As someone who is usually uncomfortable in front of the camera, I found the filters on the OBS software ‘liberating’ as I was less self-conscious. In this live broadcast, I was having lunch and was not doing much on my desktop. There has been a social media trend where social media is used to broadcast people eating. People eat large bowls of noodles, huge amounts of burgers and other types of food and broadcast it to their followers. Sometimes they make commentaries of the food they are eating or share about their day. Some of them are unusually enthusiastic about eating and watching them eat naturally makes you happy while others use it as a way to earn extra money. I wanted to see if people would react to my eating and understand the attraction to such a trend.
This form of broadcast feels almost performative, as with the Jon Cates video. I wonder how people develop such trends. I find it awkward to have strangers watch me eat, let alone comment and respond to the food that I have having. Although people were watching my broadcast, we did not start any conversations. I tried not to let their views bother me as I felt as though my “real-life” image had fallen apart with this broadcast. It felt almost like I was under surveillance, not knowing who was watching and who will be watching. I also noted that I am more likely deliberately avoid making a mistake as compared to when I am alone. This also reminded me how Jon Cates approaches his art and how he uses glitches.
I think I would want to take the opportunity to study the trends of social media and use it as a way to better understand internet culture and how it influences the way people create art.
Interesting comments and I can understand your awkwardness in streaming from the desktop. It affects us all that way. Be sure to use the correct class category (research) so that it goes on to the class site timeline.