For those of us that make a living using social media as part of our day jobs, it’s sometimes hard to see the forest through the trees. The echo chamber and sheer emptiness that can sometimes be the underbelly of this new mode of human communications can eat you up. That’s especially true if people invest too much time and effort into their online life versus their offline reality.
As someone who works in using these tools for a big brand everyday, it’s not lost on me how easily some of my marketing-driven brothers and sisters lose site of the authentic nature of human communications. Sometimes the technology takes over and we lose the focus on what’s really important in life: real, deep, personal relationships.
That’s the underlying theme of filmmaker, puppeteer and online media philosopher Loren Feldman’s new film, #SoMe. Feldman is perhaps the most honest, genuine and downright entertaining commentator on the state of human and social media douche-baggery there is. If you don’t follow him, you’re missing out on as transparent a person as you can possibly find. His blunt, and sometimes read-between-the-lines, take on the overwhelmingly hollow world of technology is not only brutally honest, but it’s also just accurate. If you don’t like uncomfortable truths about yourself, then you might want to skip Loren. Feldman has no fear because he tells the truth. Whether he’s making fun of Mark Zuckerberg (who he manifests as a puppet made out of a flat popsicle-like stick with red curly hair), or the cult-like following of some technology platforms, Feldman is a breath of fresh air in an online world filled with “personal brand” whores and made-up experts.
Now let's go back to #SoMe.
There are so many great moments in the pseudo-documentary it’s hard to pinpoint them without giving away too much of the plot. But, Feldman’s use of his beloved puppets, including the infamous Shel Israel puppet, to intertwine a great story with commentary on social media and technology is masterful. Feldman’s vision for how to bring the two worlds together – that of his puppets and some of the biggest names in social media/technology – is what really makes the film. He makes his puppets human and his characters real and you care for them. You also understand his underlying motivation in making #SoMe.
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