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The experience of photologging: global mechanisms and local interactions

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Abstract

This paper describes an in-depth study of the photologging behaviour of a small group of women who are part of an active expatriate community. In addition to sharing with family and friends in their home country, the participants appropriated the photolog as part of local social interactions both with local friends and as part of their role in the local community. The photographs themselves sometimes resemble those of physical albums, but also include more candid, imperfect and apparently trivial topics. The participants report a subtle pattern of prospective anticipation of the impact of postings and retrospective reflection and discussion of others’ postings, linking posters and viewers of photologs in a rich unfolding web of interactions within an extended episodic experience.

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Notes

  1. Permission has been granted by participants from this study to publish some of their photographs for this paper.

  2. One of the authors is a member of the community.

  3. Consent to publish some of the participants photographs was obtained.

  4. The term ‘lurker’ has many negative connotations, and press reporting of our work on photolurking has often picked up on these. However, as is discussed in more detail elsewhere [5] the photolurker’s actions are an important part of the photologging ecology, and may be why the photologger posts pictures. For example, visit counters act to expose the level of photolurking and hence enhance these social effects, giving feedback and kudos to the photologger.

  5. Theory of Mind (ToM) in philosophy and psychology refers to the ability to ‘put oneself in another’s shoes’, to understand that others have beliefs and desires different from one's own; the emergence of ToM is seen as a key stage in child development and essential for social interaction [32].Often ToM distinguishes first order theory of mind (A’s understanding of B’s beliefs) from second-order ToM (A’s understanding of B’s beliefs about A). While third order is possible “I’d hate to think she thought I’d lied to her”, we soon struggle with more complex levels, as demonstrated by the Kursaal Flyers’ 1976 one-hit wonder, “Little does she know that I know that she knows that I know she’s two-timing me”. Note that our second-order level of reflection corresponds to first-order ToM; this is because here the first-order effect is the experience itself. ToM’s levels tend to be one less than other uses of first-/second-order as by definition ToM is already a second-order phenomenon.

  6. A Kebaya is a traditional blouse worn by women in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore, sometimes made from sheer material and usually worn with a sarong, batik, or other traditional knitted garment. The kebaya silhouette gives emphasis to a womanly figure. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kebaya.

  7. Abang = elder brother in English.

  8. Hensem = handsome in English.

  9. There is an additional reflexiveness in the role of the camera in these ‘ordinary things made special’. In some cases they have already been given significance by the attention paid to them and the subsequent realization of that significance captured ‘on film’ (or at least pixels). However, equally often, it is the act of taking a photograph that is itself instrumental in the ‘making special’.

  10. However, a follow-up study found that several participants had migrated to Flickr, leaving Fotopages as a ‘dead’ archive. What seems like a crucial archive may not be so permanent if accounts lapse, or if, in harsh economic times, the company hosting the photolog fails.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank John Rooksby, Simon Kelly and Dave Martin for their valuable insights and constructive feedback during our data analysis stage, Fiona Dix for proofreading this paper and last but not least, all the participants and the Malaysian community in Lancaster. This research is partially funded by the Peel Studentship Trust, Lancaster University.

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  1. Computing Department, Infolab 21, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK

    Haliyana Khalid & Alan Dix

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  1. Haliyana Khalid
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  2. Alan Dix
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Correspondence to Haliyana Khalid.

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Khalid, H., Dix, A. The experience of photologging: global mechanisms and local interactions. Pers Ubiquit Comput 14, 209–226 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00779-009-0261-4

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