Anyone who uses the internet as a public platform for their private life must decide how they want to shape the face they present to the world. This short piece in The New York Times defines two celebrities — Beyonce and Rihanna — as opposite poles in social media, contrasting Rihanna’s unfiltered spontaneity with Beyonce’s measured grace. “Will you be a Beyonce, and present a carefully groomed version of yourself to the Web?” asks Jenna Wortham. “Or will you take Rihanna’s road and throw caution to the wind, baring your life, your friends and occasionally, your unmentionables?” Of course, there’s also a third possibility: that both methods are just as carefully or unconsciously deployed, the one no more “real” than the other.
Rihanna and Beyonce: the two poles of the social web?
The New York Times examines different methods of shaping an online persona by looking at the social media presences of Rihanna and Beyonce.
The New York Times examines different methods of shaping an online persona by looking at the social media presences of Rihanna and Beyonce.
is a senior tech and policy editor focused on online platforms and free expression. Adi has covered virtual and augmented reality, the history of computing, and more for The Verge since 2011.
Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.
Most Popular
Most Popular
- Xbox overhauls its PC, web, and cloud apps with a faster design
- Anker’s new window-mounted camera monitors the outside of your home from within it
- I’ve reviewed almost every Android foldable this year — here’s how the iPhone Duo compares
- After printing 40,000 whistles, this is the 3D printer I’d buy
- The Enough Phone is made by and for people fed up with big screens
