Digital Identity: Kodak Culture on Facebook

In this post I will be exploring the way photo album has changed now that we are in the 21st century and the way particular groups of people present themselves in photographs on Facebook. 

Mendelson, A. L. and Papacharissi, Z. (2011, pp. 251-252) ask “If photos are taken for the purpose of being displayed and tagged, does this render the experiences and the social relationships presented more real?” It seems to me that with majority of people on Facebook that is the one and only purpose of taking photos, to show off their social lives and prove it to themselves in a way that they lead an impressive lifestyle. However when I come across such photographs, I don’t find them interesting to look at, because all of them are bad quality, repetitive shots with generic poses and drunken facial expressions. As Mendelson, A. L. and Papacharissi, Z. (2011, pp. 255) point out “We therefore consciously and unconsciously transform ourselves before the camera, portraying a version of ourselves we hope to be (Barthes, 1981; Jacobs,1981; Slater, 1995).” But the selves we imagine to be while drunk are clearly not the kind we see in the photo the next day!

We no longer share our photographs within a small circle of people we know, like family and close friends. It has now become acceptable for almost everyone on the Facebook to view our personal photographs in the comfort of their own home without us knowing. I think people who post wild night out photos sees it as an opportunity of exposure, but what they don’t think about is that there are millions of people posting the same type of material every day. So really they are no different to this category of Facebook users, if anything they are exactly the same. Mendelson, A. L. and Papacharissi, Z. (2011, pp. 255) “Chalfen states that: “Ordered collections of home mode imagery are repeatedly telling the same ‘stories’...” (p. 142).”

Mendelson, A. L. and Papacharissi, Z. (2011) ‘Look at us: Collective narcissism in college student Facebook photo galleries’ in Papacharissi, Z. (Ed.) Identity, community, and culture on social network sites. New York and Oxon : Routledge.

Image found: http://www.facebook.com/pages/MY-TOO-DRUNK-PHOTO-Go-on-put-it-on-here/46205279627?sk=photos