UN_FOLD Magazine Media Monster Breaking the house style
M
EDIA ONSTER
To what extent is the fantasy world of social media robbing us of our true identity?
Some may say that social medias are soul sucking, robbing people of their depth, taking away their personality and turning people into plastic demeanors. To what extent are we living in the moment? Has our identity been taken over by social media? These are some of the questions that have begun to arise throughout the younger generation. Social medias such as Instagram has become an obsessive tool that people use to create an ideology of something that it is not.
Cropping changes everything. We show our audiences a life in a square frame, only showing them what we want them to see, followed by a filter and other editing techniques. When in reality, this perfectly framed subject is more than likely surrounded by mess and clutter. This creates a fake/ fantasy world that other people actually aspire to and want to live in, but we simply cannot. People are now so engrossed within the 21st century technology and social networking, that from the moment we wake up in the morning, the first thing most of us usually do is look at our phones for notifications. It is now estimated that there are approximately 400 million active Instagram users each month (September, 2015), which is a staggering increase from the 150 million in September 2013.
We find ourselves aimlessly admiring the lives of others or using the channel as a platform to exploit ourselves, but it is becoming too entwined within our lives that we are forgetting how to function outside of the fantasy world. It is at this point that people feel like they have to show the world how much they need their approval and in reality, it can also affect our self-esteem. Getting zero likes on a photo one may post of themselves may lower their self-esteem as they are not receiving the approval from others; in contrast, getting 1000 likes on the same photograph may actually boost self-esteem as it is receiving attention and approval from the audience which leaves the person satisfied that the image has been ‘successful’.
Issues aside, People are now becoming aware of the power that social media holds and how it is destroying the way we function. Australian teenager with more than 612,000 Instagram followers radically rewrites the captions following her ‘contrived perfection’ photographs that were made to get attention. Essena O’neill, 18, said she was able to make an income from marketing products to her followers on Instagram and became consumed by it, which she hated. After taking a step back out of this manipulated world she came to the realization of what it had done to her and how it is damaging others, which is why she decided to ‘quit’ social media and is now urging others to follow her lead. It is true indeed that social media can be damaging not only to yourself but to others too. You’re either the consumer or being consumed. Or, on the rare occasion, neither, staying sane and keeping out of this manipula¬ted world. But, because of the mass usage and the positive effects it may have on marketing, unfortunately this issue is going to be a never-ending one.
Has social media stole your true identity?
Has our identity been taken over by social media?
Stop being a consumer of a fantasy world
DIA To what extent is the fantasy world of social media robbing us of our true identity? Some may say that social medias are soul sucking, robbing people of their depth, taking away their personality and turning people into plastic demeanors. To what extent are we living in the moment? Has our identity been taken over by social media? These are some of the questions that have begun to arise throughout the younger generation.
Social medias such as Instagram has become an obsessive tool that people use to create an ideology of something that it is not. Cropping changes everything. We show our audiences a life in a square frame, only showing them what we want them to see, and other editing techniques. When in reality, this perfectly framed subject is more than likely surrounded by mess and clutter. This creates a fake/ fantasy world that other people actually aspire to and want to live in, but we simply cannot. People are now so engrossed within the 21st century technology and social networking, that from the moment we wake up in the usually do is look at our phones estimated that there are approximately 400 million active Instagram users each month (September, 2015), which is a staggering increase from the 150 million in September 2013.
the lives of others or using the channel as a platform to exploit ourselves, but it is becoming too entwined within our lives that we are forgetting how to function outside of the fantasy world. It is at this point that people feel like they have to show the world how much they need their approval and in reality, it can also affect our self-esteem. Getting zero likes on a photo one may post of themselves may lower their self-esteem as they are not receiving the approval from others; in contrast, getting 1000 likes on the same photograph may actually boost self-esteem as it is receiving attention and approval from the audience which leaves the person ‘successful’.
Stop being a consumer of a fantasy world
Issues aside, People are now becoming aware of the power that social media holds and how it is destroying the way we function. Australian teenager with more than 612,000 Instagram followers radically rewrites the captions following her ‘contrived perfection’ photographs that were made to get attention. Essena O’neill, 18, said she was able to make an income from marketing products to her followers on Instagram and became consumed by it, which she hated. After taking a step back out of this manipulated world she came to the realization of what it had done to her and how it is damaging others, which is why she decided to ‘quit’ social media and is now urging others to follow her lead. It is true indeed that social media can be damaging not only to yourself but to others too. You’re either the consumer or being consumed. Or, on the rare occasion, neither, staying sane and keeping out of this manipulated world. But, because of the mass usage and the positive effects it may have on marketing, unfortunately this issue is going to be a never-ending one.
Has social media stole your true identity?
RADICAL SH IF TS THE
IN PHOTOGRAPHY & SOCIAL MEDIA
NICK KNIGHT ON THE CHANGING WORLD OF IMAGERY
ÒInstagram takes me back to the style of my earliest photography; no retouching and no long processes of post productionÓ
There is a wide debate as to whether photography is over due to the radical changes in the 21st century technology and new medias. There is no doubt that the power balance between model and magazine is shifting now that technological advances are opening up image capture and manipulation to wider audiences. World famous image-maker Nick Knight tells Philippa Warr about how smartphones and advances in image-making apps are fundamentally altering his line of work, perhaps even changing traditional photography completely. Of course photography still exists, but itÕ s no longer the medium we turn to when we want to communicate visually. ÒThereÕ s a new medium called image-making which behaves in a completely different way, is done by completely different equipment and is expressed in completely different chemicals and minerals.Ó Says Knight. Thisrefers to devices like smartphones and applications like Instagram, which allow for near-instant image editing; and can be shared immediately with a massive global audience. Knight himself has adapted to the new generation and now often shoots directly from his iphone, runs through a selection of image-editing apps before posting them to his social media accounts. A long-standing commitment to experimenting with the latest technologies led to Knight launching his fashion website SHOWstudio in 2000.
SHOWstudioÕ s commitment to live fashion took a twist and created a storm when he first turned to the latest web tools such as Instagram, Twitter and Tumblr to create his first ever Instagram shoot with famous model Cara Delevingne. This is a Ôlive shootÕ in its most literal sense, with images of the model posted online straight from Knights camera alongside tweets of pithy analytical fashion commentary from fashion director Alexander Fury. Justine Cooke; now the CEO of the agency Innovate7 and used to work as price president of PR at Burberry, describes Instagram as ÒAccessible yet still magicalÓ. She says that the adoption of the app by Burberry was vital in keeping the brand ahead of the competition. The new technologies are now so powerful that theyÕre only going to keep progressing and re-inventing, so there is no point in us holding back for the sake of keeping traditional photography. Photography will always exist, but the platform for it has now changed and will more than likely continue to do so. Therefor it is better for photographers to go with the new mediums and take advantage of its marketing and promotional aspects of showing your work, adapting to the new platforms rather than fighting against them.