Social Analysis
This assignment involved partnering up with someone and analyzing them from their favorite social medium. Then analyze your own favorite social medium using the Tetrad of Media Effects.
Execution
For this assignment, I partnered up with someone I was completely unfamiliar with. My partner took a look at my favorite social medium, which is Snapchat. However, because there is not much to take away from my Snapchat profile, he also took a look at my Facebook and Instagram profiles.
Results
Based on my Snapchat profile, the only thing my partner commented on was my insanely high Snapchat score and the amount of people that I kept a daily communication streak with. This Snapchat score is based on the number of snaps a person sends and receives. After seeing this, my partner said that I seem like a very friendly and social person. He also mentioned that I seem to have an easy time making new friends and keeping conversations.
After taking a look at my Facebook profile, once again he said that I seem very friendly because I have above 700 friends on the app.
However, after looking at my Instagram profile, his thoughts changed a bit. He mentioned that I seemed very reserved and shy. This is because I only have 1 post on that profile and I have no details of me written in my bio as well.
Snapchat
Overall, according to what my partner described, I would agree that I am a shy and reserved person. Even though I talk to a lot of people on Snapchat, It is mainly my friends from back home in Sint Maarten whom I have known for all my life. I wouldn't say that I have a problem making new friends, but I feel most comfortable keeping to my current friend group. I actually consider myself a great conversationalist. Furthermore, to agree with me being very reserved, I actually have a limited presence on Instagram and Facebook because I do not like to put my life on the internet. I do have a lot of friends and followers, but this is because in Sint Maarten everyone knows everyone! This doesn't necessarily mean that I socialize with each and every one of them.
Tetrad of Media Effects
1) What does the medium enhance?
Snapchat, for me, enhances my communication with my friends, whether they are close to me geographically or not because it gives me the opportunity to know what they are up to daily. We send daily snaps to each other to keep a snap streak going.
2) What does the medium make obsolete?
Snapchat lets me know what my friends are up to on a daily basis, and because of this I am always aware of what they are doing, where they are, and even who they’re with. This makes communication on a face-to-face basis less necessary for me because I already know what they’re up to. Another thing that Snapchat makes obsolete for me is living in the moment. The app allows me to save pictures and videos in an album called memories and I really value this feature. I am always pulling out my phone at the most random moments and taking pictures and videos of moments in my life because I want to capture them to look back on. This pulls me away from actually living in the moment and enjoying it because my mind immediately thinks “Oh, I should pull out my phone right now!” Lastly, I own a DSLR camera but Snapchat makes my usage of this device obsolete because I don’t even touch it anymore. I mainly capture my pictures through Snapchat just to save in my memories album within the application and to share with others easily.
3. What does the medium retrieve that had been obsolesced earlier?
Snapchat, in my eyes, retrieves visually communicating with people. In the past, my family would let our relatives know what we are doing visually by mailing them physical printed photos for the holidays for example. Now, all I have to do is send my cousins a quick snap from my iPhone and we are communicating back and forth within seconds even though there is 7000 km between us!
4) What does the medium reverse or flip into when pushed into extremes?
When pushed to extremes, Snapchat could potentially flip into going into social isolation. I feel like if overused, I would be completely satisfied with communicating with my friends and family solely through this app. I would not need to meet them in person, but this can cause several negative effects alongside social isolation. However, knowing myself I do require personal contact and I do not see this outcome occurring even though I do use this application the most.
The Tetrad of Media Effects was introduced within the course Media Theory. Tetrad actually means a group of four. This framework was developed by Marshall McLuhan with the idea of analyzing media using a set of four effects.
I analyzed my favorite social media, Snapchat, using the Tetrad of Media Effects.
Reflection
This assignment has made me realize how much I am actually stuck within my comfort zone ever since I have moved up to the Netherlands. I think taking a switch and actually being more friendly and social with people with whom I am not already familiar is a great step out of my comfort zone. This assignment itself has already given me an opportunity as I was able to have a nice chat with someone I have just met and it was actually pretty fun to get to know my partner. Furthermore, after analyzing Snapchat with the Tetrad of Media Effects, it made me reflect on my social media usage, mainly Snapchat. It made me want to set my phone aside and actually enjoy the moments that I am living through. Not everything has to be documented. The experience is more valuable than the image captured. Even though Snapchat brings many benefits to its users, too much of something is never good. I've realized how attached to this application I have become. The memories album in the app acts as an immaterial possession which I have formed a crazy attachment to. According to Belk, this is a clear representation of dematerialisation, which is a key change due to the digital phenomenon. I feel like if my Snapchat were to get hacked and taken away from me completely, I would actually break down in tears because all the meaningful moments which I captured through that application would be lost forever. After realizing this, I have been trying to make more use of my polaroid camera to be less dependent on Snapchat and my phone. This way, I am not attaching myself to immaterial possesions but actual material film pictures.
