WHAT’S TRENDING With Rebecca Asquith
Like, Like, Like... But Where’s the Love?
n high schools across the country, nudes have become a form of currency. By the time you read this, that won’t be what they are called anymore, just like the term ‘sexting’ became passé as soon as it was taken up by the over 20’s. But nudes (those selfies where you are semi or fully naked) will still be a form of currency as more and more girls trade their skin for likes in an Instagram market increasingly saturated by a sea of headless bodies in Bonds underwear. The girls in nudes aren’t always headless, sometimes they will have a bad case of ‘phone-covered-face,’ a frustrating condition that is caused by trying to take a selfie of yourself in the mirror: in some instances this is deliberate – if you obscure the face you can’t ever be sure who it really is – but more often than not being identified isn’t a concern as there are too many likes at stake 10
not to post the photo direct to your social media account. In the last year, in my work as a media educator I have heard from hundreds of teens about what is going on for them online and at school. And while they are not all addicted to posting risqué pics to Instagram, how they will choose to portray themselves, and deciding how much of their body they will put online for their followers’ consumption, has become an increasing pressure of ‘normal’ teenage life. Some will say a firm no to posting pics at all and opt to post food shots or art instead, while others will perfect their duck-face pout and vacant stare through hours of Photobooth selfies, with only the ‘best-ofs’ making it to social. Others will work out how many incidental bikini shots they can post before it becomes too obvious a theme, and