Visualising Facebook

Since the growth of social media, human communication has become much more visual. This book represents the first attempt to analyse the images people post on a regular basis to Facebook. It includes hundreds of examples, so readers can see for themselves the differences between postings in a village the authors name The Glades, north of London, and a small town they name El Mirador in Trinidad. Why do women respond so differently to becoming a mother in England from the way they do in Trinidad? How are values such as carnival and suburbia expressed visually?  An examination of over 20,000 images argues that phenomena such as selfies and memes must be analysed in their local context. What are the differences between the postings of young people and adults? How and why do people make fun of both the light-hearted and the serious images that other people post? The book aims to highlight the importance of visual images today in patrolling and controlling moral values of populations, and explores the changing role of photography from not only recording an experience but to enhancing it as well, making the moment itself more exciting.