Digital SAT Reading and Writing Practice Question #561

In his seminal 1935 essay, cultural critic Walter Benjamin argued that the mechanical reproduction of art (such as photography) inherently strips a masterwork of its "aura"—its unique, localized presence in time and space—thereby democratizing art but degrading its mystical reverence. However, a contemporary media theorist contends that in the digital age, a new type of aura has emerged. Rather than being destroyed by reproduction, the aura of a digital artwork is actually *generated* by its mass proliferation; the more an image is circulated and remixed online, the more unique cultural gravity and untouchable status the original file acquires. Which finding, if true, would most directly support the contemporary media theorist's claim?