Summary: People are spending a lot of time on social media networking sites, and it’s not entirely their fault. Social media is designed in such a way as to instill addiction into its users, either by providing a ludicrous amount of content to sift through that continues to build, or by building up habitual responses through enticing lures, such as notification numbers.

Communication Problem:  Is social media use inherently good or bad? Is it good because it allows people to communicate with those they couldn’t talk to otherwise and enjoy online content conveniently, or is it bad because it thrives off of an addicted user base and is designed to exploit people prone to addiction?

Image Ideas: Barring use of actual drug imagery, I will hone in on something very related to social media: games. Specifically, craze mobile games that make their companies money by keeping their players leashed via waiting for features to unlock and limited lives that only renew every so often. Because of these barriers, people who are hooked on the game are willing to do or pay anything to advance, which creates a vicious cycle of exploitation.

To show this metaphor in photography, I think a portrait shot that is slightly over exposed would represent the “euphoric haze” that one’s mind is in when they are enjoying such a thing, even though it may be unhealthy. The subject would be enraptured with their phone, overjoyed, but utterly oblivious to the world around them. I would then add cartoonish icons and details such as a score counter in post to create that effect of a video game, blurring the boundary between the virtual world and the real one. The copy would read something like, “Life is a stage, not a game. Limit your social media use.”

Results: My original idea ran away from me, as I forgot this would be a cover for the article with the type already provided. In that case, the idea that my group went for was that of showing how overpowering social media addiction can be through visual metaphor or acted out scenes. The dark background and moody lightning conveys a more direct message about how social media is harmful to a person’s life.

Summary: In the article ” Social Media Addiction is a Bigger Problem Than You Think”, Mike Elgan explains some of the tricks and ingredients that make social media so addicting. He discusses FOMO, or the fear of missing out, and the need to always check our notification number. Nevertheless, he concludes by telling us how to kick the habit.

Communication Problem: The images that accompany this article should show the miscommunication that looking at your phone can cause. For example, imagine an image where a student is looking down at their phone while another student is talking to them.

Image Ideas: After discussing concepts with a partner, he made me think of some great ideas. Social media can be thought of as a drug. It’s a habit that many adults and young adults are simply obsessed with. My idea is to have a person looking at their phone, while another person to looking over their shoulder, being nosy. Another idea is to have one person looking at their phone, while another grabs their hand trying to get a glimpse of what’s on their phone. This is social media addiction at its finest.

Results: Quite frankly, capturing the right images came with many obstacles. Even an hour after setting up, me and my group continuously ran into technical difficulties. It all started when the flash simply wouldn’t fire. We are aware that the camera wouldn’t flash until it focuses on something, but even with the camera focused, the flash wouldn’t fire. Roger decided that our wireless flash wasn’t working and we were given the wire, which connects the camera to the power pack. Even with the wire, we still faced difficulties keeping the wire jammed into the camera’s socket. Furthermore, our camera constantly experience a color issue, even when auto white balance was turned on. Many images came out extremely orange. It was a tricky shoot!

1. Summary:  The article describes the symptoms of social media addiction and how living in a era of social media has it pros and cons , they can take a toll on our everyday lives and how we have this way of wanting to catch up on the hottest trends, step in conversations, and catch up with family and friends every single day.
2. Communication Problem: I believe their should be a clear way to portray social media as an addiction and how its made addictive to society. A way to persuade social media addiction to a person or demographic should be in a comedic way or light and silly concept; a campaign with a sense of humor.
3. Image Ideas: A way this can be portrayed is maybe putting a funny or wacky character to the ad and create a comedic interaction either through social media or even somebody on social media through their phone. A character of a social media “addict” or a group rehab of social media “addicts”.

The articles have described a trend for social media platforms to be even more addictive and knowingly too. Social media sites exploit the fear of missing out (F.M.O.) Therefore I’d like to focus on individuals being left out of a party. I’d place my subjects as isolated from the bubble of their friends interacting.

Preferably in dim lighting conditions so that the glow of smartphones illuminates faces of the group but the left out individual is lit seperately

this article is about the social media addiction, today everyone using Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. They check their phone every couple minutes but they don’t even know why they check it. you open see a group of people hangout and everyone has a phone in their hand. It happens in my family too, my dad always text me instead of come to my room and talk to me. It can destroy your life when you get addict.

photo idea: a couple having dinner, and the guy checking FB instead of talk to her girlfriend.

According to the article, social media is getting a bit out of control. The iron grip it has upon it’s various users are quite powerful, to the point where people are addicted. Some people may not view it as a problem, indicating it’s a way to communicate with people. But Its actually quite the opposite, as social media is corrupting our face to face communication with others. Corrupting and infecting our communication skills like an airborne virus that has become a pandemic.

I feel like social media should be controlled more, so images with a bit of humor should be use, as it will appeal more to social media junkies.