FACEBOOK'S IMAGES
Like language, the images that inhabit the worlds of the social media are mind-numbing and cliché ridden. One often hears about a 24 hour news cycle and I reckon that the same sort of principle applies to postings and status updates. Imaging plays a big part in this as it’s meant to capture the punter’s attention. Alongside language being caught up in the vortex of decreasing meaning and quality, the images that users generate have become predictable and formula-driven. What’s made the whole thing worse is that platforms like Facebook have substantially reduced access to online news services and special interest sites so that newsfeeds are now full of images highlighting skulls, café cuisines, half consumed glasses of a rough red (often accompanied with a scent-infused candle chugging away in the background) and punters jumping up and down for some reason. And it’s this kind of dross that has become the reality for anyone activating an electronic device. Image a...