Abstract
Abstract This article examines cultural beliefs related to reality television and social media, using a museum installation as a point of departure for examining the persistence of particular ideas about taste and aesthetic value as they relate to mass media in a historical moment when audiences are more frequently small and specialized. Its case study is an artwork that creates a data visualization from social media analytics related to American Idol, America’s Got Talent, America’s Next Top Model, and America’s Best Dance Crew. Using discourse analysis, the article unpacks how the installation establishes connections between televised contests, social media activity, and U.S. national identity. The author argues that the installation predicates its critique of reality television and social media on collapsing the differences between disparate programs, animating hierarchies of taste between various publics, and simplifying emergent industry practices related to big data.
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