| Title | How Smartphone Cameras Changed the Way We Document Our Lives |
|---|---|
| Contributor | Jane C. Hu (author) |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.32376/3f8575cb.b27e15cf |
| Landing page | https://www.mediastudies.press/pub/wu-smartphone/ |
| Publisher | mediastudies.press |
| Published on | 2021-07-15 |
| Short abstract | AS THE DECADE comes to a close, social media is packed with nostalgic memes marking the end of the decade. On Twitter, people are humblebragging about their biggest personal accomplishments. |
| Long abstract | AS THE DECADE comes to a close, social media is packed with nostalgic memes marking the end of the decade. On Twitter, people are humblebragging about their biggest personal accomplishments. (Mine is a tie between meeting a cat named Larry David and finally going to a Guy Fieri restaurant.) And predictably, on Instagram, people are posting side-by-side photos of their 2009 selves and their current selves. Search the Instagram hashtag #2009to2019 or #10yearchallenge and you’ll notice bangs are out and flannel is in. But there are two basic changes related to technology that are easy to miss. The first is unsurprising: Image quality has gotten much better. The second showcases how our photo taking style has changed. While most people’s 2009 photos are obviously taken by someone else—full-body shots from a distance, often containing little bits of forearm or cheek that reveal friends or family cropped out—most people’s current photos are mirror selfies where their smartphone is visible, or a flattering front-facing camera snap. Just as video killed the radio star, the smartphone has largely replaced the stand-alone camera.… |