Redefining the “Document”: Social-Media Photographs as Narrative, Performance, Habitude

Abstract

This chapter takes a closer look at the way in which digital vernacular social-media photographs—the “selfie,” in particular—are used to create and maintain a social persona, and to present a version of the self as the poster/author wants to appear to others. As it is shared online, the selfie often conveys a deceptive sense of closeness between the picture-taker and audience. Selfie-taking, to some staff of the 2016 Hillary Clinton presidential campaign, also presented an opportunity to co-opt the assumed intimacy of the selfie to appear to connect with millennial voters. This essay examines the manner in which the selfie challenges traditional notions of critical distance between subject and photographer, subject and social-media audience, and between the selfie-taker and the Clinton Campaign.