Blog #8 - Alissa Carlson

I, like many my age, have a couple dozen apps on my phone and all of them serve somewhat different/somewhat similar purposes. I think I find myself using Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat most frequently. On most (if not all) of these applications, there are areas where you can edit a picture with a certain filter or adding something not the photo. Out of these, I think that Snapchat is definitely the most commonly used application to alter the filter of a photo or to include some sort of caption or time stamp or something. I used to use Snapchat quite frequently, then I just found myself doing something incredibly more important so I don't use it as often. One of the biggest features about Snapchat is the ability to alter a photo. There are multiple different filters that you can use to enhance or make you look worse, or completely alter your look. You can look like you are something that Tim Burton created or you can look like an angel with the swipe of a finger. Crazy, huh? So most would probably send the uglier look to their friends and maybe the one of them looking angelic to someone they like. Right now there is a feature where you can look like a rugged character on Grand Theft Auto which is quite freaky but also comical. I'd include a picture for reference but I think you can get the idea.

How has this changed me, you may ask. Well, I can definitely tell you that when you decide to send an angelic picture, I can feel almost a stroke of confidence light up. When I send an uglier picture, I don't necessarily feel less confident as I laugh at the look instead. A lot of girls that I know like to post their angelic pictures on to their story (a story is a post where ALL of your friends can see, not just a post that you can send to your friends separately) and it definitely feels like a confidence booster to them as well.

I think that techno-science really affects us in many different ways, and every piece of technology is different. Specifically for Snapchat, I really think that it has both a confidence affect with some humor thrown into it. Although this varies from person to person, I think that it generally has a positive side effect on confidence and potentially an effect one's humor. I could say that it would also go with application such as Instagram, Facebook and potentially Twitter depending on what you like to post about. I think a lot of the ways that techno-science has affected us really just varies from person to person and their emotions and how they react to comments and such. I feel as though many use the concept of technology in order to enhance or suppress an emotion. I also feel as though some of these emotions from technology can stem into some negative side effects and bullying is the first thing that comes to mind. We all react differently to things but in truth anything and any sort of reaction can come from an application