'Re-Viewing Visual Literacy in the "Bain d' Images" Era' by Maria D. Avgerinou discusses how prevalent images now are in our everyday lives, and how important it is to be able to interpret them. In a world dominated by social media, images have become just as important, if not more important, than the written word when it comes to communicating ideas. However, many of the images we see have ulterior motives that may not be immediately obvious upon first glance.
Most of the images we see are meant to make us respond in such a way that we take action. Often, the desired action may be against our better interest, or at least something that we would have no interest in otherwise. Advertisements for fast food and takeout encourage us to spend money on restaurants rather than cooking healthier meals at home. Instagram pages full of photoshopped models encourage us to purchase expensive clothes and beauty products by tearing down one's self-image. Many of these "gimmicks" seem obvious to those of us who have spent years on the internet and have watched social media evolve over time. However, that is not as true for younger children.
The children of today have been born into a world oversaturated with images designed to provoke emotional responses and impulsive decisions. Children are influenced by these images, but do not have the visual literacy to realize how and why they are being influenced. It often feels rather dystopian to see YouTube channels clearly geared towards children selling their brightly-colored merchandise and shilling their sponsors, all set to energetic music, and with plenty of special effects. It feels even more dystopian to know that it works, and that those people make ridiculous amounts of money on that content.
I agree with the general message of the article that more effort should be spent on teaching visual literacy, especially to children. We cannot escape nor shield ourselves from the image, so the best that we can do is understand the image. Since I highly doubt that anyone will be pushing for formal visual literacy education in schools any time soon, I propose we do our best to teach visual literacy to those around us: siblings, neighbors, ect. Until such a time that deceptive imagery is widely recognized as an issue in current society, we must do our best to educate when we can.
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