To this reviewer, that is the extent of the author's success in this article, and even that success is not build on a novelty of thought. It is a basic tenet in communication theory that the message sent is not necessarily the message received. Sender and recipient have always had to negotiate a common understanding of shared information, whether the medium of exchange is non-verbal, oral, written, or visual. Similarly, the notion that perception is reality, reflected in the third noted concept, is not new.
This reviewer feels that the author has stumbled into the trap that snares many people who experience a technological revolution in their lifetimes. These people tend to forget or disregard the experiences of those who came before them. Humankind has lived through many technological revolutions that have transformed how we live and how we see ourselves, and have shifted the balance of power and created new haves and have-nots. The Stone Age made way for the Bronze Age, which made way for the Iron Age. The...
Each technological revolution was and is accompanied by developments in culture, in thinking, and in self-regard. In this sense, there is nothing new under the sun.
Moreover, the author is mistaken in believing that digital images have are immaterial. In fact, the article holds the contradiction to this argument when it mentions how digital images reside on servers around the world. Digital data is a physical material, and as anyone who has experienced their hard drive crashing knows, digital data can be destroyed and lost.
References
Bunch, B., and Hellemans, a. (2004). The history of science and technology: A browser's guide to the great discoveries, inventions, and the people who made them from the dawn of time to today. New York: Houghton Mifflin.
Comments about social engagement through images in the online sphere.
