Homework #3

While reading Everyone Is Altered, I drew various connections to social media. I think that there is a interesting part of media production that is unseen by the consumer, even if the media being consumed is said to be "authentic". For example, social media is treated as a place where people share different parts of their lives, giving each follower a peek into daily activities. However, there is an entire Photoshop culture full of cropping, resizing, concealing, brightening, thinning plumping and lifting. The secrecy of "beauty work" addressed in the article is everywhere, not only film and television. The once exclusive digital manipulation to make stars more beautiful, is at the hands of anyone with a smartphone. Even the specific lighting technique mentioned in the article, can be translated to "finding the right light or angle" when taking a selfies. Although Everyone Is Altered did not directly reference social media, I think that made a great connection to a media most of us consume on a daily basis.