To feel beautiful, you must also see yourself beautiful. And also to show others. How to present yourself in a favorable light on social networks? We offer an analysis of new digital beauty trends and expert advice.
“In the future, everyone will have 15 minutes of fame.” Andy Warhol was right, except for one detail: it will be online. Today, with the opening of the first selfie museum in Manila, Philippines, psychoanalyst Serge Tisseron reminds us that “the desire to show off is fundamental to the human being, and stronger than the desire to have a secret garden.”
Today, it is not enough for social network users to simply tell about themselves, a photo is important, which creates an impression of a person on Facebook or Instagram.
Lacquering of everyday life
And what is the best photo? Where are we most like ourselves? “Not at all,” says psychoanalyst Fabien Kremer. “The “I” that we flaunt is the image of ourselves that we want to create in others.”
Each photo, before getting on the Web, is carefully selected, retouched and passed through a softening filter. These numerous virtual beauties are like a second skin. Varnish applied to our reality, a way to select only the best from it, in accordance with the rules of each network.
So, on Facebook it is customary to upload photos of the most sparkling moments of life. On Instagram, you usually show yourself from an artistic point of view. “We are trying to see ourselves as more beautiful than we are, in order to love ourselves more,” says Fabien Kremer. But because of these games with appearance, we can unlearn how to perceive reality without a filter.
Marina, 38, a lawyer, turned to a photographer to take a photo for her professional LinkedIn profile. At the time, she was looking for a job. “I am a big fan of selfies, I can take good pictures of myself. But here I wanted to provide a professional photo so that all the chances were on my side. But when the photographer sent me the pictures he had chosen, I was shocked,” she admits. – I even cried: it seemed to me that it was not me, I did not recognize myself. This is probably what unemployed people look like!”
Rewrite the tape of your life
Our image, posted on the Web, can be approved by friends through “likes” and comments. Each photo is like a tight control, and now a new facet of our virtual personality is ready. “Digital beauty is a kind of deception,” continues Fabien Kremer. – The social network is a world where we invent a new life for ourselves in order to avoid the banal everyday life. We share with friends and subscribers those moments of our lives that can impress others. However, not much has changed compared to the photo albums of the past.”
Virtual life affects what happens to us in reality
And yet – do the shades that we give to our image serve as a mask, a cover? After all, in the same way, we usually “play” with clothes in order to look different on different days: sometimes elegant, sometimes casual, sometimes stunning? . We test ourselves for “likes”, and if the community approves of us, we include these images in our selection. It’s an interesting way of self-discovery.”
But also a noticeable step forward (or to the side), because “the image of a person ceased to be his property, he became a work composed of the interactions of a whole group of people, and therefore every time he is new,” says Serge Tisseron. It is also obvious that our virtual life has an impact on what happens to us in reality. “We act according to the image we create,” concludes Jan Leroux. “This is not a comedy, and the consequences will not be long in coming.”
Talking cliches
A never-ending stream of posts spiced with photos, emojis, and comments—sometimes embedded right into a picture, made possible by a variety of messaging, photo, and video apps—become a language of its own.
“I like to start the work week by posting a well-taken selfie,” says 34-year-old Olga. “It’s a way to motivate yourself and share a good mood.”
The flow of self-representations is a way to convey emotions, a state of mind, share news
Do pictures replace words? Fabien Kremer notes that “the picture today overtakes the word. We have different ways of communication at our disposal: I think that you can even make a photo slip.
This stream of self-representations, of course, serves to make us visible, but it is also a way to convey emotions, a state of mind, share news … “I’m going on vacation soon,” says 45-year-old Karina, “and I already know what I will post your photos to share with your loved ones. I’ll only be gone for a week, so I probably won’t call my son, but we’ll exchange a few likes and comments as if we were talking.”
The exchange of picture-replicas – a phenomenon called pic speech (“talk in pictures”) – is a common practice among teenagers and not only. “For me, this new language is not limited to photography,” explains Tu Trin-Bouvier, author of Do You Speak the Language of Pictures? (“Parlez-vous pic speech?”). – It also consists of emoticons, drawings, videos and of course texts. The picture is in the foreground here, but other means are added to it.
Posting a selfie today is like saying “I”. Our images are real statements, a means of communication, and not just an expression of a selfish desire to flaunt your virtual beauty.