Case 02 — Instagram and Visual/Photo Literacy
Overview
| Item | Content |
|---|---|
| Period | Instagram 2010; mainstream by mid-2010s |
| Technology | Photo-centric SNS (filters, hashtags, Stories) |
| Literacy | Visual composition, photo language, hashtag search, brand expression |
Transition Point
From text-centric SNS (early Twitter, blogs) → feeds where a single photo is everything. The object of “reading” shifted from text to image + one line. This was the era when the phone camera + filter became the starting point of expression, overtaking laptop typing.
Literacy Improvement Mechanisms
- Framing: What to center and what to crop out
- Captions and hashtags: Short writing that attaches meaning to an image
- Feed editing: Telling a story through the flow of multiple posts
- Exaggeration vs. reality: A critical eye that asks what is real behind retouching and staging
Field Operation Tips
- Promote a scene from an experience program with three title options + five hashtags
- Discussion comparing “real landscape vs. SNS landscape”
- Output: one set of photo captions for program promotion
Implications for Paju Activist Training
- Foundation for running official channels with local experience and village photos
- Cross-disciplinary activity for students: take a photo and write an explanation
- Exaggerated advertising and review authenticity as education topics
Notes
- The 2010s was when image literacy stood alongside text literacy