Generation Like

This PBS-aired Frontline documentary examines the ways in which corporations engage young people with brands and products online, noting that teens who use social media to indicate preferences and share passions with their friends (and the online world at large) are often unknowingly participating in focused marketing campaigns. Correspondent Douglas Rushkoff interviews teenagers and advertisers to both learn about what kids are gaining from online interactions with mass media, and determine how their activities are being tracked and analyzed in order to boost sales. Social media can make people feel empowered, as demonstrated by one woman who spends hours at the Hunger Games movie website competing for “sparks”—a virtual reward that gives her bragging rights as a “top” fan. Tyler Oakley, 25, started posting YouTube videos about things he liked and wound up garnering millions of followers, eventually landing corporate advertising deals. Steven Fernandez, 15, caught viewers' attention with skateboarding videos before moving into raunchy clips and stunts; he hopes to parley his persona into a living, but thus far has earned only free skateboards and clothes. Actor Ian Somerhalder appears here in consultation with Oliver Luckett of theAudience, the company that manages Somerhalder's web presence with pinpoint precision—coordinating his social media posts and tracking how many of his 24 million fans “like” other specific personalities or brands. Using these and other examples, Rushkoff illustrates how buzz is managed, attention is manipulated, and kids wind up becoming unwitting promoters. An eye-opening look at a growing phenomenon, this is highly recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (M. Puffer-Rothenberg)