The twenty-first century has brought with it a new type of vanity: the self-photographing poser. Is this behaviour a result of the advent of the Internet and social networking sites, or are these new media simply highlighting and exposing an already existent tendency?
Some twenty years ago, teenagers owning a camera, let alone posing for the camera, was something of a rare thing. I think if I were to have engaged in such an act and then display it publically, I would have been ridiculed!
Today, it is almost accepted as the norm to engage in sexually alluring poses, take photographs of yourself, and then post them on publically accessible websites for everyone to see and comment on. This phenomenon is not limited to the drop-dead gorgeous babes that you might expect excessive self-loving from, but incredibly ugly people are also engaging in this act!
The anonymity of the Internet has taken on a whole new meaning, with the displaying of such alluring photographs becoming so much of a cultural phenomenon that it is verging on the creation of alternate virtual identities.
While there are many users who are happy to accept and display normal, and sometimes unflattering portraits of themselves publically, sadly there are some people who refuse to accept reality, and portray themselves to the public solely through the framed lens of their own camera.
One extreme case, that I am personally aware of, involves a particular young girl who refuses to let any "normal" photograph of herself be displayed publically. In reality, this girl is as plain and as ordinary as you can get, but every single photograph publically viewable on social networking sites portrays her as glamorous and beautiful, solely due to framing and photo-manipulation. I physically witnessed her "untagging" herself from a photograph that displayed her as just an ordinary girl.
Is this kind of behaviour dangerous? The escape from reality into a world of fabrications. It seems as though this girl is uncomfortable with her reality. What happens when she realises that photo-manipulation does not change reality, but is merely a temporary mask to the truth?
