The country I decided to create is one controlled by and dedicated to social media channels, mainly YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Snapchat, and Facebook. I chose to make the icons of these channels visible on the flag, surrounded by a checkered black and white background, as it reminded me of barcodes that are used to scan. I chose to create this country because I don’t feel it is that far off from what the U.S. is turning into. While clearly this nation is exaggerated, I do feel that today everyone is becoming more and more obsessed with and dedicated to social media. In particular, younger generations are growing up with these channels, and now won’t know a time when these sites didn’t dictate and shape their lives and how they present themselves. I also chose this type of country because I feel that the various social media sites can take control of different things in society. For example, Twitter can be used to share news, Facebook can be used to keep in touch with people, LinkedIn can be used to get employed, Instagram can be used to share pictures, YouTube can be used to share videos, and Snapchat can be used to share one’s secrets. I would invite others to join this group through social media! I would be able to do it across these different channels, such as through posting a status on Facebook that both my current and past friends will be able to see, or through creating a promotional video that people can view on YouTube. Thus, it would be easy for my nation to become visible, as the channels that will create it are the same ones that will be used to promote it. The actual event would occur virtually, through something such as a group FaceTime or Video Chat.
- My Flag and My Logo
- My Leaders (Presidents)
- The Founders
- Mark Zuckerberg: Facebook
- Evan Williams, Noah Glass, Jack Dorsey, Biz Stone: Twitter
- Evan Spiegel, Bobby Murphy, Reggie Brown Poster: Snapchat
- Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger: Instagram
- Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, Jawed Karim: YouTube
- Reid Hoffman, Konstantin Guericke, Jean-Luc Vaillant, Allen Blue: LinkedIn
3. My Rules
- Laws or bills will be proposed on social media sites and then will be voted on based on the amount of likes or comments that they get. For example, if someone wants to propose a law, they can make it their Facebook or Twitter status; next, people can “like,” “share,” or “dislike” these words, and write the amendments or changes they want to make in the comments section. Further, people can reach out to mentors for advice on how to improve their bills through LinkedIn, or further explain their bill on a longer YouTube video. Thus, the point of these rules is to use these different social media sites to explain or improve upon bills. However, in the end, the amount of support it generates on these channels will determine if it will pass.
4. My Territory
- The nation has no boundaries, no borders, and no formal territory. This is because the entire point of social media is to connect people, no matter how close or far they are from one another. This will allow my nation to be the largest in the world, as well as the most diverse.