Grown-ish Review: Erase Your Social (Season 1 Episode 8)

On Grown-ish Season 1 Episode 8, “Erase Your Social,” Zoey lands a highly coveted fellowship at Teen Vogue, but partially jeopardizes it with her social media fascination.

Grown-ish returns with another exciting episode, which calls out social media for all its mayhem. There is a huge emphasis on the negative consequences, rather than the positive, which makes the narrative lopsided. However, they do a great job at portraying those sour patches.

Having a discussion around social media is extremely important, especially since it currently shapes virtually every aspect of society. It is equally remarkable that the swipe on social media is targeted at young people, who are its largest audience and the focus of the show.

This episode follows a natural progression from how the show started, signaling growth. The youngsters are gradually coming into their own, having navigated through their freshmen struggles. The focus is no longer on fitting into college but existing in the outside world, which is why the social media focus is particularly appropriate.

It is interesting to see that Zoey has gained more confidence but still feels unsure and awkward sometimes, and making mistakes along the way. Her journey is still in progress and just because she now works for Teen Vogue does not mean she is now fully grown because she obviously still has a lot of learning to do.

Grown-ish does a good job at highlighting the multiple cons of social media just within the thirty-minute span of this episode. The show’s knack for time management while also stamping their plot points is truly commendable, and they can also be credited for using real life scenarios in buttressing the point.

The relevance of this episode cannot be undermined because the distractions of social media and the attendant consequences are not lost on adults as well. We see Zoey struggle with staying off the grid for a couple of days, so much that she finally gave in to the temptation and got burned for it. This is a struggle that most people can identify with.

The Fear of Missing Out (otherwise known as FOMO) is real, trolling, following accounts without knowing their true content, ignoring friends and family members while being stuck on the phone and putting jobs on the line are all real situations affecting a great number of the world’s population.

On the bright side, social media is a great platform for connection, which has made the world a global village. Picture Zoey sharing the good news of her fellowship with her 8,000 close friends. These are people whom she barely knows but the way the internet is set up, chatting with someone feels like knowing them in real life.

There is the desire to share every life detail with these virtual friends and family, sometimes for lack of real-life friends and sometimes, just to show off and portray falsehood, as we see with the twins in this episode.

Social media also serves to enlighten and empower. It can be an antidote to depression and a great springboard for financial advancement.

Getting detached from social media for even an hour seems like getting detached from the world. The title of the episode says “Erase Your Social.” It leaves one wondering what the world would be like if the World Wide Web were eliminated or suspended for a period of time. It is easier said than done because the result would simply be unimaginable.

Attempting a critique of a beloved, universal phenomenon, such as Social Media, can attract significant backlash but it is subtly done, yet compelling; teaching without coming off as preachy or judgmental and ultimately dishing out humor.

Apart from boasting a brilliant blend of characters, one of the things this episode gets right too, is in regards to making reference to famous people by using their actual names. For instance, Gloria Steinem, Janelle Monae and also having the immediate past Editor-in-chief of Teen Vogue make a guest appearance by her real name, Elaine. That approach brings the stories home, making them real and normal.

Zoey has certainly learned a thing or two about growing up after losing her spot as an under-study to Elaine and hopefully, she will make better decisions going forward. But, the lessons are indeed, for everyone.

What did you think of this episode of Grown-ish? Can you erase your social? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

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Grown-ish airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on Freeform.

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