A Feminist Filter

As I was talking about in my last blog, I think that it is important to look at exactly what kinds of things we are taking pictures of. Once again, I still feel that I am talking very broadly about what we are finding validation in. But I would like to further discuss this in term of gender. Males and females use Instagram differently.  We take different kinds of pictures. 

Instagram was founded by two men. It also contains several features that have been traditionally masculine, such as the concepts of exploration and travel. Now I would like to say a side note that these generalizations are just that, generalizations and do not apply to everyone. But I think that these are important ideas to consider.

There is basic pop culture knowledge about what the cliché pictures that girls post on Instagram. Bathroom mirrors, duck faces, all of that. The Tosh. 0 show recently uploaded a video called, BrosPose as Hoes Photos, to their website. The male viewers were asked to send in the typical photos that girls post on Instagram. Although humorous to see males taking pictures in short-shorts, ass to the mirror, and my personal fav, the duck face while holding actual ducks, what is this exactly is this saying to the kind of validation that these girls are seeking?

In 1973, Laura Mulvey came out with her paper, Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema. In it she explores psychoanalysis as a way to look at the narrative and characters of the modern cinema. In basic terms, this broke down to males as the drivers of plot and action and women left as the desired subject. As she puts it, “Woman as Image, Man as Bearer of Look.” (Mulvey, 4.) Now I do understand that we aren’t talking about film. However, I believe that her reading of psychoanalysis can be applied to the ways that we search for validation in Instagram. After all, are we not creating a visual plot for others to follow? It is structured on a narrative timeline.

Looking into Jacques Lacan’s mirror recognition, just as we have before, images reinforce the ego. In her paper she is looking how we relate to stars when watching films, in some ways we temporarily lose the ego, yet at the same time it is reinforced by the ideal images on the screen. The images make up the matrix of the imaginary.” (Mulvey, 4.) Now with Instagram, we are now the stars, and one would think have more control over the imaginary. But it seems this matrix of images is still controlling us in many ways. Women are still seeking to be the image that is looked at, and men are still the ones that hold the gaze. As Mulvey also says, “In their traditional exhibitionist role women are simultaneously looked at and displayed, with their appearance coded for strong visual and erotic impact so that they can be said to connote to-be-looked-at-ness.” (Mulvey, 4-5.)

We, speaking as a woman now, are still searching for validation of the gaze. One of the difference that Instagram provides is that it can now be quantified into how many likes or comments your pictures receive. Mulvey says in the summary of her essay, “these cinematic codes and their relationship to formative external structures that must be broken down before mainstream film and the pleasure it provides can be challenged.” (Mulvey, 9.) In some ways these codes have come down, but still in many ways, no.  These external structures still control what makes up our visual imaginary, and helps to narrate our lives.

A YouTube video that I recommend seeing is called Instagram’n. It is once again supposed to be humorous, but it highlights the misogyny that Instagram can contain. Two guys become obsessed with the app because they can just look at “bad bitches all day,” and they spent their time looking, liking, and commenting. When one of the guys tries to post sexy pictures too, he ends up disappointed that he doesn’t get enough response. He no longer feels validated. His validation lies in the role as gazer, not as the gazed.

Everyday Life, Just Prettier

I have talked a lot about how taking photos of ourselves, or taking pictures of what we are doing and experiencing as extension of ourselves, and how that promotes self-validation. This was a part of the general idea that we can invest energy and importance to ourselves as the subject, is in fact validating to our “I,” our selves. And Instagram is now one of the newest platforms for this expression. But what I am leaving out is more about how exactly we are talking these photos, and who is taking them.

Self-validation has been too broad of a term thus far in this blog. I believe that it is time to start narrowing it down a bit. People in their “real” lives, find validation for myriad of things. Some will find validation in their athletic abilities, their academic achievements, a poem, a song, a piece of art that they create, their appearance, and etc. (combine, add, remix these any which way you want). But with an app like Instagram, you are forced to convey your interests, what you want people to get from you, what makes you feel validated all in the visual. It forces you to be creative in the ways that you are portraying yourself. At least, in terms of how you are visually represented, of course.  As I have mentioned before you are creating a brand for yourself. So what is that brand saying about you?

I don’t think that the founders of Instagram, Kevin Systrom ( background in management science and engineering) and Mike Krieger (background in symbolic systems, focused in human-computer interaction) necessarily thought about what people would take pictures of. I believe that they just wanted to provide the opportunity to do so. They both had been interested in cameras as children, and as adults wanted to provide the opportunity for anyone to take interesting pictures. And it appears to be able to do so anytime, anywhere. Even the name of Instagram gives a nod to the instant visual connections it provides. On the FAQ about Instagram the founders say, “We loved how different types of old cameras marketed themselves as "instant" - something we take for granted today. We also felt that the snapshots people were taking were kind of like telegrams in that they got sent over the wire to others - so we figured why not combine the two?”

However, for those of you that have Instagram, how many people that are on your feed actually look like they are trying to be amateur photographers? My guess is that the answer is not many. I was talking to a fellow classmate about my project, and he mentioned that what he doesn’t get about Instagram is that it is supposed to look vintage, but at the same time it’s extremely modern (or postmodern I would argue). We also talked about his brother who has Instagram and does use it for photography, but at the same time will take the cliché pictures with his girlfriend.

On the YouTube video, Is Instagram the Best Thing to Ever Happen to Photography? From the PBS Idea Channel, they argue just that. The video argues that Instagram promotes art. That it makes people think about what message they are trying to convey with their photos. Also they mention that if Twitter provides a platform for everyone to be a potential journalist, then Instagram provides the platform for everyone to be a potential photojournalist. I would also like to interject into that idea, as long as the story fits into a 140 characters and the photo is within the boxed dimensions of the app.

Perhaps this little detour back into the origins and potentials that Instagram possesses may seem a little off subject, but I think it’s important for looking how we are actually interacting with it. I do believe that social media sites such as Instagram and Twitter hold great power in their instant connectedness. For example, I don’t know if the Arab Spring would have happened if weren’t for the influence of sites such as these. But on a daily basis, most Instagram users it seems are not using it for these reasons. 

So to come back to the theme of this blog, I believe that most people find the visual validation through the mundane, everyday moments in life. And are recording those moments. It seems that we want to feel connected and validated by these particular instances, but just filtered and made prettier than they actually are. One could also argue that recording these everyday moments in our lives is just another nod back towards the vintage, and the simple moments in life. That too can be another potential fully realized. 

Instagram's Specular Reflections

To look at why we place value on images of ourselves, I started to look into theory. In order to better understand why we have a need to make social media platforms such as Instagram in the first place.

In my first post I brought up the phenomenon of mirror recognition, which is when a child first looks in the mirror and is able to identify themselves as the image in the mirror. It is at this point that the child is separated from the outside world, and now has a place in the physical environment.  It is this point in our lives that we are first placed into what can be called the social symbolic. Our lives from then on revolve around images, and how those images relate to the image that we now have of ourselves in this world of the visual. Elizabeth Grosz in her reading of Jacques Lacan and his views on this specular recognition says that the body “becomes the organizing site of perspective, and at the same time, an object available to others from their perspectives – in other words, both a subject and an object.” (Grosz,37-38.)

Sigmund Freud had a couple different ideas for the ego, including one that he called the narcissistic ego. He regarded the narcissistic ego as having a storehouse of libido, “a kind of psychic repository or dam where libido can be stored from its various sources throughout the body in the anticipation of finding appropriate objects in which it could be invested.” (Grosz, 33.) As Lacan describes the self can be both subject and object, so the ego can then invest value or libido towards itself as object. Images of the self, either in a mirror or pictures serve as sources of validation for the ego. Grosz says that Lacan saw the ego as a product of the internalization of others. It becomes what he calls a map for the body’s “psycho-social meaning.” (Grosz, 43.)

The ego, or the self is formed off the interactions and investments with others and its own body. It is formed through a network of interactions, a continually weaving mesh of fluctuating identity.  This identity is formed through in how the self views itself in relations to others. Imagining others viewing them, and  viewing themselves in the reactions of others. Lacan says that “its fascination with specular reflections will forever orient it in an imaginary direction.” (Grosz, 43.) The imaginary is the identification with images, and the investment that we give to them.

I believe that it is pretty easy to see how Instagram is just another venue that allows us to invest value to ourselves as visual objects. Being able to take photographs of yourself is not a part of any new technology. Feeling validated by images is not new. This app is simply adding to the lexicon of investing into the visual imaginary of ourselves. However, what this has provided is a larger platform to exercise these validation needs.

On my own Instagram account I have people following me that I’ve never met, including people from other countries. We have access to visually connect with the world. Of course you can change your privacy settings so that you have to approve people that follow you. But is seems that most people do not, and this includes myself. I have 42 followers at the moment. And I’ll admit that sometimes I feel that the number isn't high enough. And I do get a sense of validation when someone new follows me, or if someone likes my photos. I do know some people that do not care how many people follow them, or how many people like their photos. They only downloaded the app so that they could take pretty pictures for themselves.

But either way, whether you are taking filtered pictures for yourself or for the world, you are still investing into the narcissistic ego. You are still experiencing self-validation thanks to the visual interactions of Instagram. And once again, these don’t even have to be pictures of yourself but they can also be pictures of things you are doing. They are still connected to you, extensions of your ego. 

What Does Instagram Want?

Looking at the features of Instagram might be a way to begin talking about how we function and converse with this technology. And of course, ultimately how it works with the human experience of searching for validation.

First, I think that one of the most important attributes about it is that it only lives on your smart phone. You can access your account on a computer, change features such as privacy and bio information, but you cannot look at photos, not even your own. So it is social media app that does not want to be sedentary. It begs to be on the go. It wants you to take pictures as you are moving, traveling, experiencing.

 

And some may find it strange to word that sentence in such a way that suggests that Instagram could “want” anything. I borrow this rhetoric straight from Kevin Kelly, the cofounder of Wired, and his book What Technology Wants. Kelly argues that technology has wants, no matter how unconscious they may be. He says that, “want does not mean thoughtful decisions…Its mechanical wants are not carefully considered deliberations but rather tendencies. Leanings. Urges. Trajectories.” (Kelly, pg.16-17.) Whether or not you completely agree with Kelly, I believe that you can still talk about Instagram’s wants in what it asks you to do.

Instagram has five primary navigation buttons. The first is the home page, where you get a linear stream of photos of people that you follow. You can like and comment on photos, much the same way as Facebook. The second, is the explore button. This is the popular page and displays what are the most liked photos by other Instagram users. So not only does Instagram want you to explore in the tangible world, it wants you to explore around in the virtual Instagram world as well. The third button is the camera link, where you can create Instagram photos from either your phone’s camera or photo gallery. The fourth button is the news feature. This has two tabs, “Following” and “You.” The first lets you see what the people you are following are doing, such as what pictures they liked, who they started following, and even if one of your Facebook friends has created an Instagram account. Facebook bought out Instagram last year. Before then there was even talk about Facebook starting a photo filter option on its own site.

Social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram function under the idea the more people that you are connected to, the better. Instagram wants more people to see your photos, and you want to give it more photos for people to look at it. Each time that you get an notification that someone new is following you or someone else liked your photo, it’s like Instagram is giving you a little validation cookie. The second tab on the news button gives you a list of these notifications.

The last button is your own personal profile. Here you are able to view your pictures in two options, either as linear timeline or on a grid. I like to think of the grid like a network, a visual representation of connectedness that sites like Instagram gives you.

I mentioned on my first post that Instagram has a feature called Geotag that can place where you are uploading your Instagram photos from. Recently this featured was replaced, or upgraded to a photomap. This still allows you to share where your photos were uploaded but now it places them on virtual map of the world. Once again, Instagram wants you to travel and it wants you to record your experience through it.

I started using Instagram this summer when I was traveling abroad to Morocco, Turkey, and Sri Lanka. It was interesting to begin to think about not only wanting to record your experience, but also thinking about how others would view your experience. Personally, I did feel validated in regards to my trip when someone would comment or like one of my photos.

We are connected to the grid. Even across oceans and miles away from home, we are conditioned to feel that our experiences are more validated when we are sharing them with others. 

Interactive Photo Diaries

Our class just finished Sherry Turkle’s book, Alone Together, which asks to us to consider the connectedness that technology allows us to have with it and each other. How has technology affected the way that we communicate with each other and the ways in which we are able to understand ourselves? Are we able to ever be truly alone? To go back to the theme of this blog, do we feel validated as a person, if we are not continuously connecting with others?

It seems to be human nature to want to tell your story. People hand-painted on cave walls, they kept diaries, wrote letters, etc. And now we post pictures of ourselves, our food, our pets to social media places like Instagram. Instagram is now part of a new platform for self-projection. It is our visual interactive diary.

Turkle says on pg. 16 of Alone Together, “I once described the computer as a second self, a mirror of the mind. Now the metaphor no longer goes far enough. Our new devices provide space for the emergence of a new state of the self, itself, split between the screen and the physical real, wired into existence through technology.” How is wiring yourself into technology different than writing yourself into language in a diary? Both language and technology work as networks, as systems of symbols and meanings. However, something different does seem to be happening with these new areas of self-expression, these new self-portraits.

We are downloading ourselves. Not just with Instagram. This app only represents one file on the online portfolio that we are now creating. Turkle says that technology can become a “performance of you.” (Turkle, pg. 191.) Instagram is helping form the visual script of ourselves. Like a brand, we must become conscious about what sort of image our images are projecting. And with photo filters that can create the ideal lighting and shading we have even more control over our avatar-selves.

In “real” life we have different versions of ourselves that we play out for different people.  It doesn't mean that one self is more real or less real than another. It is all just a part of the fluid nature of humanity. However, social media teaches you how to manage your best self. On Instagram, everyone sees the same pictures of you, everyone sees the same you. You are not the imperfect, dynamic person you are in “reality”. I would argue in many ways Instagram makes us more static. Even though we are constantly updating it, feeding it with more photos it gives us more control over the dynamic parts of ourselves.

I would also argue the difference between these visual diaries and the ones we write in, is that they are precisely that, visual. They are visual to others, not only ourselves. A diary, or perhaps even a personal photo scrapbook gives the self a certain amount of validation and self-assurance with memories and emotions. But they are not a performance for others (typically). These images produce validation by the acknowledgement of others.

One issue that Turkle kept bringing up in Alone Together is the idea of authenticity. How do these filtered versions interact with the authentic versions of ourselves? Or is there truly an authentic version? I’m not sure what the answer is to that question. But I do believe that we hold value in these ideal images of ourselves, or of things that we are associating with, doing, experiencing. I believe that nearly everyone has sought validation for the ego they are trying to script for themselves, but now this ego validation gets feds depending on whether or not a heart is clicked on, or not. 

The Beginning

For my Living Through Technology class we are being ask to look at a piece of technology and see how it interacts with a human experience. For my project I have begun to look at the app, “Instagram,” and how it comes into contact with the human experience of self-validation, or ego-validation as I have started to call it.

This app was launched in 2010, and allowed users to upload pictures taken from their smart phones and then apply one of their filters to give it an edgy, professional look.  Instagram is a social networking site, but also allows you to upload your pictures to other social networking sites, such as Facebook and Twitter. It even has a “Geotag” feature that can place you in any part of the world that you uploaded the photo.

 I believe that people have always needed to be validated, however, in this contemporary world it seems validation has gone into overdrive. We feel compelled to post pictures of our dinners on Facebook or tweet about what we just ordered at Starbucks. Perhaps, these things are not valid if we do not put them into the networks. That somehow we matter less as people, if we are not uploading ourselves for others to see. Instagram places these new hyper-validation needs all in the visual realm. 

A few other animals (such as dolphins) can recognize their own reflections, but some would perhaps argue that being able to do so is one of those innate abilities that makes us human.  We find validation in images of ourselves. We have mirrors to check and make sure we are society appropriate, or what image we are trying to portray. We hang pictures of ourselves on walls so we can look at ourselves in ideal circumstances:  the entire family is smiling, dressed up, and looking slightly towards the left. But now this visual validation has gone viral. We post pictures everywhere. We look at other people’s pictures, and judge our own lives accordingly. We find validation in the need for others to see us, and for us to compare with their own set of visuals.

For this contemporary phenomenon, I have been reading into different theorists, particularly Freud’s ideas on ego and Lacan’s mirror recognition stage. I am trying not to go down into the rabbit hole of a feminist spin on the assignment, instead I am choosing to focus my energy on the projection of the self as subject and object. We are validated by images because visually it shows us in totality, we appear whole. We can then invest energy into the projections, both as an other and as an extension of our whole selves.

We have all been posting validating pictures on Facebook, but Instagram now allows us to go one step further, we can literally “filter” our pictures to make them appear that much more ideal. Elizabeth Grosz has this reading into Lacan, “Relations between self and other thus govern the imaginary order. This is the domain in which the self is dominated by images of the other and seeks its identity in a reflected relation with alterity. Imaginary relations are thus two-person relations, where the self sees itself reflected in the other.” Sherry Turkle talks in her book, Alone Together how we are now uploading our ideal selves. So if the imaginary order is made of images in relations to others, we now may have more control and power over those images than ever before in human experience.

Does technology such as Instagram, make us less connected to our idea of a reality or does it give us the tools to reconfigure a new form of reality or imaginary order? 

This blog will be my own tool in helping to map out my research, discussions, further questions, and whatever else might come about through this project. 

With Instagram, I am not an outsider looking in. I have my own photo-filtering account. You can follow me at @shelbelise. I will also be posting pictures here from my Instagram account.