The Visual Self

Richard Nicholls, The Future Foundation, on personal image management as the new currency…

For the Facebook generation, managing one’s online visual presence has long since been the norm. But as the 10s progress, changing uses of self-taken images (of ourselves, products, experiences) are reshaping the very way we live now.

Our Photo-Phile Culture

By summer 2011, Facebook was said to be approaching its 750 millionth member and YouTube was hosting two billion views per day – 100 million of which were accessed via mobile platforms. Indisputably, ever more of us are willing to upload and manage streams of personalised visual content even while on-the-go. The aesthetics of our own existence have fallen under personal control. And as our propensity to engage and interact with self-generated visual material has increased, so such images have been integrated into more of our daily activities. No moment has to be endured in simple black-and-white when we can so easily create a multi-coloured and digitally enhanced alternative – and be many different people along the way.

More, nVision Research tells us that while a steadily decreasing number in the UK say that they undertake photography as an artistic activity – the figure standing at just 8% by 2010 – some 60% of us use our mobiles to take photographs (including over 50% of 12-15 year olds). Propelled by the ascent of the smartphone, an army of pro-am photographers captures any sight or event or passing fancy, broadcasting the results straight to their chosen social networks.

Our central proposition here is that this ever easier visualisation of life is a) driving enthusiasm for augmented images to enrich the shopping process b) stimulating greater use of pictures to review, test and share our consumption choices c) inviting brands to offer ever more visual modes of interaction with their customers and d) fundamentally transforming the individual’s relationship with his or her visual self – engendering along the way sharpening concerns about how best to manage one’s online image.

The visual re-working of the consumer’s day-to-day life

The smartphone revolution has transformed our ability to take high-quality images and videos whenever and wherever we find ourselves. Very quickly, services have arisen to exploit this, allowing us to create – and, more importantly, share – photographic records of both our day-to-day lives and our unique, cultural-capital accruing activities (the gourmet meal, far-flung holiday, hot dress…).

And, increasingly, there is just so much less scope to upload a bad image; in the 10s, anybody can be a David Bailey or Mario Testino. And the process of choice can become so much cinematography. We can respond to advertising promotions with executions of our own. Anybody can be a supermarket Spielberg too.

For millions, it has for some time now been the norm to upload images of, say, holidays and friendships and leisure activities. But this managed visualisation of our lives will encompass so many more facets of our personalities and daily routines.

In Japan, for example, members of social network In My Bag post-tagged images of their personal belongings as profile pictures. In the UK, meanwhile, music site Whiteboard Project conducts interviews and gig reviews in photographic form while the Food Illustrator Project saw one individual visualise each and every food or drink item he consumed over the course of a year.

Everybody is a critic – of the movies they watch, of the holidays they take, of the restaurant meal they have just eaten. The ease with which we can all do this has seriously destabilised the 20th century’s theories of marketing communications. The individual consumer has amplified voice which can carry to a mass audience.

Increasingly, however, the written review is being challenged by visual alternatives – with many of today’s digitally expectant consumers no longer accepting mere words when pictures allow them to reach their own, visually informed judgements.

Fiddme encourages its users to share photographs of food eaten while out-and-about, all tagged with locations. It promises that those participating can “earn worldwide respect” from fellow foodies. In a similar vein, Foodspotting overlays maps of a local area with user-taken images of food available in nearby restaurants.

Oyster.com, which claims to be the best place to research and then book hotels, sends “undercover” guests into resorts across the world and instructs them to take hundreds of photos, which are then juxtaposed against those seen in promotional material. On TravBuddy, users are invited to share photographic reviews of their travels – and can compete to win the “most helpful hotel reviewer award”.

The image as stock of human value, unit of exchange

We notice a growing number of contexts in which consumers are being propelled towards the use of personal photos as a way to accumulate cultural capital, earn benefits, enrich moments of play… Indeed, we are being urged to relinquish some of our absolute control over our images in return for branded (or brand-assisted) rewards – whether in the form unique experiences, peer respect or, more simply, the chance to win financial or other material gains.

Since early 2011, the Uniqlooks community has invited customers of clothing company Uniqlo to upload photos of themselves wearing the brand’s garments. Any “likes” they receive are automatically posted on their social networking site, with the individual who accumulates the most winning the “Look of the Week” award.

The chance to create a personalised avatar for use during a game is, of course, nothing new. But Kinect Me, part of the new Kinect Fun Labs package, takes the proposition to the next stage: players simply take a picture of themselves which the Kinect peripheral then converts into a truly customised avatar – mimicking an individual’s face, hair and clothing.

As part of Visit Britain’s Unite the Invite game, Facebook users were in February 2011 asked to upload a photo of themselves which the app “matched” with that of another participant. Players were then challenged to find out each other’s identity as quickly as possible – by posting their photos on Facebook and asking their friends to do the same, in the hope that someone would eventually recognise them.

Tracking the Re-Touch Generation

We know from nVision Research (2010) that over 70% of people in the UK agree that expectations about appearance are now more demanding than in previous decades. Among social networkers, meanwhile, some 45% admit that they try to show themselves in the most positive light and 30% that they upload pictures to make themselves look like a more interesting person.

These are clearly significant minorities, especially if we allow for some likely under-claiming. In the new decade, then, we posit that more and more of us will exert sharpening control over the images we make publicly available and that the notion of digital image-enhancement – of closely controlling and manipulating our online identities – will be less and less of a niche activity.

During 2010, dating website OKCupid released advice to its users about which types of poses and facial expressions garnered the best responses from other singletons – as well as which were considered to be “turn offs”.

The shape of things to come

We expect the captured and controlled visualisation of daily life to continue apace throughout the coming decade; having seen so many strands of our lives enriched by new aesthetic possibilities, it just seems so unlikely that millions of consumers will be willing to revert to monotone alternatives.

We will certainly see a burgeoning number of occasions where brands encourage us – especially via apps – to share our images. But these will not just be simple shots of us enjoying their products; increasingly, companies will seek branded, or brandable, content to use in other contexts. More marketing campaigns will look to co-creation (with the customer as amateur visual copywriter as well as product end-user) as a way to win new supporters.

As features derived from social networks are replicated across more internet sites – and we think in particular here of “like” and “share” buttons – so it will become entirely unextraordinary to see our photos appearing far beyond the confines of Facebook. Brands enthusiastic to integrate consumer feedback and views on their own sites – and engage customers at a more meaningful level – will make it as easy as possible for millions to paste their own images as part of any comments they post.

In so many areas of consumption, the greater employment of photographs in user posted-reviews will likely call into question the efficacy of a mere written critique. With restaurants and hotels and shops becoming fully analysable through images alone, will many still want to trawl through black-and-white text posts? And thus the challenge presented by Our Photo-Phile Culture becomes clearer – it will, inevitably, lead to greater expectations, to customers becoming still more demanding.

For more, contact Richard Nicholls at the Future Foundation on 020 3008 6103/ richardn@futurefoundation.net.