Did social media make fame too easy? | Social media culture

Has social media made fame too easy, or has it simply given people opportunities they never would have had before? Saf and Zoheb get into how social media went from something you logged into at home to something that now follows us everywhere. From MySpace, Bebo and BBM to Instagram, TikTok and going live for strangers, they look at what we gained along the way and what we may have lost. They talk about growing up before smartphones took over, why those early internet years feel so different now, and whether life has become too performative. There’s a story about an influencer turning up to a restaurant with ring lights and a full filming setup, people making money by sitting on TikTok Live asking for gifts, and the uncomfortable question of how people with no obvious talent can become incredibly rich and famous. But there’s another side to it. Social media has also helped genuinely talented people get discovered, created careers that didn’t exist before and allowed important stories, causes and information to travel much further than they otherwise could. They also get into children and social media, the UK’s planned under-16 restrictions, online predators, gaming platforms, whether we were better off when you actually had to log off, and whether either of them would choose to keep social media if it disappeared tomorrow. And naturally, the conversation goes completely off course along the way. Expect Michael Jackson, Will Smith, 50 Cent, BlackBerry nostalgia, old Nokia and Sony Ericsson phones, Floyd Mayweather, and the story of getting a famous Bollywood singer suspended from Twitter. So, if social media disappeared tomorrow, would you actually want it back? CHAPTERS 00:00 Intro 01:56 Terrence Howard and Will Smith 09:02 Power, Nemesis and 50 Cent 12:10 Should under-16s be on social media? 19:03 When did we first get social media? 24:40 BBM, BlackBerry and the old internet 27:58 Were phones better before smartphones? 31:17 Has life become too performative? 32:22 The influencer with the ring lights 38:32 Would you get rid of social media? 41:15 TikTok Live and making money from attention 43:49 Did social media make fame too easy? 44:49 The upside: discovering real talent 46:40 Floyd Mayweather detour 51:00 Trolling, Twitter and getting someone banned 55:59 Online hate and echo chambers 56:40 Final thoughts IN THIS EPISODE • Social media, fame and influencer culture • MySpace, Bebo, BBM and growing up online • Life before smartphones • TikTok Live, gifts and attention • Children, age restrictions and online safety • Social media as an echo chamber • Michael Jackson, 50 Cent and Floyd Mayweather • Getting a Bollywood singer suspended from Twitter ABOUT THE SIDE ROOM The Side Room is a podcast hosted by Saf and Zoheb. Two different perspectives on growing up brown, Muslim and British, with conversations around culture, identity, family, faith, relationships, current affairs and whatever else somehow finds its way into the room. Sometimes they agree. Sometimes they really don’t. New episodes every week. ABOUT THE HOSTS Saf is one of the two hosts of The Side Room. He is British Bangladeshi, and much of what he brings to the show is rooted in that experience: growing up Asian in Britain, navigating faith, identity, culture and the everyday conversations that come with it. His style is relaxed, direct and considered. He can hold a conversation calmly, but when a topic properly lands, he goes deeper, gets more animated and brings a lot of passion to the point he is making. Zoheb is the other host of The Side Room. He identifies as a global citizen and British national, with Indian and Bangladeshi heritage. He also thinks he might be a descendant of Genghis Khan because some of his facial features resemble drawings of the guy, so naturally this claim should be treated with the seriousness it deserves. He grew up in East London as a Muslim brown boy, and a lot of his perspective comes from navigating family, friendships, married life, memories, education and his professional life. Zoheb can get loud, hyper and animated, but it comes from passion, curiosity and wanting to properly engage with the conversation. A NOTE ON THE CONVERSATION The views expressed in this episode are personal opinions, recollections and conversational commentary from the hosts. Some parts of the conversation involve speculation or the hosts recalling events from memory. References to people, events and wider issues are not presented as verified factual reporting and should not be treated as such. Subscribe to The Side Room for new episodes and clips every week. #TheSideRoomPod #SocialMedia #InfluencerCulture #TikTok #InternetCulture