As I walked into The Peep Show, one of the most highly anticipated events at this year’s International Festival of Authors, I felt like I had taken a wrong turn at the Harbourfront and ended up in some sort of fancy restaurant. The room was filled with small, circular, candlelit tables, giving off much more of a romantic atmosphere than the festival’s XXX theme (for the festival’s 30th anniversary) might imply.
On the walls, however, were projections of a Facebook page, a Windows XP screensaver, and a Twitter account. Add this to the large collection of coconuts sitting inside an inflatable kiddie pool, and I paled to think what kind of fools the people in the room would be making of themselves that night.
An audio recording featuring a Sean Connery voice introduced the host, Hal Niedzviecki, who promised we’d “see a lot of him” that evening. Instead of asking us to turn off all cell phones, he encouraged us to turn them on, and, if we so pleased, to Tweet onto his Twitter page displayed on the wall.
I had the good fortune of interviewing Niedzviecki, a U of T graduate and former Varsity editor, just before the event. He recently published The Peep Diaries: How We’re Learning to Love Watching Ourselves and Our Neighbours, which discusses the evolution of pop culture, and more specifically, what he calls peep culture. Niedzviecki explains this new phenomenon as the use of Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and smartphones—basically, anything that allows people to “track” each other—to document one’s life from cradle to grave.
Niedzviecki was inspired to write the book four years ago when he became a father. His social dynamic had changed, making him spend a good deal of time at home on Facebook. His previous work, Hello, I’m Special, ended around the time of the peep culture revolution, so a new book seemed like the next logical step.
Niedzviecki explains that in a mediated world, we grow up learning that seeing ourselves on TV or in the public eye is a mark of achievement. I mention the peep culture phenomenon of the week, Balloon Boy, and Niedzviecki points out that this is the perfect example. In the book, he notes, peep culture often influences people to do things that they might not necessarily want to. The whole phenomenon has to do with us using other peoples’ troubles for our pleasure—a basic “fail” video is now schaudenfreude entertainment.
The Peep Show, which was being broadcast live on the web, was intended to make us aware of the consequences, both good and bad, of this new culture. I asked Niedzviecki if there was a message he was trying to project to his readers with his book, and he said that it was one of societal awareness: “Let’s think about what we’re doing,” he stated, “and why we’re doing it.” We need to rethink our habit of turning regular Joes into celebrities—and that means you, Star Wars kid.
Niedzviecki’s talk on peep culture included the heart-wrenching story of a failed party he advertised on Facebook, where he’d invited all of his friends and 60 had said they would come. In the end, only one guest showed up, and even she left. Niedzviecki pointed out that people would rather stay home and hang out with each other on Facebook than go out. “What are we doing?!” he exclaimed.
According to Niedzviecki, peep culture is not a replacement for pop culture, but rather an evolution of it. He explains the three types of peep culture: peeping ourselves (posting our pictures, tweets, and videos); peeping by each other (watching other people’s pain without intervening or helping); and finally being peeped by “the others” (via tools like Google that allow us to peep everyone).
Niedzviecki concluded his talk with a reading from the conclusion of his book: “One thing I know for sure…is the value of not knowing. So much of the mystery of life comes from the mystery…People didn’t come to my Facebook party because they felt they already knew me.”
Afterwards, as local band Foxfire prepared to take the stage, Niedzviecki led everyone in an exercise where we cracked open the coconuts using butter knives while watching a video of Toronto-based artist Dean Baldwin. Foxfire then provided musical interpretations of several famous viral videos, including “Star Wars Kid,” “David After the Dentist,” and “Numa Numa.” They finished the set with some of their own songs.
On the whole, it was a fun night, but it sat strangely with me. Perhaps the next time we consider taking out our cell phones to film a guy we see being beaten by the police, we’ll opt to help him out instead.
That, or tweet about it and get a million hits on Youtube.
The International Festival of Authors runs through Oct. 31 at the Harbourfront Centre. All events are free for students. For more information, visit readings.org.
For more information on The Peep Diaries, visit City Lights or Hal’s website.
