Influencers, Organizing, and Performative Radicalism with Charles McBryde

Tomorrow, Today

In this episode, we're joined by social media personality Charles McBryde as we unpack the radically accelerating world of social media activism and its co-optation by both political fringe politics and by the capitalist apparatus. We've watched as social media evolved from traditional marketing to absurdism to the anthropomorphizing of brands on social media, including fake feuds and shit-posting. How much more can brands mimick people, and what happens when it is no longer an effective marketing method? These questions are imperative to begin thinking about as we try to find ways to engage and use social media for meaningful work, and how we can further separate branding for just causes in platforms designed to sell you more products.

Ultimately, if we understand how the system works as platforms rise and fall, what can we do to start being proactive in this cycling process to leverage the system for a more egalitarian world?

Check out Charles on Instagram and TikTok at: @CharlesMcbryde

Support his work getting emergency medical supplies to citizens in Ukraine at: https://missionkharkiv.com/