Postmodernity, Convergence, Globalization, & Simulation

 We live in a truly informational age like never before. I found it weird reading about these concepts from the standpoint of someone who has practically been surrounded by them since conception, but I've always been at least somewhat innately aware of this fact. Since I was 5 years old, I've already been sitting on the computer, connected to the internet, being fed information from various sources. But I wasn't aware of how complex a process this whole thing was then. In this age of information, or postmodernity if you will, we see a shift from mass production on an industrialized level, to the focus being on force feeding information to individuals on a mass (media) level. But this feeding of information wouldn't be possible if various branches of media weren't able to mix together without difficulty. This leads us to convergence, another concept I never thought about, but one that nonetheless makes sense in the great scheme of things. For mass media to push their narratives (which I will mention later), it is necessary to attack from all sides, and the technological advancements which have led to convergence are responsible for that. A banal example of converge, how I see it, can be seen even on the smallest of levels. This morning, as I'm writing this blogpost, I opened my eyes and went to check my notifications on Instagram and in the "direct messages" I was greeted by an update which stated that I was now able to connect my Instagram messages to my Facebook messaging app. This would allow me to communicate cross-platform with people on different social media platforms which in a way lead to sharing even more information. Just as globalization, at first, led to the elimination of economic barriers by supporting free-trade and removing trade tariffs, so are media corporations and social media giants doing today. We can see this example in my previous one, with removing communication barriers between social media platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram. I'm positive that we will in the not-so-distant future achieve a point where all forms of media are interconnected, creating a fully developed simulated reality. On the topic of simulation, I would like to return to what I mentioned earlier about mass media pushing their narratives. Baudrillard claims that images in their purest form are being distorted today, straying far away from what they are supposed to express. I think we are all aware how mass and social media corrupt information and images today so as to push a narrative to their base which are consuming it. This is how we arrive to the point where people stop believing in scientists and reject vaccines used for decades, or not to wear masks because an angry orange-faced man told them they don't need to. Another example would be how we are constantly bombarded by the responsibility of taking care of nature and protecting it to save the planet. We are reminded that we as an individual must take action in order to preserve life around us, and we in turn have this immense pressure put on us. But who is it that is putting this pressure on us? The exact same corporations pushing these narratives which themselves are responsible for most of the contamination, not we as individuals (although most do not help either). However, I am also aware that I myself am only consuming information that goes to validate my opinions and further enforces my beliefs, just as it happens to other's which opinions I do not share. It is tough to be objective in such a subjectively filled reality. 

P.S. This is my first time actually articulating my thoughts on these topics so sorry if it calm out as some kind of rambling, constructive criticism is welcomed.