For me, the striking thing about so many of these images of rioters in the Capitol is that what they're doing - all of them - is creating content for social media.

At least in their minds, the true seat of power is not actually in that building. It's online. https://twitter.com/Bencjacobs/status/1346914618816524294
Politics is always performative, but the nature of the performance has changed dramatically in just a few years. What we saw today was the sudden, violent disruption of one performance, the certification of electoral college votes, for another, wilder show.
They could have done anything in that building today. What they did, by and large, was take selfies and create social media content. That was what really mattered to them. Whatever higher motives they might claim, their actions suggest that was the real motive for many of them.
It's no coincidence that the star and driving animus of this show is a man who has built his whole life and business around delivering compelling performances on broadcast and digital media.
You can follow @elisethoma5.
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