What Does 'Ready Player One' Tell Us About Social Media's Future?

The movie could be more future fact than science fiction.

LordMarvelous
Created by LordMarvelous (User Generated Content*)User Generated Content is not posted by anyone affiliated with, or on behalf of, Playbuzz.com.
On Apr 9, 2018
Help Translate This Item

Steven Spielberg's latest movie, Ready Player One, has been a massive hit with audiences and critics alike flocking to the theater and then to their keyboards to rain praise on action sci-fiction flick.

The movie tells of a future society set in 2044 where the majority of people live in poverty and spend most of their lives living out a far better life in virtual reality. One of the movie's actors, Simon Pegg, recently told Late Show host Stephen Colbert that unlike other sci-fi films, the world of Ready Player One seemed like a more plausible future.

"It's a bit of a social media allegory really, it's a place where you can project your own truths, create yourself in your own way... you know, the kind of thing people do on social media these days."

In terms of virtual reality, Pegg said: "In 2044, I think we could be in a place where you go into a virtual world."

So what does the movie say about social media's future and its effect on society?

Will Our Mental Health Continue To Suffer?

It's no secret that social media has been linked to depression, especially among young people. Technology and social media have helped us stay connected to friends and family more than ever before, but with it has come loneliness, regret and uncertainty.

"People can’t make mistakes anymore because it will always come back to haunt them; every single stupid decision is forever saved online which makes growing up harder as you have learn and grow from these embarrassing things, Theo, a 17-year-old student told the Guardian.

The signs of a decline in social media giant Facebook have already started to show themselves among teens and 20-somethings, with a decrease of 5.8% last year. In order for social media to avoid becoming known as simply a technological source of depression, it will have to find a way to draw users back into viewing it as a positive way to maintain relationships.

A Spike In Insomnia Could Happen

People seem to ignore a lot of things generally associated with life in Ready Player One, like eat, work or particularly sleep. After all, what use is sleep when you have a fantasy world calling you to join the non-stop party?

Studies have show that social media addiction is a real thing and with that often comes insomnia. There's a good chance that if you use social media daily it could be affecting your sleep. Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine found that as little as an hour of social media use every day can have a negative impact on sleep cycles.

On the flip side, trouble sleeping could also lead to more social media use out of pure boredom, according to the study's senior author, Dr. Brian A. Primack.

"It also may be that both of these hypotheses are true," said Dr. Primack. "Difficulty sleeping may lead to increased use of social media, which may in turn lead to more problems sleeping."

How exactly are we supposed to get any sleep in a future where social media and virtual reality become one if we can't even get some shuteye with Twitter around?

Our Social Media Profiles Could Become Our Legacy

Prediction: Tombstones become a thing of the past and future burial sites will be a touchscreen allowing friends and family to access the deceased's entire life via social media.

In Ready Player One, Halliday, the creator of the virtual reality world has died but left nearly his entire life available to the public in the form of a sort of virtual library. People can choose to play, rewind or fast-forward to nearly any part of the creator's life. Yes, it's kinda creepy.

Everything we do on the internet remains. Status updates and photos may be deleted, but they don't really ever go completely away. We're nearing a world where people are going to want their social media lives to function as an advanced time capsule of sorts. Just look at how popular (or unpopular depending on who you ask) Facebook's year in review videos have been.

The idea that a more advanced social media platform might become the new form of a eulogy might seem odd, but that's been the case with numerous new technologies. After all, people doubted that movies and cars would catch on too.

These are 10 of the World CRAZIEST Ice Cream Flavors
Created by Tal Garner
On Nov 18, 2021