The title of this post is not entirely honest. The academic validity of a tirade against one author is questionable; the humor value might be higher, but that is beside the point. No, in reality, I am proposing a project concerning the message of The Circle, David Eggerss 2013 novel about an overreaching technology company slowly encroaching upon all systems of society, cultural and governmental. The book covers social media influence, the new digital age, the rise of groupthink, and an ever-advancing surveillance state.
Eggers’ message can be described as a tad hamfisted but is otherwise well-characterized: the inherent flaws and harm of an increasing presence of social media. This message is conferred through a series of Orwellian motifs and homages. This comes through in the increasing ubiquity of the eponymous tech giant, the nonconflict other characters have to decreasing levels of autonomy, and the eventual acceptance of this regime by the main character.
While the message delivered by Eggers is not entirely inapt, it confers a certain ineptitude to the operation of technology companies in a true post-capitalist hellscape. On top of that, the heavyhanded homages to Orwell’s 1984 don’t directly apply to the Circle, with the various differences between scale (a world-scale government versus a US-based tech company), motivation (total control versus “total surveillance”), and realism. As such, my project is to compare Eggers’ work with Orwells, determine if the parallels benefit Eggers’ intended message, and implement my own tweaks to better suit the previously mentioned three points of comparison. Through this comparison, I hope to show my own frustrations with Eggers’ work.
While a paper could easily accomplish this goal, I find that audiovisual formats have a few unique benefits. As a child of the Internet and YouTube, I find that they are easier for me to work with, given how often I not only consume multimedia content, but also help others make it, critique it, and find out new ways to make my own work better. I also find videos easier to consume, since it isn’t limited by a person’s reading ability or speed, and it ensures that a message is delivered in a more uniform way regardless of the viewer. Finally, videos are able to confer certain ways of thinking better, such as the inner workings of the mind, or demonstrating large-scale organizations. I also just find they are fun to make and work with. I hope this idea is as enticing to you to view it as it is to me to make it.
