L'image principale de profil, symbole de l'individu connecté
Since the beginning of the century, a new type of images is becoming more and more common in the public space built on the Internet : the profile’s main picture, these images network sites’ users are using to symbolize their self. It’s generally a picture of the Internet user’s body, which leads to a practice already existing. The first step of this essay is a sociohistorical perspective allowed by noticing that profile’s main picture are often self-portraits. It is then possible to establish a continuity between the practices of past centuries and what is visible on the Internet nowadays. The study of self-produced body images shows a gradual spread of their use from the wealthy to the lower strata of society until the mid-twentieth century. They were used mainly to show social status. After falling into disuse, this type of image is now used by one out of three persons worldwide. The observation of a particular Internet web site has allowed the collection of hundreds of main profile’s pictures. Their analysis has the following conclusions: If the main use of these images is to symbolize a presence in areas not accessible to sensitive body, these images still show elements that can be used to infer a social position and are substantially identical to the images produced before the Internet. Then, the study of these images shows that there is a real continuum in the way someone’s intimacy is revealed proving that the border between the public and the private does not exist on the Internet. Finally, these images show a lack of canon on their production and a multiplicity of ways of staging that suggest they have become meaningful symbols in the communication that can be established between strangers on the Internet.
Selfie Internet Profile's main picture Self-portrait Social network site Public/private continuum