Remembrancing = Scrapbooking

Remembrancing = Scrapbooking

Throughout this unit, the concept of using social media as an online scrapbook, or "remembrancing", was something that I particularly enjoyed simply because I can relate to it on such a personal level as this is a practice that I commonly use when I do choose to post on social media. Humphreys describes remembrancing as "creating and engaging with media traces to help us remember (Humphreys, 73)" and not only can I relate to this, but I know for a fact that hundreds upon millions do as well since it a fast and effortless way to capture moments and have a virtual album recall the specific date and time without having to go through the hassle of buying a scrapbook and going through the process of manually constructing blank pages into something worthwhile (no shade to those that do choose this more traditional method, of course).

As the use of internet has become part of everyday life, it is more strange to come across those that don’t use social media rather than those who do, and although there are both positive and negative aspects, one major benefit is that everything can be kept online, including pictures and videos, and you lose the risk of physically misplacing them or ruining these reminders of memories that you make. Through remembrancing, you can have media tracks of recalling upon activities and experiences that you as an individual has undergone either by yourself or with others surrounding you.

A key example of this process of online rememberancing, is when individuals choose to post and show the rest of the world their travel and vacation memories captured in the forms of both photographs and videos. As scholar Annette Kuhn says, remembrancing is a form of “memory work”, and by posting pictures, you are able to remember the places you have been, but also the people, events, and individual experiences that you can connect to the photo/video as a personal memoir souvenir. As Humphrey’s depicts, “performances of self, presentations of self and self-representation coexist” so by using out media platforms for “scrapbooking purposes”, others can see what it is that we are currently doing.

 I have a friend who attends UTSA but is currently studying abroad in China and posts on a daily basis the different areas he travels to. He shows off the people, food, clothing, and environment that he sees and although they are his memories, when he chooses to share his experiences, they almost become part of me too as I am able to see what exactly he is witnessing and can marvel in the beauty and uniqueness that differs from my everyday life. His online scrapbooking practice becomes something that I view as well, and by doing so, I am able to enjoy the things he had even if I was technically not there.  This can be seen with any person who chooses to post their travels as not only a diary of what they do, but as something that people can enjoy as well. You see this method on every social media platform. Some post pictures of travel, family events, holiday celebrations. Others post pictures of food diaries, or movies they see, books they read-- the list quite literally goes on and on.

 

 

 

There could be some concern in consideration of once you do choose to post your pictures onto your various social media platforms, you are essentially making the photos public and can no longer view them privately. For some individuals, this can be a tricky problem to overcome as although your online profile is ‘yours’, some occupations monitor what you do closely and any actions that they deem unprofessional can lead to personal hindrances and punishments. There are countless examples of this, one including a teacher who was fired for posting a picture of herself holding a glass of wine and a pint of beer on her Facebook account (here).

 In this example, the teacher's online scrapbooking tendencies were inappropriate for her occupation and essentially what took away her job. This just goes to show that when you do post something online, it is there for good and people are always looking at content that is available to them. For some individuals there is a fine line of what you can and cannot post, and by choosing to use social media platforms as scrapbooks can be tricky to make sure you do not violate certain guidelines that some professionals may uphold. Because as most know, once you put something on the internet, it really never goes away entirely.

But, when you do use social media responsibly, you are able to capture and highlight momentous events in your lifetime and can easily share them with friends and family that you follow on the internet. You can post events surrounding birthdays, holidays, family reunions, and in some more solemn cases, funerals. Sure you will have physical memories that you can recall surrounding these various events, but having the memories captured online can have an easier effect upon us as remembrancing comes into effect. One event that I think is a strong example of this remembrancing concept, is when people decide to post pre/mid/post labor pictures that show off both the beautiful and uh, not so pretty sights of bringing a baby into the world. People do this because they not only want to post for others to see, but because they want to capture that specific moment in time forever, and by using a scrapbooking method like the one Humphrey's describes, it can be an easy feat to achieve.

My point in this, is that remembrancing through social media is a wonderful tool that not only brings a connection to others, but allows an individual to reconnect to prior memories that may not be as powerful as they once were. This creates a story of people’s lives and it’s one that they choose to share with the rest of the world and show people just who they are on a more personal and symbolic way. When you post, you are able to go back to your previous memories and experiences, and essentially relive them.

Humphreys, Lee, and Lee Humphreys. The Qualified Self: Social Media and the Accounting of Everyday Life. The MIT Press, 2018.