Features Of Visual Communication Of Girls In The Internet Space

Abstract

The article presents data related to the attitude of girls to self, which reveals the socio-psychological characteristics of the person, attitude to himself, his appearance, pointing to the stratification characteristics, is a representation of social constructs, a regulator of visual communication, allowing you to "edit" your image in accordance with expectations of external evaluation. The purpose of the work is to determine the peculiarities of using auto-presentation in the virtual space depending on age characteristics, analysis of types of selfies and social constructs. There were 120 surveyed respondents from the age of 15 to 45 years old. The study concluded that the phenomenon of selfie more typical for girls aged 19-20. The types and content of auto-presentation of life events differ depending on age. There is a correlation between the self-esteem of the girls' personality and the external assessment of their auto-presentation in the Internet community as part of the theory of social comparison.

Keywords: Self-identityconstructionexternal imagecommunicationselfie

Introduction

Nowadays, people increasingly prefer to communicate in a virtual environment, forming an auto image and their social environment in it. People, starting a personal page on social networks, fill it with content of various kinds of life events, outline a social circle, design their appearance for others, or redesign their image for themselves. According to Labunskaya (2010) “appearance becomes an important means of building the selection and recognition of certain social groups, typologies, strata, descriptions of lifestyles. The appearance of a person becomes a method of visual communication and stratification” (p. 78). One of the ways of visual communication is self-presentation in the form of a selfie. In the lexical dictionary, “Merriam-Webster” this concept is interpreted as “a photograph of oneself, made with a digital camera mainly for distribution in social networks” (Alizar, 2014, para. 77). Selfies are most often performed by shooting through a mirror or using a monopod and are a tool for regulating interaction with other members of the created virtual community.

Problem Statement

Both positive and negative sides of this phenomenon are noted. So, Tompson (2013) and Anufrieva (2014) is considered a selfie with a new level of manifestation of narcissism.

In the works of some scientists, selfies are understood as a positive phenomenon, which is due to the fact that thanks to the pictures, people's lives are filled with semantic content. And, if we are talking about teenagers, then for them a selfie is a way of self-expression and an opportunity to tell about important life events. It is believed that selfie enhances self-confidence, emphasize one’s own individuality and uniqueness, preserve important memories (Bochantseva, 2016).

“Scientific and practical electronic journal Alley of Science” No. 15 2017 Alley-science.ru communication called selfie a deviation, thereby filling medicine with a new disease — a selfie, against which no medicine has yet been found (Kharitonova, 2017). This is a mental disorder that is accompanied by obsessive ideas, movements, thoughts. Therefore, active self-photographing is not only a pleasant process, but also a manic one. Along with alcohol and drugs, hundreds of thousands of people experience self-dependence. The number of identical pictures taken independently increases with each passing day, they do not carry any aesthetic value, but a person wants to make them as large as possible, even if it puts his life in danger. A large number of cases have been recorded where people risk their lives for the sake of an unusual photo, die under ridiculous circumstances, or end up in suicide, because it is impossible to make a good photo. So, according to statistics for 2015 from accidents that occurred during photographing, 50 people died and this figure increases (Pogontseva, 2013).

Scientists have already identified three degrees of self-exposure: episodic (up to three photos per day without posting on social networks), acute (more than three photos per day posting on social networks), chronic (more than ten photos a day posting on Internet resources) (Grinkova, 2015).

Research Questions

In the works of Odarushchenko (2016) can be seen characterization of "selfie" as a crisis of self-determination, especially vividly manifested in adolescence as a way to comprehend his internal and external self.

Ouellet (2014) compares "selfie" with a virtual analogue of material totems, such as souvenirs, cards, toys. This contributes to the harmonization of the internal and external world and allows you to present yourself in a more favorable light.

Hood (2013) puts forward a completely opposite point of view, suggesting that a person is so attached to modern technologies that a smartphone and a gadget become a kind of artificial extension of the human body.

After analyzing the opinions of scientists, we can conclude that the attitude towards self is ambiguous.

Purpose of the Study

We have defined a research program, the purpose of which was to determine the peculiarities of using auto-presentation in the virtual space depending on age characteristics, analysis of types of selfies and social constructs.

Research Methods

The basis of the research was MBEI "Secondary School № 10" in Kurgan and Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Education "Kurgan State University". In the diagnosis, adolescent girls of 15–18 years old in number of 40 people and girls - full-time and part-time students of the Institute of Pedagogy, Psychology and Physical Culture at the age of 19-25-40 people and 30-45-40 people took part. Research hypothesis: auto-presentation in the form of a selfie is a way of self-affirmation in a virtual environment, the dependence of an individual on the opinions and assessments of those surrounding the Internet space is a strong factor shaping relations to oneself in real life.

Findings

Girls of 15-18 years old noted that they make selfies of important and significant events (35 people), 5 people indicated that they do not take selfies, stressing that their phone has a weak camera. The purpose of the auto presentation is “like to admire yourself” - marked by 30 girls, 4 indicated - “there is nothing to do in free time”. The types of selfies were dominated by “photos with friends” —28 girls and “photos in the fitting room” —17 people. Extreme self-nobody indicated. Basically, when selfies, girls direct the camera “from below” - 21 people, “directly” - 10 people, “all options” are used by 6 respondents. According to the results of the survey, we can conclude that the girls of this age category, giving an assessment of the significance of life moments, noted going to the store and meeting with friends as an important event. This choice is connected with the peculiarities of this age, when communication dominates as the leading type of activity and develops dependence on the impression of others around them. Self-image correlates with the image of “We”, “narcissism” is the main motive of putting selfies. Girls concentrate attention on details, the smallest nuances and differentiate people's emotional reactions. Variants of self-focusing on the camera when taking a selfie “from below” speaks of the desire to show oneself in a more favorable light, since it visually slims the figure.

Girls aged 19-21 mostly make selfies only important and significant events (29 respondents), 2 noted that they do not take selfies at all, but simply take pictures of each other, 9 people indicated that they make selfies every day. The purpose of the auto presentation is mainly found - “to capture how I look today” (21 respondents), “like to admire myself” (5 respondents), “I have nothing to do in my spare time” (4 respondents), “to capture myself with friends” (3 respondents), 5 respondents could not explain why they take selfies. To the question “have you ever made extreme selfies?” The majority of respondents answered negatively (27 respondents), 11 noted such selfies as selfies in a car / motorcycle at high speed (7 respondents), on the roof of a high-rise building (6 respondents). The following types of auto presentation are found in this age group: a photo with a young man — 18 respondents, a selfie in an educational institution — 11 respondents, a frame in an elevator — 6 respondents, a selfie with gifts — 7 students, a “duck face” (with elongated lips) - 5 a person, a selfie with friends - 3 respondents, photos of legs in shoes - 3 respondents, a photo of his buttocks - 1 person, a selfie with food - 1 person. At this age stage, the question “How do you point the camera?” Is dominated by the answer “all options” - 25 respondents, 6 respondents from the side, 5 respondents from above, 2 respondents straight. This age stage is characterized in psychology as a crisis of self-determination, when young people try to determine their own life trajectory, to find an individual lifestyle. At this age, the types of self-differ in diversity, there are also extreme self. Young people are trying in every way to emphasize their independence in choosing and making life decisions. At this age, courage and determination begin to emerge. At this age, the choice of life partner begins to be determined, hence the dominance of self with a young man. Selfies with friends almost never occurs. Among the camera pointing methods, “all options” dominate, which indicates the respondents' desire to show themselves in a more favorable light.

Girls aged 22-25 almost all (34 respondents) indicated that they make selfies only for significant events, and 6 students indicated that they do not make selfies at all. Of the reasons for making selfies, the following were noted: “I to friends” - 27 people, “to capture how I look today” - 4 respondents, like to admire myself - 1 person, 5 people could not explain the desire to make selfie - in this case The answer was “just like that”. Extreme selfie was noted only by 2 respondents - in a car at high speed. At this age stage, types of selfie change. There are family selfies on vacation - 27 respondents, selfies with children, 8 respondents, selfies with gifts, 5 respondents. To the question: “How do you point the camera?” The options “from above” were noted - 26 respondents, “straight” - 8 respondents. At this age stage, awareness of one's own actions appears, the number of extreme snapshots decreases. The life scenario focuses on capturing family events and wanting to share moments with friends. Changes at this age stage and camera pointing. The majority of respondents indicated a way to “top”, which indicates a desire to emphasize the importance and importance of the moment.

Female representatives in the age category from 30-45 noted that they practically do not use selfies (35 respondents), 5 respondents indicated that they make selfies only on significant and important events. Of the reasons that were given for self-dominated "to capture yourself in the family or friends." Types of self-rest -4 people, gifts-1 respondent.

Basically, there is a camera pointing «right» to 4 respondents, 1 person noted the option “top”. At this age, stage respondents’ attitude towards people evaluation of themselves and their lives is quieter and they do not make any importance on the way of camera direction. Female representatives in the age category from 30-45 noted that they use a photo in a show room or make photos of each other.

Conclusion

Selfies today are not just a trend, they are a social phenomenon that is actively used as a visual communication. Posting a selfie of life moments, people are waiting for an external assessment from the users of the Internet community. This, in turn, is a reason to regulate the content of your life, to monitor your appearance, or to imitate the “illusion” of well-being in comparison with others, choosing a favorable angle.

References

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Publication Date

28 December 2019

eBook ISBN

978-1-80296-075-4

Publisher

Future Academy

Volume

76

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Edition Number

1st Edition

Pages

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Subjects

Sociolinguistics, linguistics, semantics, discourse analysis, science, technology, society

Cite this article as:

Ryleeva*, А., Yemanova, S., Sokolskaya, M., Kazantseva, E., & Khomutnikova, E. (2019). Features Of Visual Communication Of Girls In The Internet Space. In D. Karim-Sultanovich Bataev, S. Aidievich Gapurov, A. Dogievich Osmaev, V. Khumaidovich Akaev, L. Musaevna Idigova, M. Rukmanovich Ovhadov, A. Ruslanovich Salgiriev, & M. Muslamovna Betilmerzaeva (Eds.), Social and Cultural Transformations in the Context of Modern Globalism, vol 76. European Proceedings of Social and Behavioural Sciences (pp. 3701-3705). Future Academy. https://doi.org/10.15405/epsbs.2019.12.04.497