The World of Digital Culture Made Public

“Made in Public” is a spectacular short film released in 2019 that takes a satirical look at the modern world of technology. It follows the story of an antsy groom, Dave, who gets cold feet the night before his wedding and publishes an online poll on both Facebook and Reddit. The polls ask loved ones, friends, and even strangers whether or not he should follow through with the nuptials. Upon hearing this, the enraged bride, Sydney, decides to postpone the wedding until they settle the issue…in church with their guests watching.

I think this film would be the perfect addition to this course because it is an easy watch, not very time consuming, easily accessible through Youtube, and is a bit more realistic and current than some of the “Black Mirror” episodes. Additionally, “Made in Public” relates to each of the three themes of Black Mirror and Digital Culture, “Digital Consumer” in particular.

First of all, we are able to see Dave’s “Digital Self” through the creation of the polls and who has interacted with them. Most likely, this is a man who lives online. Almost everyone he meets (ex: exes, old karate instructors, random strangers, etc.) becomes an online connection who can stay up to date on his activities, and based on Sydney’s reaction to some of the voters, Dave shares more of his life with the internet than with her. As for “Digital Consumer”, one thing that is very prominent is the obsession with technology. In every scene, someone is gazing at or mindlessly scrolling through a phone. The movie even goes as far as to include a character who completely abstains from social media (even emails!) create a Facebook account just to participate in the poll. Furthermore, as “Made in Public” concludes with the happy couple committing to each other and ignoring the 0.01 margin between yes and no, we see a look of panic set in as everyone grabs their phones to check the new vote from the person officiating the ceremony. This scene alone displays just how tech-dependent humanity has become thanks to our massive internet consumption. Finally, in the case of “Digital Creator”, there is not much there, however, during their heated argument Sydney instructs Dave to “take ownership!” He claims that the poll got out of hand and he is not responsible for the outcome or who finds out about it, but as the creator and publisher of such information he totally is. Often, we see large companies try to backtrack and cover their asses, as Dave does here, when they should be taking accountability for creating a flawed system that impacts other people.

If this film were to be incorporated into the curriculum, there are two options I believe would best fit its message:

1. Students create discussion questions to be uploaded onto Padlet for the following class.
2. Rework Blog Post #2 so that students search themselves instead and see how much of their own info has been “made public” then allow them to reflect on their own actions online.