Oldal 47 [47]
46 | Digital Media and Storytelling in Higher Education
Visual representations on social media present a compressed moment
in the form of a story. The content of the photos is usually stereotypical: an
index image of a specific narrative structure. Based on a fragment of reality,
the recipients complete the narrative and reconstruct the story. Private
photos on social media referencing episodes of individual life stories have
idealized content, sometimes manipulated by filters, but always symmetrically
composed. The story behind a beach sunset evokes the narrative of an ideal
and exciting holiday; the adolescent girl washing her hair in the mirror evokes
a story of a first date; the photo taken at the gym hides the heroic struggle
of the user to stay fit, and the picture of the Christmas tree and a child’s first
day at school evoke the intimate family and social rituals of the user.
The other characteristic visual narratives of social media are memes
referring to collective experiences. These memes are usually first shared in
thematic social media groups and then spread through individual re-sharing.
The visual information is linked to a narrative that is meaningful to a given
community, being linked to a cultural product (typically iconic scenes from
famous films), cultural stereotypes of a community, or visual content linked
to a current news story.
DISTANCE LEARNING IS LIKE A SEANCE
Figure 1. Distance education as experienced by teachers (Facebook)