Social Norms In New Media Analysis

A photograph, painting, canvas, or drawing today is not the same as it was a decade ago. Technology has evolved to the point where we can photoshop a person into a picture, enlarge a person’s butt, or even whiten people’s teeth. At what point do those technological advances cross a line? With social media ranging from Facebook and Twitter to Instagram and Tumblr, do these media sites promote egotistical behavior? In January of 2013, John Paul Titlow discusses some of the disadvantages and advantages that Instagram has in his essay: “#Me: Instagram Narcissism and the Scourge of the Selfie” that was posted on a website called ReadWrite. Although Instagram was primarily created to simply share pictures, it has evolved to do much more than that. Some businesses use it to advertise, some people use it to share their art, but then there are some people use it to flaunt their own personal lives in the form of pictures. Titlow acknowledges that Instagram is a desirable way to share art and diverse imagery, but additionally acknowledges that it can be a place where one can promote their own self-popularity. He explains that Instagram has become remarkably important in people’s lives to the point that they cannot view life past those Instagram likes (Titlow). Ultimately, Titlow succeeds in emphasizing the issues that Instagram has created by reason of the way he expresses his text, while furthermore expressing who the audience of his essay is, and by making his overall purpose clear.

The authors discuss the objectifying gaze, which I believe has a lot to do with how females are perceived with the usages of photo altering technology and online visual cultures. The theoretical framework of the objectification theory places female bodies in a sociocultural context with the aim of illuminating the lived experiences and mental health risks of girls and women who encounter sexual objectification (Frederickson & Roberts, 174). The pose and the filter that a young woman chooses to enhance the beauty of her photo is argued to read just that, and it allows for others viewing them to assume their lived experiences, how these young women generally are, the practices they engage in, etc. What we tend to forget, especially in an age where digital culture is so prominent, is that a picture is a snapshot of a moment in time.

Media has the ability to reinforce any stereotypical image with most viewers unaware that they are being unconsciously exposed to this material (Kenschaft et al. 2015,

“Media stereotypes are inevitable, especially in the advertising, entertainment and news industries, which need as wide an audience as possible to quickly understand information. Stereotypes act like codes that give audiences a quick, common understanding of a person or group of people—usually relating to their class, ethnicity or race, gender, sexual orientation, social role or occupation.”

Journalist Anna Hart argues this is the new era of people sharing selfies on a daily basis, that society has reached into “the age vanity, the digital vanity, you can argue no generation is immune from the selfie craze” (Hart,2014). A selfie has a variety of audiences from children capturing their best look to The Pope, it’s the new way of capturing evidence of your interaction with different people, better than asking for an autograph. However, in Hart’s (2014) article she argues that the idea that there is a need to look a certain way all of the time, especially when you are posting a selfie on social media, it almost has to be perceived in a positive way, showing the best selfie. Hart (2014) said “I need to look healthy, glossy and polished

A selfie is something that everyone has taken, regardless of age or gender. In today’s society, a selfie can be used for many reasons, but mostly to share on social media. Marketing professionals have picked up on the habits created by those who take selfies, and in turn, have made selfies a part of marketing promotions. Selfies can represent a brand, and those who are featured in the selfie can be very influential when it comes to selling the product or service. Our group conducted research and followed up with interviews to uncover the motivation behind the use of selfies in marketing. Selfies can be used in marketing campaigns to raise awareness to the brand, but they come with a risk that marketers are willing to take.

As technology editing tools have become even more prevalent, many feel the need to excessively use photoshop before they share an image online. In a pervasive world where images of unrealistic standards fuel the media on how one should look, social media has one of the most significant impacts on body dissatisfaction. Throughout the last decade, social media has become one of the most common and favored ways for people to communicate, connect, and share. Thus, there have been many debates and discussions on whether the media has a positive or a negative impact on the way an individual perceives him or herself. As the rapid growth of smartphone usage among adolescents and adults has increased, social media has become an essential part of one’s daily life. In today's society, when most adolescents and adults turn on their smartphones, often times, the first thing they will refer to is a social media site. It has become a place where they are exposed to news, images, and expectations. Often times, these images, ideals, and expectations are ingrained in their brain and bombarded with what is considered to be beautiful. Moreover, these unrealistic standards will often lead to a form of comparison, influencing them to take extreme measures. Although social media serves as a platform where people can connect, communicate, and share, it has a negative impact on one’s body image, because it can lead to a lack of self confidence and severe

“No one is forced to take selfies, but the preponderance of selfie culture inspires a heightened self-consciousness of our personal images online.” This is apart of the Times Article, and how peer pressure is the cause of people being self-consciousness about what they post online.

Minh-ha raises the point that now; women in particular have the potential to be “co-creators” in regards to their body image. She argues that the images of women – particularly those previously marginalized – have been radically transformed and that they now have agency to portray themselves wherever, however and if they chose. Gone are the days where the object of an image was controlled and objectified. Now, one may control how and if they are to be objectified and to what audience. She muses over Giroux promoting the idea that selfies (and thus other forms of self-presentation on social media, inclusive of reality TV shows) are simply

The poster typically edits their pictures so they have the best lighting, do not look fat or unattractive, meanwhile their friends are having the times of their lives doing fun activities or trips. Remo even admits that she is insecure in pictures and often takes multiple pictures before she posts them, just to make sure that they do not appear “real”. The psychological effect on posting gives individuals a rush, a “Harvard study concluded that writing about ourselves on social media stimulates the same part of our brain we use when eat food, are given money … or have sex,” (Remo 5). Posting makes people feel like they are important, and important to those that like the picture. However, social media can be the cause of jealousy, especially when people your age are having more fun and experiences than you are. It makes the viewer wonder why they cannot have that lifestyle, or do the things their friends are doing. Remo recalls that a friend of hers became so upset with her life at graduate school, while Remo was going to bars, the beach, vacations in the summer. The girl cried because Remo’s life seemed better than hers, but Remo was the complete opposite. She posted those photos to make it seem like her life was better than it really was, emotionally, physically, and financially, but it was not what her life really was, “I don’t even remember that time in

The media, whether adverts, movies, or music videos, most certainly play a compelling and considerable aspect in forming our culture and the subsequent perceptions of others. Cultural stereotypes are often exemplified and strengthened through the media and the tendency is to disparage and pervert segments of the population. In the same way, what is portrayed in the media models our view and perceptions of people, which are often distorted and limited and, unfortunately, these perceptions also shape our perceptions of self, as well as how we believe others perceive us. This is further reinforced by cultural stereotypes, portrayed in the media, as they emphasize a distorted and limited view and perception of self, as well as how we believe others perceive us, and through the constant use of cultural stereotypes, this further reinforces prejudices about race, ethnicity, and gender.

When teens go online they are faced with edited photos of their idols, or even people they don’t know. Popular social media sites such as tumblr, instagram, twitter, and facebook all have photos of “perfect” girls. Teens log onto these sites are immediately immersed in photos of everything they want to be. Instagram provides the opportunity for girls to edit their photos in such a way that a person would hardly be able to tell who it is anymore. Adding lighting, blurring the background, getting the picture at just the right angle. Teen girls are practically becoming professional photoshoppers at this point. “Encouraging” pictures flood the feed on the social media sites. Examples are “Every time you say no to food, you say yes to thin”, “Skinny jeans. Skinny shorts. Skinny for life.” and “Every time you skip dinner, you wake up thinner” (Marin,

The judgments we make about people, events or places are based on our own direct impressions. But for most of the knowledge, we rely on media. The media actually re-present the world to us. However, the media only shows us some aspects of the world, ignoring the rest. So basically, the media chooses what is to be shown and what is to be discarded (Andrew Pilkington and Alan Yeo (2009)). . In this essay, I will explain what stereotypes are and primarily give an example of a famous men’s magazine called ‘nuts’ and explain how these stereotypes are created by print and the digital media and what are their impacts on people.

Selfies.” The word well word known and used by just about every child and adult in America. Miriam Webster defines a selfie as “an image of oneself taken by oneself using a digital camera especially for posting on social networks.” The key part of that definition is the inclusion of “especially for posting on social networks.” Because, after all, that 's what a lot of women do. Posting on social networks is what a lot of Americans in general do. The truth of the matter is that women dominate the usage of social media, but that doesn 't mean that they should be depicted anything other than the hardworking, daring, extraordinary people they are. The debate over the depiction of women in advertisements and social media is a prominent topic today. Women are increasingly becoming bolder members of society, breaking barriers that many thought could not be broken. For instance, with more than half of Canadian and U.S women working outside the home, and they should be accurately depicted for the hard working individuals that they are. Nonetheless, as we enter this new decade, there is a vital question that needs to be addressed. While the debate about whether or not advertisements depict women continues, the key issue is how women feel about the depiction of them in all types of advertisements regardless of what the advertisers themselves will do as a response. Do females trust that sponsors portray them in reasonable, versatile ways or do they feel they are shown as cliché

I walk into the restroom after watching a new movie with my friends. There are two girls posing in front of a mirror. In one girl’s hand there is an iPhone snapping pictures rapidly, as if they were addicted and vane. Each time they take a different photo, they change their smile. It went from pursing their lips, to sticking out their tongues, to opening their mouths almost like they were trying to catch flies. Now, everywhere I go, I see people doing exactly what those two girls did. One trend is taking selfies because it is popular and influences the younger section of society in positive and negative ways.