Maggie Nelson's Spectatorship Theory

The term spectatorship traditionally refers to the act of watching something without taking part. “Image flow” represents this idea of spectatorship where individuals mindlessly scroll through images and videos to fill the gaps in their day (Nelson 304). Maggie Nelson, author of “Great to Watch” presents the term “image flow” as the act of scrolling through social media and being in a constant state of “extremity”, either angry shock or boredom (300-311). However, she progresses her argument from disgust at the “desensitization” caused by the frequency of being in that state of “extremity” to exemplifying individuals and ideas that fall outside of those extremes (Nelson 300). Nelson’s notion of spectatorship, which identifies the self, is in direct relation to Malcolm Gladwell's theories of context. Gladwell, author of “The Power of Context,” suggests that direct physical environment, the “context of the situation”, molds an individual’s morals and the way he or she perceives the world altogether (149-162). Author Jean Twenge’s idea of entitlement in, “An Army of One: Me” serves as a foundation that holds together Gladwell and Nelson’s effect of a created context (486-505). The individuals feel that they are entitled to the information provided and by viewing the videos or images and taking action or voicing their opinion they are empowered, raising their self-esteem.