I created two collages of alternative Facebook logos. The first collage includes several landscapes and sceneries of different locations I have photographed and placed behind the Facebook logo. The images include, beaches, lakes, skies, mountains, city lights, clouds, buildings, forests, waterfalls, and gardens. The collage has a total of 20 images, five rows and four columns. The second collage consists of sixteen images of faces I have photographed from people of different ages, nationalities, ethnicities and cultures. I cropped these images so that only one eye were visible and placed them behind the Facebook logo as if they are trying to peep through the corners of the iconic blue “F.” I created these montages using Adobe Photoshop, I downloaded an image of the Facebook logo from the web and copied it onto Photoshop placing the logo on top of one of my images and then cropped each image to create the finalized logo. I was inspired to create these collages by the personalized documentary series “Do Not Track” which talks about how we are being tracked by several digital platforms. The mini series explains just how little online privacy we have and how closely we are being monitored and tracked by the web. It is even able to reveal personal character traits based on our social media usage and Internet activity. We live in an era that if we choose to participate from the Internet culture and engage with technology we no longer have much power over our privacy. Many people are not aware the extent to which they are being monitored. I am not trying to make a commentary about if it is ethical or not that we are being tracked because I believe that we are just evolving towards a more open internet sharing economy and people are caring less and less about their privacy. Therefore we should focus on the future of this social media culture and how we decide to interact with it. In Participating in The Always-On Lifestyle Danah Boyd argues “Being always-on and living a public life through social media may complicate our lives in new ways, but participating can also enrich the tapestry of life.” It is important to be very aware about what we post and share. In The Political Economy of Facebook Christian Fucks argues that “Facebook should reveal what data the platform stores about its users, and users should be protected from Facebook’s economic exploitation of their data.” It is important to know that there is no such thing as online privacy and anything you put up online is essentially out there and accessible. Companies are monetizing of off our data and the amount of information they have about us should become public and more transparent. Our participatory culture pressures us to share, create and disseminate content, which has been very beneficial because it has enabled people to connect with each other and has unified communities. Nonetheless as audiences and consumers of these online services we should be able to know what exactly is being done with our information and data. If people are aware and accepting of what Facebook and other social platforms do with our data then I do not see any issue. However, the way these companies go about collecting data may be misleading and not clear as to what is on the backend of the system. My series of images serve to display that wherever you might go, no matter where in the globe, your every move is being tracked and stored. Similarly, no matter who you are and how hard you try to protect your privacy there is no way to really escape the data collectors. I see my collages also serving as educational material for younger students who are entering this social media era. We have reached the point where elementary and middle schools should be brining to attention the importance of being cautious online. I intend my images to serve as a wake up call and get peoples attention. They are very provocative and intrigue the viewer to question its meaning and produce discussion and conversation. The eyes behind the Facebook logo evokes a creepy uncomfortable sensation as if someone is watching you without you knowing. It is meant to represent how social media is everywhere, especially Facebook and how it holds a central part of our lives and we cannot really escape it so we better learn how to interact with it responsibly.
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AuthorI am from Panama and a sophomore at Emory University. I am passionate about photography and media making. Archives |