The Spectacle, Power, Image and Control- Instagram and Snapchat Unpicked.
“Mannequin displays [the spectacle] provide multiple windows into the workings of the psyche and machinations of social life: as psychodynamic agents in the development of identity.” (Schneider, 2005)
This quote from the reading ‘Breaking Glass’ is an exploration of forces that underpin human behaviour in the development of identity. In this essay I will investigate how the theory of identity construction is considered within spectacles of the ‘window display’ and two Smartphone applications, Instagram and Snapchat.
In Breaking Glass, Schneider is focused on the idea of how designed window displays are perceived by consumers and the social interactions that take place when people come into contact with them. The author uses the example of Bloomingdales department store to illustrate this. Windows are “theatrical works of art which play upon the public’s willingness to buy”(Schneider, 2005). Glass panes act as mirrors, while mannequins stand in for ones body so that “the window may present a grandiose image of who the customer considers herself to be” (Schneider, 2005). Not only is the shopper being presented with stylized merchandising, but distorted mirror reflections portray idealised versions of a sensationalised world becoming the “site of identity construction” (Schneider, 2005).
In Paris, “The City of Mirrors… the crowd itself became the spectacle” (Schneider, 2005). “Phantasmagoria”(Schneider, 2005) is a constantly changing medley of real or imagined images, and “the displayed object becomes divorced not only from its actual use value, but from its exchange value, becoming socially valuable only for the degree of “enthrallment” it could produce in the spectator” (Schneider, 2005)
The amount of real, or imagined control that can be accessed through these windows is interesting. In times of hardship, shop windows project high spirits. An example of this was the bright Parisian displays in wartime France, during the Nazi occupation. (Schneider, 2005)
This control is intriguing. The act of shopping itself is the selection of ideas or objects in which to frame your life- an extension of personality and soul. More often than not ones selections build a sensational and idealised self-image.
The rise of the Internet is a new avenue of identity construction online. Facebook is a prime example of a media network where online personas can be very controlled and idealized to those in real life, who the consumer considers themselves to be. However two more recent examples of this have cropped up in the field of interaction design. Smartphone applications Instagram and Snapchat have been designed in very similar ways to allow spectacles such as the window displays to be created instantly. Both apps are used by the same demographic, on the same devices, however each app represents the user in totally different perspectives and the control they give their users is disparate.
Firstly, Instagram (figure 1) parallels the idea of designed window displays. The application allows its users to post photos onto a newsreel style feed. The reel you view is a culmination of all the users you ‘follow’, and you have the opportunity to ‘like’ and comment on others posts. Glass window displays are replaced with ‘filters’- which are chosen by the user to idealise the photo so the audience perceives it as being more sensational than it really is. The photos we choose to post on our public ‘feeds’ bare uncanny resemblance to the choices made when window shopping. The viewer can also attach ‘hashtags’ to our photos. Hashtags categorise photos so that they can be searched easily. But beyond this basic use the hashtag has come to “convey emotions, ideas and subtleties” (Bellona, 2013) that are reflective of social interactions.
Instagram has designed the limited control that the user exercises when making decisions on what to post, this is similar to the exaggeration of positive spirits projected in the Parisian wartime windows. For example, a typical feed of fashion blogger Katherine Lowe of ‘katherineisawesome.com’ consists of pictures in cafes (#foodporn)(figure 2), visits to designers studios (#PlacesIveBeenAndLiked) (figure 3) and daily outfits (#WIWT- “What I wore today”) (figure 4). Photos like this are not limited to Ms. Lowe only, just about everyone who uses Instagram projects a visual story of a life potentially meant to be perceived as being more glamorous than it really is. The design of Instagram allows people to create and control their façade the same way one does when they ‘shop’. Each image chosen defines the user, and as with “The City of Mirrors” (Schneider, 2005) the crowd itself has become the spectacle, illustrating the high social value placed on image.
Figure 1: (Wong, Instagram Profile Homepage)
Figure 2- (Lowe, Instagram Newsfeed Screenshot)
Figure 3- (Lowe, Instagram Newsfeed Screenshot)
Figure 4- (Lowe, Instagram Newsfeed Screenshot)
In direct contrast, Snapchat (figure 5) is used to send silly or unflattering photos (figure 6) that are viewed for a certain amount of time (under ten seconds) and are then automatically deleted. The creator of Snapchat, Evan Spiegel said the application was designed to “counteract the trend of users being compelled to manage an idealised online identity of themselves” (Colao, 2012). The user can’t place flattering filters on these photos but they can be decorated with hand drawings or text, which usually describe the situation or an inside joke. Snapchat is the antidote to Instagram, subverting the facades that users are compelled to sustain. The privacy granted to the user compared to Instagram allows very different images to be shared within a select group of personal friends.
To view an image on Snapchat, the user must maintain contact with the screen for the select amount of time. This physical engagement creates a relationship between the viewer and sender of the image, and therefore the electronic device on which it is viewed is involved in the personal experience. Because this relationship is so personal and the image will generally only be seen by the intended viewer. Snapchat allows the spectacles created to be of a more vulnerable nature than those of Instagram. The connection these images make as spectacles evoke emotions, usually generating a laugh from the viewer- a different form of social value.
However, “looking as a form of power” (McCaw, 2013) is an idea illustrated by Snapchat on a regular basis. If an image is ‘screenshotted’ (a copy is taken without the consent of the sender), it can be distributed against the sender’s will and therefore disarm or undermine the sender, giving the viewer or viewers’ power. The lack of control the original sender of these images has is extremely different to the control of Instagram.
The linguistic messages drawn from the two types of spectacles decode the social structure of the two applications. The workings which we have seen active here depict the humanistic nature of promenading that manifests itself even in the most recent technologies. Both designs function in the same role that window displays play on a more public platform, allowing users to construct sensationalized identities, each with varying degrees of publicity and control. Instagram conveys glamour, while Snapchat plays up the social value of humor and imperfection. Their inherent value exists in the social reward they can grant to the user, and therefore the enthrallment produced in the spectator.
Figure 5- (Wong, Snapchat Homepage)
Figure 6- (Wong, Snapchat Screenshot of Megan McPhail)
Jessie Wong
References-
Schneider, S. (2005). Vital mummies:performance design for the show window mannequin. Yale University Press, 153-164.
Bellona, D. (2013, January 09). [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://davidbellona.tumblr.com/post/40092791913/i-recently-spent-the-holidays-in-kailua-hawaii (Retrieved on 20th April 2013)
Colao, J. J. (2012, November 27). Snapchat: The biggest no-revenue mobile app since instagram. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/jjcolao/2012/11/27/snapchat-the-biggest-no-revenue-mobile-app-since-instagram/ (Retrieved on 21stApril 2013)
McCaw, C. (2013, March). In Caro McCaw (Chair). Window shopping. Presentation delivered at otago polytechnic lecture theater G107 Dcc lecture: week 4, Dunedin.
Image References-
Fig 1: Wong, J. (Photographer). (2013, April 20). Instagram Profile Homepage [Web Photo]. Retrieved from instagram.com
Fig 2,3,4: Lowe, K. (Photographer). (2013). Instagram Newsfeed Screenshot [Web Photo]. Retrieved from instagram.com
Fig 5: Wong, J. (Photographer). (2013, April 20). Snapchat Homepage [Web Photo].
Fig 6: Wong, J. (Photographer). (2013, April 20). Snapchat Screenshot of Megan McPhail [Web Photo].