The New Online Language
"Photos, once slices of a moment in the past — sunsets, meetings with friends, the family vacation — are fast becoming an entirely new type of dialogue."
When I read this quote from "Disruptions: Social Media Images Form a New Language Online," I immediately could relate to it, because I've seen it happen with my own young adult children. Where once my daughter would text me to let me know what she's been up to at college, now she more often will send a picture of where she is and who she's with. My son spent most of his senior year of high school in a constant state of Snapchat. I've also found myself drawn to using images to tell my story. It's more fun, more thought-provoking, more interesting for others to share with me in that way. I think social media users, and smart phone users, are beginning to feel the dryness, distance, and possibly isolation one can feel from only texting. Using images can also offer an opportunity to show creativity and to entertain others. I recently heard of a new app that will allow people to live stream what they're doing, with a short lag for editing purposes, so we'll see where that goes!
Let me tell you about my trip
This picture shows how we use images to tell our story now. Selfies are the new travel journal, and not just for our benefit, but also to allow others to share the experience with us, and maybe to show off a little bit, too.
I really liked the quote you chose and the image to go along with it. I feel that the picture you chose is an image that you could see out there on Facebook, Instagram, or Snapchat. Selfies are so popular. I agree that I like to view images about others rather than read a text about them. I find images more interesting. I find it beautiful how someone can capture their life through taking pictures. There is another app that I like to use, it is called Timehop. It shares photos and statuses that you took or posted from 1 year to years ago. I find it neat to see what I was doing and remembering that event or memory.
ReplyDeleteI think that it is neat the way your daughter who is away communicates with you via pictures. This is not something that I have taken hold of yet, maybe you could say I am an old soul. I liked your quote as well I feel that is captures what the author of the blog is trying to say to the reader. Your picture metaphor makes me think of social networking. This is now how many people record their vacationing, through photos. I like also how you said that others can share the experience with us, by seeing what they see in the pictures.
ReplyDeleteVery clever metaphor! I like the idea of selfies becoming an new way to create a travel journal! I rarely read what I wrote years ago but I do love browsing through old photos and reminiscing about the past! I wonder if communicating more in pictures will make us be more interested in examining our past both as individuals and as human beings?
ReplyDeleteYour travel journal is fabulious. It captured your quote perfectly. The picture you chose made me think about how many times kids send pictures of themselves via selfies from thier phones, snap chat or Instagram. Young people use this as a means to express "their all about me" this type of media needs very little text.
ReplyDeleteI picked the same quote and I agree with what you are saying about the use of pictures. The picture you use tells the story of this new generation and how we communicate our lives to each other in this age.
ReplyDeleteI think I'm one of the few people who hasn't completely caught on to the whole "sending pictures as messages" thing. Maybe it's just because my smartphone has really bad service and I don't have access to my data 24/7. I can see how for some people it might just be easier to snap a picture to send a message, even if I am still clinging to the sanctity of words. Your visual metaphor is great, also!
ReplyDeleteJulie,
ReplyDeleteYour thoughts are fascinating to read. I like your hypothesis of the reason for transitioning from text to image, and I really think you're on to something. I recently read a book that stated only 7% of verbal communication is conveyed via text. The remaining 93% is body language, gestures, eye contact, intonation and volume of voice, etc. It's very hard to replace that with merely text.
The app that will create a live stream of our experiences sounds interesting. I think it proves the fact that we are highly social creatures, and ultimately our goal is to just be connected to one another.
I really look forward to reading more of your thoughts! :)