The Candy House

The Candy House is a novel that captures the 21st-century American fixation with technological advancement and the rise of social media. Social media refers to interactions between users of online platforms and can include online profiles, news sites, communication platforms, and influential online stores. Two of the most successful early social media platforms were MySpace, which was launched in 2003, and Facebook, which was founded in 2004. Unlike many early forums and chat rooms where anonymity was the norm, MySpace and Facebook encouraged a new online culture where social media was an extension of real life; people connected with their existing friends and community members, added real photos, and shared anecdotes about their real lives. These platforms established the idea of a digital footprint, where one’s life can be traced through various online postings.

Social media use exploded with the rise of smartphones. The first iPhone was released in 2007, marking the first time that people had 24/7 mobile internet access at the touch of a button. This affected everything from learning to communication, including the ability to post photos on social media apps in real time rather than waiting until one was home and at a computer. Today, it is estimated that 6.8 billion people worldwide have a smartphone, which means that communication has been widely transformed. Even dating norms have radically transformed in countries where the majority of people have smartphones; instead of meeting in bars, churches, or other real-life settings, dating apps allow people to sort through profiles of potential mates and decide what stranger might be their match. While people use smartphones and social media to connect online with strangers and friends alike, there are widespread concerns about the sort of alienation that can arise with heavy smartphone use.

In 2010, the online application Instagram was released and became an instant hit. Instagram users curate profiles of their lives, sharing photographs and memes (images or videos that are humorously manipulated). Instagram changed the way people relate with each another online. For example, celebrities now have a way to curate and share snapshots of their lives, alleviating the media frenzy for paparazzi and gossip magazines. Popular users who cultivate massive followings brand themselves as “influencers,” allowing them to build lucrative careers through brand partnerships and influencing consumer culture through their platforms.

The financial and social success of Instagram led to other major social media applications, such as Snapchat and TikTok. The influence of social media has been debated since its inception. Social media opens people up to the world; suddenly, with a Twitter or Instagram account, people living on one side of the world could see news coverage, testimonials, and cultures of people living on the other side of the world. This democratization of information sharing has had concrete impacts on global society. For example, Twitter played a crucial role in the Arab Spring (2010-2012), with protestors sharing first-hand accounts of protests and spreading information outside of their local communities. Likewise, videos of police violence in the United States spurred the creation of the Black Lives Matter movement. However, social media also creates divisions because the anonymity of the online universe allows people to fake their identities and use social media to harass other people, a trend known as “trolling.” Bullying has also become a problem on social media, a phenomenon called cyberbullying, and social media is also used to distribute revenge porn, in which someone retaliates against someone else by sharing explicit photos of them without their permission. Furthermore, social media breeds feelings of unhappiness and low self-esteem in many who compare other people’s carefully curated and edited photos and videos to their own lives.

Concerns about technological safety abound, even while technology continues to develop rapidly. One contemporary concern is “fake news,” unverified or completely fabricated information that spreads through social media, which can impact politics, public health, and culture in general. Likewise, hackers become more sophisticated in step with technological advancement, creating risks for governments, companies, and individuals. AI is developing rapidly, and some worry that AI will replace jobs and become indistinguishable from humans. In The Candy House, Egan uses futuristic technological advancement to comment on our contemporary circumstances, including the loss of tangible connection that can come from limitless digital connectivity. In the book, people can upload their consciousness and memories into a database, thus giving everyone access to the memories and thoughts that make them human. This technology, like social media, brings about good and bad developments in society. Egan’s novel explores the benefits and limitations of technological advancements in the human experience.