CULTURE S / S 14
JUICEBOX
EDITOR ’ S LETTER
The antisocial media
There is a new era of Internet culture that is playing with the people we try to impress on social media . Our culture is ever changing and the way we are portrayed can now be adapted to the hyper-reality we want to live in . Have you asked yourself , how accurately are you portrayed on social media sites ?
Most of us have seen the MTV program Catfish , where online daters see if their ‘ true love ’ is really who they say they are . An Internet dating site is one extreme of our online editing skills but it is not the only place we edited our own lives ; it happens on all social media sites , Facebook , Instagram , Twitter and Tumblr . We can ’ t deny we change our appearance online and we are all guilty of it . Looking through my Facebook I have 803 friends of which I forget who most of them are or where I met them . I have one picture to sum up who I am as a person , but how can one picture show my whole personality ? Or how can a 140 character tweet make me seem like a witty and interesting human being , of one I would like to follow ?
Imagine if we couldn ’ t un-tag any photographs on Facebook , who would you be then ? All my drunken moments , silly moments and attempt-to-be-cool moments will be shown to the ‘ mere ’ 803 people of whom I don ’ t know much about . Reportedly now 55 million photographs are uploaded to Instagram everyday . The photos we post make us seem effortlessly cool , by going out all the time , trying out exotic foods and exercising regularly ; when in reality we go out once a month and throw back our lives every Thursday .
It ’ s not just all about personality on the Internet ; body image plays a key role . A couple of years ago you would go to the
beach to not worry about your bikini body , because only the beach would see your muffin top or love handles . It was comforting knowing it was the only acceptable place in society to look normal . However the rise of ‘ mobile uploads ’ now opens the beach up to everyone you know ; that guy you liked on Facebook can see your body before even meeting you . Body image can work both ways and the ‘ selfie ’ is a game changer . We can choose and pick the most attractive photos of us by attempting a shot from every angle . Our generation know an infinite number of possible ways to take a selfie and on top of this we can add a filter to make us seem hipster .
It seems that some people who don ’ t ‘ Look Up ’ ( A film that went viral to help us put down our phones ) can experience insecurity and depression . Why don ’ t I look like that and why is there life better than mine ? Or I need to go out more ? The phrase most often used is ‘ FOMO ’, the fear of missing out . In reality , the people that post the most pictures are living their whole life through the screen of a phone . Why go to a concert if you just watch it through your own screen , while hopelessly trying to get the best film footage ? You might as well have stayed home and watched it on television .
L : SN Global has taken this subject one step further and linked it with consumer habits ; they ’ ve created the trend of Polarity Paradox Lifestyle . This lifestyle defines our choices as all or nothing . One day we want to be a vegetarian because of latest media posts however while watching the next Man Vs . Food episode we see how much red meat can be consumed as possible . It shows the influence of the Internet can be powerful .