Photography, Social Media, and Art- M. Green

In my opinion, photography is the bridge between social media and art. I say this because we all know photography is an art. We also know that a big part of social media and a person’s social media presence is what kind of pictures and videos they post, in addition to how much they post and how many people their posts reach. In the social media age, there is something called going “viral”. When something goes viral, it reaches a nationwide or worldwide audience and usually within a short period of time. Social media has made it possible for people to document and share moments, creations, etc. with others as far as on opposite sides of the world almost seamlessly through photography, videography, and social media. I use social media daily. There are many social media platforms today including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Tumblr, YouTube, WhatsApp, Vine, Periscope and more. My favorite social media platform is Instagram, which is one of the apps heavily focused on photographs and videos. Instagram is a profile where you can posts videos and pictures only. Unlike Facebook, there are no “statuses”. The only type of status is available as your caption of your photograph. With that being said, I do believe that selfies are a form of art and I do take and share selfies. The influence of social media is growing, especially with my generation. By that I mean that social media has influenced me on what restaurants I would like to try, what places I would like to go for vacation, and what places I would like to go for a fun activity in the future. One example of an establishment that significantly benefited from social media is Manhattan restaurant Black Tap. In 2017, when New York was the most Instagrammed city, Black Tap went viral because of their massive, over-the-top milkshakes and burgers. The burgers and milkshakes’ presentation and aesthetics is what got them a lot of attention and made people want to visit. For example, one of the most photographed milkshakes was “The Cake Shake” which is described on the menu as a “vanilla frosted rim with rainbow sprinkles topped with a funfetti cake slice, whipped cream, rainbow sprinkles, and a cherry.” That’s just a description, so imagine how much the images made mouths water. In a short period of time, lines were wrapped around the corner at Black Tap, filled with people who wanted to try a milkshake and/or burger that they saw in a photo on Instagram. This shows just how much social media, photography, and art have an influence on people today.