No selfies in the age of selfies. Yes, you got it right, the new social challenge started a few months ago, the new social network defined by the creators as the social anti-Instagram was born. Who knows if it will really catch on in between the youngest who now grow up with the automatism and normality of exposure in the social showcase also of their intimacy and private life, who voluntarily submit to the harsh law of the Web, often underestimating its effects and feeding on views and likes.
Hours spent looking for the best shot, modifying defects, highlights, image sharpness, covering imperfections, showing the best or nicer side, more fun or more impressive. The engine that pushes kids to expose themselves it is powered by petrol born from the mixture of two main elements: the normal and the search for more. If you want to be part of the game, you have to play. The social role is like the social role, and therefore it is normal to expose yourself and share. More it is instead aiming for what is “more” in order to obtain. Objectively, this social network breaks these patterns a little and calls into play the friends who are to play the role of “paparazzi”. Also for this reason the app is called Poparazzi. You can’t use the front camera, the one typically used to take selfies. The personal profile is powered by photos taken by other people, friends or otherwise. The owner cannot publish his photos but can only decide whether to remove specific images that he does not want to be seen and at the same time can papparazzare some other friend.
If we literally translate the description of the Poparazzi app on the App Store we understand that: “Poparazzi is a new photo sharing network where your friends are your paparazzi and you are them. Your profile on Poparazzi is created by your friends when they take pictures of you. On the other hand, you create profiles of your friends when you take pictures of them“.
Photos cannot be accompanied by captions or comments and there is no follower count. On a theoretical level, eliminating the various counts would do very good for the health of the boys, in fact, many of them are even dependent on counting numbers and their self-esteem is conditioned by views, likes and positive comments. But I doubt that the people of the Web can be attracted to something that doesn’t give instant gratification. Popularity is rewarding and generates illusory personal security.
What are so many guys looking for in online platforms? Surely not just sharing, but in many cases popularity and fame. They are looking for numbers, social success, perhaps to earn from what they publish. The app was therefore born with a good intent, that of recreating the sharing and exchange between people, especially post-Covid, always through the mediation of the smartphone, trying to preserve the authenticity of the moments spent with friends, as they claim in various interviews the brothers Austen and Alex Ma who launched the app. Their intent is to go a little against this apparent perfection of retouched images. But this is also the success of TikTok, an online platform where creativity wins, everyday life, where even ordinary people can become famous with short selfie videos. Poparazzi would like to be the anti-Instagram, even if it is already quite some time that Instagram message boards are no longer invaded by selfies, but by photos taken by friends and acquaintances. They would like to avoid performance and exposure anxiety from viewing, responding and judging audiences, even severely. I don’t think this problem can be solved by having your photos published by third parties.
In the United States it is spreading among young people, although I believe that we should not look at the initial phase to sing victory and to understand if young people will also integrate Poparazzi into their lives because in the initial phase the curiosity for the new, there are the stimuli linked to understanding how it works and whether or not it can correspond to one’s needs. Time will tell if the boys will leave the old road for the new one, if they will add a new way to “publish” or if they will stick to the old, but always updated apps.
One aspect that worries me is related to identity theft, opening profiles in the name of other people and posting their photos. How to prevent all this must be clearly defined because, even if the app does not tolerate any form of abuse and cyberbullying, the risk is very high and could fuel digital bullying.
While it is true that the person photographed may have a pre-publication check on photos that are made by contacts who are not in the social circle of friends, it is also true that in the case of photos taken by friends you will receive a notification when the photo is already published and only at a later time can you possibly proceed with the its removal. We all know perfectly well that on the Net even a few seconds can do great damage.
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