Feed #1

Feed by M.T. Anderson has been a very interesting book so far. I did not know what to expect from it, and it has left me with a lot to think about. The first thing I noticed in the book was the way it was written. The author uses many different words, or shortened words, that is supposed to be the language of the future. I specifically noticed how he uses the word like a lot. I think he does this to try and show that people do not speak as well in this time, that they are more used to chatting on their feed, and not used to personal, spoken conversation. Seeing how much their feed is integrated into their lives, got me thinking about technology in today’s world. We are so preoccupied with our phones in today’s world, that I think we can already see some of the effects shown in Feed. The way people are always checking their social media timelines, or messages, I think is similar to the feed, and that we are ultimately leading up to something very similar. With how addicted people are to smartphones and social media, I think it is inevitable that something like what we see in Feed is created.

So far, I have been very intrigued by Violet in the story, and not so much by Titus. To me, Titus seems like he is exactly what Violet described: someone who has been so consumed by the feed his whole life that he is almost shallow, and doesn’t think much about things. Another thing I noticed in Feed, was during the part at the mall. Everything on their feed has been customized to market and sell to them personally. I feel like there are already similarities to this in today’s world. Sometimes when I scroll on Facebook, I will see ads for something I have googled earlier in the day. I think this is exactly something that could evolve into what we see in Feed.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-future-of-advertising-farewell-mass-marketing-1430105034