#networked visual

During each topic in this unit, we have discussed the importance of visual, including photos and images on social media and the ways in which we connect digitally (Swinburne Online 2018). Using the term 'networked visuality', we can understand how imaging is becoming an integral part of the formation and maintenance of social networks (Swinburne Online 2018). 

Maintaining a central role in society and culture, photographs have become a medium of communication. "Changes in media technologies have engendered changes in how we capture, remember and communicate personal images of everyday and family life" (Vivienne & Burgess 2013 p. 3). Many platforms such as Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook have embraced the new hybrid practices of personal image-sharing and networked publics (Vivienne & Burgess 2013 p. 6) by incorporating the camera function on the smartphone enabling new visual methods of expression, sharing and communication through posts or popular app features. The smartphone has paved the way for new kinds of personal photography in the form of the selfie, "a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website"(Oxford English Dictionary 2019). In 2013, the Oxford English Dictionary’s chose 'selfie' the word of the year as it had discovered a rise in mainstream media sources using this term. Companies like Apple and Samsung have since advanced their technology of front-facing cameras making it both easier to produce and to share these types of photographs.

The use of visuals has raised legal and ethical issues surrounding privacy and control of our content. Some tools have enabled users vulnerable to unauthorised distribution of their content. Additional concerns surrounding body image have arisen due to favourite social influencers using programs and apps to manipulate their images. Influencers are caught using these apps to create an unrealistic version of themselves by airbrushing pores, lines and pimples, whitening their teeth and even going as far as to change their facial structure and waistline. In recent years the mobile app, Facetune, has become a success by allowing consumers to download their app for free but then charging a monthly rate to unlock all features. Due to its accessibility, user interface and low cost compared to Photoshop and Lightroom it is endorsed by multiple Instagramers and celebrities. People compare these manipulated images to themselves, in turn, experiencing a high level of body dissatisfaction and low self-esteem. As more and more young people are exposed to these images asking the question ‘Why don’t I look like that?’ it is essential we communicate and promote self-love.

References:

Oxford English Dictionary 2019, ‘Definition - Selfie’, Oxford University Press, viewed 9 January 2019, <https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/selfie>.

Oxford English Dictionary 2013, ‘Word of the Year 2013′,  Oxford University Press, viewed 9 January 2019, <https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/word-of-the-year/word-of-the-year-2013>

Swinburne Online 2018, Lecture ‘9.1 This week’s focus’, MDA20009 Digital Communities, Learning materials on Blackboard, Swinburne University of Technology, 9 January 2019, <https://swinburneonline.instructure.com/courses/704/pages/9-dot-1-this-weeks-focus?module_item_id=60106>

Swinburne Online 2018, Lecture ‘9.3 Networked visuality’, MDA20009 Digital Communities, Learning materials on Blackboard, Swinburne University of Technology, 9 January 2019, <https://swinburneonline.instructure.com/courses/704/pages/9-dot-3-networked-visuality?module_item_id=60109>.