The Power of the Picture

We are all connected

The power of the eyes of big brother are more powerful than you think. There are people watching you from left to right whatever you do on the internet you will always be watched.

the panopticon in today’s world are cameras that take surveillance within the shopping centres and carparks but in this matter, it is the internet. The internet is encountered as big brother in the social networks that you encounter every day (Kuttainen, 2017).

One of the most unique and influential social media websites that is relevant to the panopticon is Tumblr. Tumblr is a digital media platform that is characterized by the use of images in the form of blogging. The social media website stands out by offering many different features for example you can connect to other people by messaging them or commenting on a photo, even a hash tag may connect you to other people that may have the same interest as you. That’s when the concept of six degrees of separation is demonstrated. There is a specific connection that Tumblr has incorporated and to have the understanding is that Tumblr has another aspect of connecting to the people. The power of a single image is what connects many individuals together this is because they are looking at the content that they are interested in whether they are passionate about it or not the single image can struck an individual’s cord emotionally (Buchanan, 2002).

Tumblr has updated a way of getting straight to the point into communication and sending out information. At the primitive stage of the internet you had to go through many obstacles just to give out that information but now, the internet has the ability to get straight to the point with just a single image or just a caption, which is the main purpose for the users of Tumblr. Tumblr can have a positive and negative effect on the individual user, this is because there are common posts where some users have a different way of expressing themselves but for their followers they can see that and connect with it emotionally, even though it may not even be aimed at the followers.

Another way Tumblr uses to demonstrated power is by sharing a post with other people. The post can gain a lot of attention especially when shared by multiple users. It gains more popularity because of the ripple effect of people reposting it. Social media consultant and co-founder of the Blues dogs barbeque has made his business successful by advertising it on social media. Daryl mentions that the power of the internet could help in all sorts of ways such as how the internet had helped him with his franchise (D’Souza, D 2013). In the virtual world there are different components of websites that have their own purpose but all create what is called the internet.       

Reference

Kuttainen, V. (2017). BA1002: Our space: Networks, narratives and the making of place, lecture 2: Power. (PowerPoint slides). Retrieved from http://learnjcu.edu.au

Buchanan, M. (2002). BA1002: BA1002 Our space: Networks, narratives and the making of place, week 1: (Readings), Retrieved from http://learnjcu.edu.au

D’Souza, D. (TedTalks). (2013, April, 10). Building Brand- The power of social media. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAwjeu4Y5h4

Mishra, A. (2017). The six degrees of separation theory meaning. http://blog.hackerearth.com/six-degrees-seperation-theory-meaning