When photoshopping hits home

To me, photoshopping is an integral part of the media today. I've always known and accepted that what I see in magazines and on billboards isn't always what is seems.

Sure, I passively agree with the majority over the issue of digitally altering images in the media. Photoshopping is wrong and should be stopped, but until a short while ago none of this had really hit home. I hadn't truly realised how much this technique of altering an image in retrospect has infiltrated into our society...

A few weeks ago I was sitting beside a friend in Science, at school we have laptops that come with the usual software as well as some slightly more unusual things, included in this package is Adobe Photoshop.

My friend was looking through photos and stopped on one of her and a friend, which was primarily of their faces. She sighed and looked at it for a second before opening Photoshop and promptly tanning her own skin a few tones, smoothing out an imperfection on her friend's forehead and reducing the shine on both their smiling faces.

I stopped, and stared. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. This is ridiculous, maybe she's just experiment, fiddling, right she probably doesn't do this that often...

Me: "Hmm, do you touch up many of your photos?"

Her: "Yeah", *shrug*

I sat there in utter disbelief. This beautiful, outgoing, bubbly, gorgeous girl is really that self-conscious that she has to fix her and her friend's almost perfect skin in a photo from someone's party on the weekend?

But why? That I didn't ask, and I'm glad I didn't. I think it was wrong that she felt she needed to change such a minor aspect of herself, to make herself "perfect".

But I think it would be far worse, making her to examine her behaviour and change her ways in efforts to become a better person. A "perfect" person.

Is going to sleep (via facebook/twitter)

Whenever something isn't quite right I get this uncomfortable feeling in my chest, a sort of tightening of my oesophagus.

This minor discomfort attacks when stupid people do stupid things, or when smart people do stupid things. It happens when something goes wrong, or something doesn't seem quite right.

I had one of these self-diagnosed episodes when I was on Facebook once upon a time. It was about 10pm in my little corner of the earth and it seems that several of my friends were going to bed. How do I know so? They told me, and anyone else who can view their profile so.

Most of them went something like this: [name here] is in bed/[name here] going to sleep...etc

But without knowing I think these people weren't just announcing to the world they were officially finishing they're day, there's definately an underlying conspiracy to this...

This is what they were really trying to say:
Well I'm off to bed now and I just thought you should all know, just in case you're interested because really I'm a very interesting person. So much, that you want to know that I'm asleep, because MY cycles of REM are just so fascinating.

Hmmm....

I'm feeling that contracting of the oesphoegus, the tightening in my chest just from thinking about it. I think it's because this new fad is extremely disturbing.

Not only does is exhibit exhibitionsim at it's most basic level, and the expectation of voyuerism by those expected to read these posts. It shows a complete lack of self-control and an obsession with constant contact.

This is an excellent example of so many people today are so unknowingly paraoid, self-esteemless and afraid of loneliness that they must keep in contact with everyone, every second of the day.

So many people are so unknowling terrified of being excluded, out out fashion, left-behind or just simply boring that they must keep in touch with everything that is happening every second of the day.

How do I know so? They told me, and anyone else who can view their profile so.