|Theory Chic| Life as seen through instagram

01 May, 2013

 
ever so often I ponder on why certain things are the way they are, why stigmas are created, how new things can influence us in ways we never thought. You see these thoughts come to me because naturally I am a sociologist and anthropologist so issues as such always create a diagram in my head and rarely ever escape. I had to have a way to answer these questions, I thought the best way was to share it with all of you and so Theory Chic was born, a series where Fashion, Sociology and Anthropology would marry and live happily together in one space. Now that I have explained what this is all about, lets move on to the topic of today.
 
"life as seen through instagram" a phenomenon that has taking over our lives with out notice. You see we go about our day snapping away with our camera phones and in some instances our tablets to capture our daily activities, for some it may be lunch at a new it spot, a walk with your pet, new purchases, a gift, cool events, memories a.k.a throw back Thursdays and so on. These activities in return represent us and jots down in a virtual photo diary known as instagram the things we do, and in return provides a glimpse of our lives to the world. Some people find that too invasive and just flat out ridiculous, and I can see why but in the scheme of things, if you really look at it from a sociological point of view, it is quite remarkable, really. Here is why, pre-instagram era our lives were pretty mundane, we went about our days conjuring the duties up ahead, enslaving ourselves to those stacks of paper on our desks and disliking the fact that there were dishes to clean when we got back home. We possibly failed to see life happening around us, particles that were begging for our attention, to be noticed and to be captured; like that beautiful flower sitting in that lonely garden, or that kick-ass mural a block from your house, or the beautiful light that hits your window everyday but never paid mind to it. We also have been able to connect with family, friends and even strangers that are living in different parts of the world in a much deeper level, we almost get to feel as though we were part of their everyday because they have shared it through their social media sites. Before the social media craze, I barely knew what was going on in the lives of my family members that did not live near me and so there was a disconnect, but now I am able to see them almost everyday and I feel so much more closer to them...remarkable, I told you so.
 
the technological advances that led to the smart phones and tablets have opened up a world that could not have been imagined by our predecessors, one that has allowed us to view world events and things as fast as the speed of light, the people we follow are our other sets of eyes, they as well as us provide inspiration everyday, to seek and to see things that we never noticed before. This phenomenon has brought together people from all over the world in one space to share their human experience, that is something powerful, isn't it?  

what do you think? does my thoughts on this phenomenon resonate with yours? or not at all?

1 comment:

  1. I hear ya...FOMD (fear of missing documentation) is getting out of control. I detest when I'm at lunch with a friend and they prefer to persuse Insta that talk to me. Boooooooo.

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