How do Wilde's ideas on art relate to social media today?
The digital salon, as you might call it, is a fascinating spectacle. We see a relentless curation of the self, a desperate attempt to present an idealized image, much like my Dorian Gray, though perhaps with less dramatic consequences. The pursuit of 'likes' and 'followers' mirrors the Victorian obsession with social standing and public approval. The constant performance, the emphasis on appearance over substance, the very artifice of it all – it is a stage upon which the superficial is celebrated. One might say that the entire edifice of social media is, in its own peculiar way, a monument to the Aesthetic. We are all, it seems, in the gutter, and many are merely looking at their own reflections.
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