TOW #14: Social Media

Washington Post- Toles  

              This cartoon from the Washington Post is based on the idea of social media and the internet taking over. Since the game monopoly is based on a player making their way through life and buying and selling, this cartoon is a spin-off to show how now people's lives revolve around the internet and technology. It uses references to social issues that are based on technology as the parts of the game. The comparison with the "Go" space and "200 likes" versus the original "200 dollars" shows how people focus on likes more and are reliant on how many likes they get to build up their self confidence and essentially "start the game." The lanes that are usually properties to buy are split up into categories in which people navigate and usually use the most when using technology. This portrays the idea that we are more focused on what is on the internet than the real world. Instead of the "go to jail" spot, there is a "give up data" space, due to the fact that almost every person stresses about the thought of getting the message from their phone company that they have used all their data and there is still time left in the month. There is also an "ad pop up" space to show a relatively small but irritating disturbance in our internet experiences. The dialogue in the corner is supposed to who that since we are sucked into the internet we don't get any "chances" in life because we are so focused on the technological aspect of life. This cartoon accurately depicts society today is so caught up in technology and everything the internet has to offer that they are withdrawn from real life itself. It is also correct is showing that almost everything is being changed to electronic, even things that have not been associated with the internet before, such as paying for a Starbucks and even playing traditional board games, including Monopoly.