Not long after Bachlorette contestant Garret Yrigoyen received Becca Kufrin's first impression rose, an Instagram scandal emerged. Previous Bachelor contestant Ashley Spivey tweeted out screenshots of "right-wing" posts that Yrigoyen had liked. Among these included a post with an image of little boys with toy guns above an image of little boys wearing makeup, the former labeled "what boys did in my day" and the latter labeled "what boys are doing today." Another post theorizes that student David Hogg is a crisis actor rather than an actual Floridian high-schooler. Yet another post places side by side images of a blonde, model-esque conservative woman and a plus-sized liberal woman with the caption "Yeah I think we win this one too." Spivey tweets out these posts among others, with the caption "Can we do a better job of social media deep dives on the dudes that try out for #thebachelorette - FYI douchebags we can see your likes."
Yrigoyen did not himself author any of the controversial posts; these were all posts made by popular conservative Instagram accounts known for their unapologetic controversial jokes. Those angered by these posts did not go after the actual author, who remained anonymous under the facade of a generic Instagram account. Yrigoyen provided a face, an identity to criticize, since the real author was unidentifiable. Furthermore, Yrigoyen, by liking these posts, was authoring his own digital archive. It is clear by his statements that he was not aware of the implications of such authorship. Yrigoyen repeatedly stated that he "didn't realize the effect behind a double tap or a 'like' on Instagram" and "didn't mean to offend anybody." In the genre of social media archives, liking a post constitutes an endorsement of an idea, and makes a statement about our ideals. If Yrigoyen did not intend to attach his name to these posts and viewpoints, what was the purpose behind his likes? It seems that he considered himself as the audience to the posts, placing a like without realizing that he himself was sending a message to another audience: Bachelorette fans. The controversy with Yrigoyen is similar but not quite comparable to that of Adria Richards calling out male tech developers for making jokes about "forking dongles" at PyCon. Yrigoyen's choice to participate in reality television put him in the public eye and thus opened him up to public review and criticism. The tech developers, however, were not public figures and did not consent to being photographed. Yrigoyen did not author the posts, they were not of a sexual nature, and was not reading them out in a public, professional setting, but rather on the internet in a context where followers would have to be intentionally searching to find his likes. The tech developer, however, were making their own sexual jokes in a setting where others were trying to mind their own business and engage in professional development. For those reasons, it's hard to say one situation was more worthy of criticism than another. However, in both situations, it is hard to say what the author meant by the statements. Critics of Yrigoyen claim that by liking the post about little boys, Yrigoyen was being transphobic. However, there is no blatant judgement being made by the post. An observation is being made and no opinion is being overtly made. Likewise, critics of the male tech developers claimed their dongle jokes were sexist, but it is unclear whether the attitude behind their jokes was misogynistic or amusement towards the puns themselves. It is wise to acknowledge that anyone can observe our digital footprints and use them to make judgements about our values, even when we think we are not making any clear statement. Whether people deserve to be shamed for endorsing unpopular political opinions is another matter. When an interviewer compared Yrigoyen to Lincoln Adim, another contestant who was convicted of indecent assault and battery, Bachelorette host Chris Harrison commented that Yrigoyen endorsed opinions that many viewers disagreed with, "and that's fine, that is your prerogative, and it might be mine too. That's not against the law. What Lincoln did was against the law. Very different." A fine line exists between wrong and unpopular.
2 Comments
Ashley Harris
11/13/2018 01:59:53 pm
I found your post interesting. I think there is a sense of anonymity online that can get people into trouble, much like the Bachelorette contestant. We are desensitized from sitting behind a computer or phone. The ideal way to solve this problem would be that social media users are always conscious of what they post, share, and like. You made a good point. Even if they don't author the original post, they endorse the message it conveys. I think there is a fine line between sharing a political opinion respectfully and sharing an offensive post. Either way there will be people who are unhappy, but you can minimize backlash by evaluating a post and what it will reflect about you before hitting the 'share' or 'like' button.
Reply
Hallie Becker
11/14/2018 12:15:34 pm
Hey Aubrey,
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
Aubrey KellerAubrey is currently attending Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. She is studying English Literature and Mandarin Chinese. She is compiling this blog for her Digital Literacies course. Archives
October 2018
Categories |