The Digital Age: Photoshopped Selves?Dr Bex LewisResearch Fellow in Social Media and Online Learning, CODEChttp://www.slideshare.net/drbexl/ecclesia-andethics11photoshoppedselves for http://digital-fingerprint.co.uk/2014/01/abstract-the-digital-age-photoshopped-selves/

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#ecclesiaethics

The Digital Age?

http://www.mediabistro.com/alltwitter/social-media-stats-2014_b54243

First Impressions …

I share, therefore I am

Sherry Turkle, psychologist and MIT professor of Social Studies of Science and Technology.

•Today we’re in the process of rewriting these sociological chapters, one I would title The Presentation of Self in Digital Life, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Post on Facebook. We no longer just wake up and brush our hair to try and look presentable in the morning; we also have to groom our virtual selves as well—albeit an often Photoshopped version.

• http://www.wired.com/cs/promo/blogs/changeaccelerators/2011/09/21/how-social-networking-is-extending-our-nervous-system/

@pmphillips

•You know the sense that nowadays we always need to be improving ourselves – getting fitter, thinner, more skilled, less stressed. Society seems to have a compulsive need to see us constantly bettering ourselves. Someone argued that humanity has become nothing other than a resource to be updated.

Renfrew Center Survey, February 2014• “All this taking and posting photos has become an

obsession of sorts. We feel pressured to edit and alter our images so we look like what we think of as our ‘best selves’ instead of our real selves”, said Adrienne Ressler, Vice President, Professional Development,  The Renfrew Center Foundation, and renowned body image expert. “The concern is that these social media habits can fuel negative self-esteem or body image issues, setting the stage for addictions or other destructive behaviors such as eating disorders. The high is never high enough, the scale is never low enough and the image posted on social media is never good enough.” 

http://renfrewcenter.com/news/afraid-be-your-selfie-survey-reveals-most-people-photoshop-their-images

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRlpIkH3b5I

Susan Sontag (2001)

“One of the tasks of photography is to disclose, and shape our sense of, the variety of the world. It is not to present ideals. There is no agenda except diversity and interestingness. There are no judgments, which of course is itself a judgment… The camera shows us many worlds, and the point is that all the images are valid.”http://tapera.info/textos/Sontag1.pdf  

Where do we draw the line?

http://filmjunk.com/2007/05/02/harry-potter-imax-poster-gives-emma-watson-a-breast-enlargement/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Soviet_censorship_with_Stalin.jpg

http://api.ning.com/files/Go*nQJ2dIT*5a1OiX1d5oiIhWz1SnpqJ4EYat7fpSRQY0*CYmFVbykLaZheVgvHIKdelnN2NL8wlxWZCkEES6n-jSy5u6NWK/QuinnDinosaurPhoto2.jpg

http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/press-releases/oxford-dictionaries-word-of-the-year-2013/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sarah-tuttlesinger/six-tips-on-how-to-rock-a_b_3750316.html

#NoFilter

•The purpose of #nofilter in particular is to say “I didn’t use an Instagram filter or effect; this photo is less processed and more pure than many other Instagram pics.”

•…So settle down, prideful smartphone photographer. Whether or not that shot of your dessert has a filter on it just doesn’t matter. Images speak for themselves.

• http://ethanbeute.com/wordpress/instagram-twitter-hashtag-nofilter-smartphone-photo-pic/

http://filterfakers.com

Facebook Depression?•Some teenagers would say

we have to get a grip on this: “My life looks better on the Internet than it does in real life. Everyone’s life looks better on the Internet than it does in real life. The Internet is partial truths – we get to decide what people see and what they don’t.”

Francis A. Schaeffer, Art and the Bible, Ch. 1

•“If Christianity is really true, then it involves the whole man, including his intellect and creativeness. Christianity is not just “dogmatically” true or “doctrinally” true. Rather, it is true to what is there, true in the whole area of the whole man in all of life.”

Genesis 1:27

•So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. (NIV)

https://www.dropbox.com/s/804rdix88kjcxgr/Screenshot%202014-02-28%2000.24.33.png

24/7 Values? What do you stand FOR?

•Authentic – be a consistent ‘you’•Transparent – be honest, where’s the source?•Self-aware – note your ‘tone of voice’• Integrity – own your own content•Self-control – be aware of consequences•Patience – hold the trigger finger before send•Non-manipulative – ‘love Jesus’ = send this!

No!•Kindness – encourage others

QUESTIONS?

http://www.rgbstock.com/photo/mhAJos0/why%3F

http://www.slideshare.net/drbexl/ecclesia-andethics11photoshoppedselves