SOCIAL EXPERIMENT

Following my one-to-one with Jennifer (here) and the decision to carry out social experiments for further research into social media obsession & dependency, a small experiment was conducted amongst a few of my personal Facebook friends. I asked for individuals who would be willing to note down how many times they checked their social media accounts within a 24 hour time period - whether this be on their phones, laptops, tablets, etc. Nine friends agreed to take part and proceeded to keep track of their social media visits.

Below are the results of the nine anonymous people of various ages, ranging from 19 - 70+, that took part (oldest to youngest):

Participant 1 - 07 times

Participant 2 - 26 times

Participant 3 - 81 times

Participant 4 - 35 times

Participant 5 - 42 times

Participant 6 - 50 times

Participant 7 - 16 times

Participant 8 - 45 times

Participant 9 - 66 times

Taking into account that some of the results may not be 100% accurate, these findings are being used as a rough calculation. On average, the number of social media visits were more frequent within younger participants. If the person in question was awake from 8am-11pm, it would transpire that the most active individual checked for updates around 9 times an hour with the least checking only once every few hours. After examination, the results show that the average person checks their social media around 4 times an hour within a normal day. 

This experiment was conducted on a Tuesday/Wednesday, which for most people is a normal working day. Personally I think these results are extremely high as on a weekday most people would be at work, college, uni, etc. and shouldn't really be updating social media. I think that the results would show an even higher quantity of social media activity if collected on a weekend, as people have extra time to themselves and are free to socialise within this time. Another experiment to clarify this would help me gain a complete understanding of how dependant the participants are to their social media throughout the week and I would then be able to make an improved judgement on the results.

PETRA COLLINS: SELFIE

I explained how I’ve been feeling a little lost within my project within my latest tutorial session. I have so many different ideas going around in my head at a million miles an hour, but I haven't really stuck to any of them and produced solid pieces of work yet, causing me to come to a bit of a stand still. 

Jennifer introduced me to the work of Petra Collins in the hope that this would give me some inspiration to move forward and get back on track. I’m grateful for this guidance, as I hadn't heard of Collins’ work before and I feel as though it really channels the type of first-hand/real life imagery that I wish to include within aspects of my own work. When researching further into her various works, I gained the most inspiration from the selfie series as it loosely portrays the same message as I am wishing too, however focusing solely on selfie culture, rather than social media as a whole. 

Selfie:

'ongoing series started in 2013 – now examining selfie culture in teenage girlhood and the power for young women to create, curate and distribute their own imagery.'

What inspires me most, is how simplistic and effortless the final outcomes are, almost giving you the feeling that you are there in the moment within the image.  Making a final outcome that is relevant and relatable is something that I want to achieve as I think that when you are engulfed within a book or a story, etc. that has real life values and situations throughout it, it explains the message to the reader on a personal level which improves the success rate of the outcome.

REFLECTIONS

• I’m still unsure whether I wish for my whole project to have this same style of imagery throughout, or whether to mix and match this with editorial concepts. By experimenting further with portraiture photography techniques in real life situations, compared to staged studio versions I will be able to make an informed decision on which helps the development of my ideas the most productively. 
• In these early stages of the project I need to be testing as much as possible to ensure that positive changes can be made to improve the quality of work and that I can gain as much feedback as possible from my tutorial sessions.

EXACTITUDES

When speaking with my mother about my final major project – just in general terms, explaining what I was basing it all about – she said to me:

‘Oh well all you girls in your Facebook pictures look the same to me’

A eureka moment suddenly hit me, as I remembered the work of Ari Versluis and Ellie Uyttenbroek, Rotterdam based photographer and stylist who have worked together since 1994. I had looked into their series exactitudes – a contraction of ‘exact’ and ‘attitude’ – when writing my Dissertation earlier this year and knew that it would be of some benefit to revisit.

Their work is inspired by an interest in prominent dress codes and innumerable social groups, systematically documenting various identities over the last 13 years. Rotterdam’s assorted, multicultural street scene is a main source of inspiration for the pair, although since 1998 they have been broadening their horizons and working in several cities abroad.

‘By registering their subjects in an identical framework, with similar poses and a strictly observed dress code, Versluis and Uyttenbroek provide an almost scientific record of peoples attempts to distinguish themselves from others by assuming group identity. The apparent contradiction between individuality and uniformity is, however, taken to such extremes in their arresting objective-looking photographic viewpoint and stylistic analysis that the artistic aspect clearly dominates the purely documentary element.’

This research and my mother's comment combined got my thinking about how a lot of people that I personally follow on social media accounts such as: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat are quite similar in appearance. Could this be due to trends in images and content being posted?

NETNOGRAPHY

I tested out this theory by conducting some netnography research - the practice of ethnology that analyses individuals behaviour on the internet. By searching through my Instagram feed,  I was able to find a selection of images that all have similar characteristics:

1. Within all of these images, the females have the same tilted side view pose, along with similar makeup and hair looks.

2. Waist Training sponsored posts and promotions were commonly found on celebrity/blogger accounts, all with alike styling and appearance.

Other examples of this could be:
The ‘Kylie Jenner Lip Challenge’ that went viral in 2015, where it seemed like everyone on Instagram suddenly had these huge lips as a result of lip plumping tools and products all inspired and promoted by the celebrity herself.

or

Simply high street clothes stores promoting their collections and new products through their social media accounts, which then inspires people to purchase these items. For example, Topshop have 6.6 million followers on Instagram alone, if they post a picture of their bestselling product, chances are a lot of that following are then going to purchase that same item.

REFLECTIONS

• From this information, it has been proved to me that a vast amount of content online is extremely alike and is influential on society and their self identification, both in subtle and drastic ways.
• I feel that at the minute, my thoughts and ideas are too literal and as a result of this, I'm not producing content with enough artistic and abstract relevance. 
• I've learnt that intense research is the key to success, as the more knowledge that I gain within a subject field, the more it will be reflected within my final outcomes. Research skills are something that will be of value to me throughout my whole career, no matter the industry, so being able to fine tune and perfect them now during the production of this project will ensure that I can use them the most effectively.

TUTORIAL WITH JENNIFER

I went into my one-to-one tutorial with a neutral attitude towards my project after the set back from the previous shoot that hadn't turned out well as I had hoped. I had researched further into my ideas to ensure that my thoughts were clear in my mind so that I could explain in the most effective way to show my progress; when I feel organised within my work it helps me gain a positive attitude as I feel everything is in order and can be achievable when planned well.

The images from the data board shoot were shown, with the explanation of how I tested the look, the struggles I faced sourcing a model and how after receiving the final images I did not feel that they actually fit the project outlines that I had set myself. Jennifer agreed with my thoughts on the images, expressing that they were ‘pretty’ images that would be great within a futuristic, robotic idea, but within my idea of tackling real life issues, it just doesn't work effectively. It was helpful to gain a second opinion that matched my own, as it lightened my attitude and I gained some confidence, which I sometimes need - confidence and believing in myself is an issue I struggle with regularly. By keeping on top of workload and always updating ideas so that I fully understand my thoughts, it will help me keep a wholesome outlook on my project and slowly help me gain the self-assurance I need to excel. 

Since shooting, I had been rethinking the focus of my concept, looking into real life situations that I can see around myself and the people in my life and how they are becoming consumed by social media and the technology needed to use it. I started to take down some notes of some first-hand observations around me:

•    Obsessions with celebrity Instagram accounts

•    People using Snapchat to document almost everything in their day-to-day lives

•    Photographing food to then post on social media accounts

•    Friends sitting looking through the social media on they mobile phones, while on the laptops, while watching television

•    Visiting friends, then all siting on our phones looking through social media platforms and not actually speaking to one another.

•    People posting how they are feeling on social media. Is this for attention? a cry for help? to boast?

•    Happy selfies being posted online, but are these people really in a happy frame of mind? Is this a mask?

•    Nights out being documented from almost start to finish. Have they actually enjoyed the night?

•    I myself check my social media accounts when I wake up in the morning, sometimes half an hour passes and I’m still in the same position doing the same thing. Is this wasted time?

These ideas were shared with Jennifer, along with a Pinterest board I had collated including images that I found inspiring or relatable to my own ideas. I was praised on the research I had created, however she then challenged me asking: why do I look to Pinterest for help with ideas so much?

Pinterest: https://uk.pinterest.com/adkins0730/

After taking time to reflect on this question, I have decided that I should step away from the online pin board as it can cloud the mind and only allows me to think of ideas that have already been created before. I hadn't realised how much of an impact the website had on my creative outlook of my project. Without knowing, some of my ideas were very similar to a few of my pins - not exactly carbon copies, but they had many similarities which was worrying for me as I don't want my work to be so heavily influenced by work that is already out in the world. I understand that it is nearly, if not impossible, to create something totally unique that has never been thought of before, however I want to try and push the boundaries of my ideas so that they progress from my own thoughts and innovations rather than off the back of others. By doing this and pushing myself, it will help with my confidence issues and to create work of the best quality that I will feel really proud of.

What Next?

• To ensure the project moves forward, I should undertake a social experiment or two to understand the habits and patterns of people around me (friends, family, etc) . This will aid me in gaining knowledge on how serious the issue of social media obsession and dependency is within my circle of friends/family and what issues that need to be focused on when creating concepts - this also works well as these are the individuals who I will be looking too to be included (as models) within my my publication.

SELFIE ADDICTION

I came across this article (here) when researching into social media obsession.  It speaks about how a 19 year old boy dropped out of education, wouldn’t leave his home and lost a severe amount of weight all in the hope to improve his appearance for selfies. I hadn't realised the extent that social media and smartphone obsession had reached, as I only have personal experiences to relate too. 

For someone to be spending 10 hours a day, taking over 200 images of themselves seems so unrealistic to me, however Dr David veal explains how ‘Danny’s case is particularly extreme, but this is a serious problem. It’s not a vanity issue. It’s a mental health one which has an extremely high suicide rate.’

Danny says that:

‘I was constantly in search of taking the perfect selfie and when I realised I couldn’t I wanted to die. I lost my friends, my education, my health and almost my life. The only thing I cared about was having my phone with me so I could satisfy the urge to capture a picture of myself at any time of the day. I finally realised I was never going to take a picture that made the craving go away and that was when I hit rock bottom.

People don’t realise when they post a picture of themselves on Facebook or Twitter it can so quickly spiral out of control. It becomes a mission to get approval and it can destroy anyone. It’s a real problem like drugs, alcohol or gambling. I don’t want anyone to go through what I’ve been through.’

From personal experience I can understand feeling frustrated when the lighting isn’t perfect in a picture or if I simply cant get the right angle, which even then is a silly thing to be getting worked up about in my opinion. Why should a selfie or a picture that you post on social media ruin your day?

It is only a picture at the end of the day.

This article has opened my eyes to how serious some of the issues surrounding social media use are, inspiring me to want to truly understand the matter and convey it throughout the project in the best possible way. By conducting further research through primary resources and academic psychology journals, it will help me appreciate this topic, as at the minute it is completely new to me.

Being knowledgeable within a subject matter will achieve better outcomes in the long run, as it will open up different thought processes and paths for ideas to grow from. The ideas and concepts behind the project imagery should improve as a result of this, as there will be factual knowledge behind it.

ALDRIDGE, G. and K. HARDEN, 2014. Selfie Addict Took Two Hundred a Day – And Tried To Kill Himself When He Couldn’t Take Perfect Photo. The Mirror. [Viewed 13 February 2016] Available from: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/real-life-stories/selfie-addict-took-two-hundred-3273819