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The Digital Gaze and Social Media
Exchanges of power through looking
Social media has given us all access to a worldwide audience.
It is a tempting situation. Many enterprising people now rely on social media to make their living through the delivery of personal content — with some rare individuals earning into the millions.
How many of us, may have considered the possibility for ourselves, to share some well-judged photograph or upload some thought-provoking video, and hope that we might build a fan base from a regular feed of similar material?
And even if our intention is not to make pots of money but simply to occupy a space on these platforms, then the same pressing questions recur:
How much should I share? What does it mean to offer me and my life as content? Do I want to be seen? And what’s the difference between my true self and my online persona?
As a writer on art, I’ve long been interested in the mechanics and psychology of looking and being looked at. I believe that art history, and in particular the theory of the “gaze”, can help to open up these questions and also point to some of the dangers of sharing too much.
