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.