Kasia Thomas: Response to "Digital Exhibitionism: The Age of Exposure"

Digital Exhibitionism was certainly a relevant read, as our lives exist on our computers, from everything to our social interactions to our school work. Unfortunately, I found a great difficulty in trying to relate it to what we have learned, especially since none of the photography we have studied has been digital. I say this to preface my blog post, as my attempt at creating connections between this reading and what we learned during Week 6 may just be grabs in the dark (and may just be me rambling on).

"Digital Exhibitionism: The Age of Exposure" is an academic study that analyzed social networking. It found that social networking is a platform for the creation of "personal biographies". It is a vehicle for the creation of our own definitive storylines, narrated by microblogging and image sharing. It also noted the rise of digital exhibitionism and the lack of intimacy in our lives as result of over-sharing. I thought about this for a long time because it certainly is something that I see on a daily basis -- the sharing and, perhaps, over-sharing of my friends' lives. I supposed that this largely relates to the rise of family photography that we learned about in class.

The images we saw by Sally Mann were intimate and largely documentary, presenting both the subject of the photo and an obvious comment by the photographer. Her photographs feature her nude children, running about their forested environment seemingly unaware of their "snapping" mother. I think that their nudity creates a sense of intimacy with the viewer, but, in the case of Mann's photography and our lives on the internet, can something be intimate if it is shared with millions of people? It is a difficult question and one that I feel myself pondering on a day-to-day basis.

The images we share and the photographs Mann shared are all glimpses into our private lives. On the one hand, our lives are no longer as personal as they could have been prior to this culture of sharing and the lack of personal control in community social networks. We no longer have personal mysteries to be solved; they are on display. By following a person you can know everything about them from their birthday to what they ate for dinner. We are in an age of exposure (and overexposure), cultivated by our digital presence across a number of social networks. On the other hand, however, we are opening up ourselves to our viewers' scrutiny and thoughts -- a feat that is certainly bold, leaving us vulnerable to criticism and other negative responses. We are making ourselves more transparent and accessible to our peers. It is an act that mimics sharing in real life, but it is simply on a larger scale. We are cultivating friendships and creating new relationships at faster paces and with more people.

Overall, the study has left me questioning my own digital habits and whether not the intimacy of my friendships is heightened or hindered by my presence on social media.