No, not the things on the end of your thumb, but the little pictures of people’s faces that we see on their Facebook profiles, LinkedIn profiles, online dating profiles, and probably every other social network in existence.
Take online dating for instance. I know that someone’s appearance shouldn’t matter as much as their character, sense of humour, and all that good stuff, but if you’re a member of an online dating site, can you put hand on heart and say that you initiated contact with another member who didn’t have a photo of themselves on their profile?
Because in most cases people are happy to post a photo of themselves, we come to expect it, and even rely on it in the judgements we make about people.
Facebook is another case in point – in fact with Facebook the whole issue gets subverted by our wish to feel good about ourselves. When we connect with an old friend on Facebook, someone we haven’t seen for years or even since schooldays, our first move is to their profile pictures. Have they aged badly? Have I aged better? Did they lose their looks? Am I still attracted to them? Should I feel sorry for them? They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but I think it depends on what those words would be.
Even a business network like LinkedIn can be tainted by association in our minds. When I answer questions on LinkedIn groups, I find myself tending to pay less attention to the ones posted by members without profile pics, even though it has absolutely no relevance whatsoever. My brain has become programmed to want to know what someone looks like before I decide whether to interact with them in any way.
I wonder what would happen if all the major social networks hid everyone’s profile pictures for a month. Obviously we would all notice, but would it affect our interactions in any way? Would we interact with the same people, or would we start looking for other ways to form a judgement about someone? What they wrote, for example?
I know that western society is often lambasted for being shallow and concerned more with appearance – just look at fragrance advertising for an example.
But are we like that with our friends and colleagues as well? Are we in denial about it? And does it even matter?
I totally agree. Facebook is the worst when it comes to this, and Twitter a close second. Nobody cares to read an entire article anymore. People have always done this, just browsing headlines and looking at picture/captions, but children are now being raised on this hyper-browse environment.
This is certainly an issue that has yet to see its peak, I’d go out on a limb to say that levels of ADD and ADHD will be on the rise in the next few decades.
Thanks,
Mike
My daughter of 7 wants a smartphone so she can go and get involved with all this, in someways the social network revolution is great but in others it is terrible, give a 10 years no one will know what a paperpack book is as we will all have kindles.
It’s amazing: The more technology we develop that “keeps us connected”, the more socially isolated we are becoming. I mean really, you don’t need to leave the house anymore to communicate with just about anyone, anywhere in the world.
Great, great, read…
If you gonna ask me, pictures are not important. As long as I have a good communication with the person. And I guess without profile pics on your page on social media sites, you would get less interaction.
I think the pictures definitely help
I recently found a real funny picture depicting the “Facebook you vs the Real you” which totally goes to show you that you do not know who is really who behind the photos. While pictures are important people need to remember that anyone can take a photo and open an account with it. Be sure to keep that in mind before giving out personal info or meeting up with someone you meet on sites like these.
It’s amazing: The more technology we develop that “keeps us connected”, the more socially isolated we are becoming. I mean really, you don’t need to leave the house anymore to communicate with just about anyone, anywhere in the world.
There’s nothing wrong with using our sight to discern things we like, dislike recognize as safe or dangerous. I think if all the social networks hid the pictures of users for a month, I’d start a new one that didn’t because people would not want to interact that way. We’re very visual
I agree there is something shady about a personality without a face to put it to. The funny thing is people should realize by now that the picture could be fake so in the end should it really matter? I think we are in denial about how much appearance affects our friendships and interactions with others but in no way is this a western society flaw alone, the east, north, and south are just as much in denial as we are.
I find a big reason of why I visit websites is to see the pictures of people I know and care about. If there was no pics I probally would not log on.
i hate facebook when i see lots of good looking people as i cant find a good picture of my self
You know what they say: “a picture is worth a thousand words”. Sadly our society is very shallow and looks are everything even if some people refuse to admit it. I hate seeing girls post a new picture of themselves on facebook everyday. Stop posing you’re not a model and you never will be.
It’s so true. We are very dependant on photos. The old saying of “Don’t judge a book by its cover” can simply get thrown out of the window in this modern, techy society!
With regards to the online dating, a photo lets you look into the eyes of your prospective date, the action of of being able to look into the eyes of another person gives us some kind of re-assurance. weird!
Nice Post. Our depending on photos is absolute normal… Just what we can see, we can evaluate.
I think there is a certain sense that if someone hasn’t took the time to upload an avatar then they aren’t really dedicated to using the service. I know that I tend to avoid these people because of that.
I totally subscribe to what you said here.
As far goes the technology, this keeps us less involved in a real social action. But this what we want, sadly.
Anyway, a photo can be very tricky regarding the real personality and feelings of a person.