our ability to see ourselves in the ‘mirror’ and the knowledge that others are looking at us.

The popularity of online bullying, or, social media 'trolls' has brought to the surface an ugly side of the faceless nature of social media. The ease in which one can send a tweet directly to a celebrity is the epitome of a social media double-edged sword. Whereas one can send a message of joy to a favourite celebrity, one can also send a message of hatred and ridicule with the same amount of ease.

In the age of quick-trigger reactions it's inevitable that there will be unpleasant comments or unwarranted attacks that make us question what we are doing. Like in all walks of life, there are people who seem to thrive on trying to make life more difficult for the rest of us, and the internet is no exception.

Celebrity blogger Mario Lavandeira aka Perez Hilton is a fantastic example of Halls theory of a Specular Economy, and our ability to see ourselves in the mirror. Perez Hilton started a celebrity blog in 2004, and quickly rose to prominence, today he is worth an estimated US$ 30 Million. In 2010, Hilton supported an anti-bullying campaign, to which the celebrities he posted about, called hypercritical due to the nastiness of comments made about them by Hilton on his blog. Hilton then made an appearance on talk show Ellen, claiming to have had a revelation and would change the attitude of his celebrity blog.

As David Marshall explains, greater portions of the populace are now constructing online public personas (2010, p. 498) like that of Hiltons, and unfortunately due to the faceless nature of social media, "trolling" seems to have no end in sight.

Marshall, P.D 2010, The Specular Economy, Society. Vol. 47