Kala Kids' Thoughts on Social Media

If you mindlessly scroll through Instagram or Facebook whenever you have free time, you’re not alone. But have you ever wondered how all those images of other people’s bodies could be affecting how you view your own? Social media is an important part of the lives of young people around the world. In Australia, approximately 72% of people actively use social media. In addition, young female users browse social media for around 2 hours every day. The most popular social media sites for young people are Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Youtube which are mostly image-related. There has been talk for years about mainstream media affecting the body image of millions around the world but now with the new access of social media reaching a wider audience it has become a more serious issue. There are benefits of social media such as increasing voter participation and facilitating political change, reducing social isolation, quick distribution of public health and safet...

Are celebrities gurus or goobs when it comes to their public images? Part II of this three part focus on photo texts... So.... what's a 'photo-text' right? I believe we are living in a world full of photo-texts, and that their number is on the increase. They are texts that incorporate photography in some way. For example, most social media posts can be considered as photo-texts, and they provide very interesting material for critical engagement and analysis. Last week, I wrote about ethics of sharing photos of others on our social media accounts. In my next post, I want to talk about famous people's use of Instagram, with a focus on Britney Spears' use of the social networking platform (we all know I love Britney - stay tuned!). To preempt next week's blog, today I want to write specifically about Britney's awareness of  unethical use of photographs of people, particularly of famous people. This is explored in her song "Piece of Me" and its c...