From Telegram to Instagram

ARTS 2090: Final Task 3, Topic 4

From Telegram to Instagram: A photo essay connecting two technologies that revolutionized social communication

By Catherine Ratelle, z3410081

Author's note: In this photo essay, I incorporated my personal photographic work into a thorough analysis of two publishing technologies, one pre-1900s and one post-2000s; both have transformed publishing, and in turn, changed society. This essay attempts to capture the remarkable impact of the telegram compared to the current photo-sharing boom marked by mobile apps like Instagram. Most importantly, this essay will focus on how the two technologies have revolutionized society, specifically communication. All of the photos below were pulled from my photography archives, past and present portfolios. I enjoyed manipulating my personal photography and intertwining the photos with the research. Each original photograph was taken with my DSLR camera (Canon Rebel T3i) or my Smartphone camera (iPhone 4s) and then manipulated with Instagram. Using the app on my iPhone, I applied filters and effects to enhance each photo, then uploaded each image to my Instagram account. Each photo is constricted to a square shape, a distinctive style element of Instagram. The consistency of the my photographs' shape gives the essay an essential cohesive element.

To view more of my photography, visit my official portfolio website.

 

Everyday communication and connectivity. Everyday, all day.

 

Camp Nakanawa. Crossville, Tennessee, USA. July 2010.

Tom Standage (n.d.), author of "The Victorian Internet" and Economist editor, would agree that the social practices that govern today's Internet and mobile-oriented world date back to the telegraphic tradition of the early 19th century. The dawn of social telecommunications media evolved from Morse code, telegrams, telegraph poles and wires. According to Gomez (2012), it developed from typewriters, telephones, beepers, pagers, fax machines, and the interactive World Wide Web. Everyday, we engage, contribute, and share. Everyday, we network. Everyday, we connect through this advanced medium of communication utilizing all the precursor technologies of the past century. 

In a personal review of his book, Standage (n.d.) explained that telegraphy was the first empire of social communication, therefore, the first technology that shrunk the world via instantaneous communication. The consequences of the telegraph network are strikingly similar to the impact of the modern internet. The buzz that once existed around telegrams is parallel to the social media explosion dominating Web 2.0, but more importantly, the shift of social media from desktop computers to hand held mobile apps via Smartphones.

When publishing changes, so does society. This photographic essay will explore the radical pre-1900s publication technology of the telegram in comparison to the post-2000s development of mobile photo-sharing and the craze surrounding apps like Instagram. This essay will also summarize the ways these publication technologies have impacted society, more specifically, revolutionized communication in the last century.

The electric telegraph: the spark that started the communication fire

West Texas, USA. 31 December 2011.

The technology behind telegraphy sparked a communication revolution in the 19th century that resulted in a globally connected world. It became the first global system for exchanging information, and thus created the first mass communication empire (Redfern, n.d.; Hill, 2012). Standage (n.d.) declared that,“The telegraph unleashed the greatest revolution in communications since the development of the printing press.”

Bray John (1995, as cited in Wikipedia, Electrical Telegraph) explained that telegrams greatest achivement was the way the telegraph network allowed information boundaries to expand. Telegraphy allowed data to reach its destination while it was still pertinent to the current even. Telegrams existed as one of the first uncontrolled liberated forms of communication.

 

Fort Worth, Texas, USA. October 2011.

In 1838, Morse successfully demonstrated the technology by transmitting a message across two miles of wire. US Congress then funded Morse to install a line of communication between Washington D.C. and Baltimore; it was determined that the wires must stretch between the two cities above ground connected by telegraph poles (McNamara, n.d.). In 1844, the first telegraph was successfully transmitted and received. 

Fort Worth, Texas, USA. November 2011.

The telegraph poles soon connected entire countries; in 1861, the overland telegraph connected the west coast of the US to the east. These poles allowed electrical telegraph operators to transmit telegrams, a telegraph messages, long distances without the physical exchange of an object (Wikipedia, Electrical Telegraph). A system of cables strung on telegraph poles spread quickly throughout the US and Europe (Redfern, n.d.). Telegram technology exploded across the world and by the end of the nineteenth century, the globe was wired for a new kind of communication. By the time Abraham Lincoln was elected US President, telegrams were a normal means of communication in American life. In 1861, President Lincoln’s first state of the union was transmitted over telegraph wires. (McNamara, n.d.)

The world wired in: How telegram's revolutionized communication

Coogee Beach, New South Wales, Australia. March 2012.

When the telegraph poles and cables were finally installed across the world, Europe could send Australia a message in a day; what used to take 45 days could be easily transmitted within 24 hours. (Redfern, n.d.). US Associated Press workers stationed in Nova Scotia were able to intercept telegrams from European boats and telegraph the news to New York, where it could appear in print days before the boats would reach the New York harbor (McNamara, n.d.). When President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in 1865, the telegraph spread the news across the nation with efficiency and speed. The telegraph made it possible for the nation to share its grief for the first time, as well as unite in respect for their country and President (McNamara, 2011).

UNSW Main Library, Sydney, Australia. May 2012. 

The telegraph network crossed oceans to every continent expect for Antarctica. Global communication became, for the first time in history, instant and accessible (Wikipedia, Electrical Telegraph). Communication was given the gift of speed with the birth of the electric telegraph. According to BBC news reporter, Redfern (n.d.), the world would never be the same again. Governments could be more effective authorities for their oversea colonies. Merchants could supply cargo ships based on the latest demand and prices. Newspapers could share recent information and publish fresh stories. The publishing technology of telegraphy revolutionized society because it transformed how humans communicate with one another. For the first time, an individual could exchange a message with friends or family across the world (Redfern, n.d.). 

Tag me: The photo-sharing movement and the platforms that fuel the craze

 Blue Mountains, New South Wales, Australia. March 2012.

Sharing photos has evolved from a popular trend to a distinct social movement in the interactive Web 2.0 world. Jenny Grove (2010), Mashable Tech contributor, broke down the history of the online photo sharing movement into three phases.

In the early 2000s, uploading and distributing photos online generated a need for online photo-sharing platforms. According to Grove, the widespread user interest in using the web to share photographs resulted in the creation of Flickr, Picasa, Photobucket etc. In the late 2000s, photo sharing via social networks increased dramatically; Facebook and Twitter alone served as a medium for the second phase of photo-sharing (Grove, 2010). The third phase of the photo-sharing movement is centered on mobile photo-sharing apps like Instagram. Grove (2010) said the developers of these photo sharing apps are strategically focusing their energy on the mobile market first in an attempt to, “capitalize on both the ever-improving quality of Smartphone cameras and the user’s desire to take photos and instantly share them.”

Instagram: The rise of the visual-telegram

Hiwassee River, Reliance, Tennessee. July 2010.

Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger co-founded Instagram, the free mobile photo-sharing app, in October 2010. The Instagram app is a photo-sharing social network that enables users to alter photos by adding filtered layers and retro-looking effects (Ashpari, 2012). Co-founder Kevin Systrom (2010) wrote on Quora about the genesis of Instagram; he said, “We felt [the name] captured what you were doing [right now]—an instant telegram of sorts.” Instagram was designed around the theme of live-streaming photos similar to the way Twitter streams text. Photos posted to Instagram serve as real time status updates like snapshots in a timeline. It emphasizes what people are taking photos of right now (Snow, 2011). Simplicity is the main feature and biggest attraction of the app; its emphasis on limited features allows for a better user experience (Snow, 2011).

Camp Nakanawa. Crossville, Tennessee, USA. July 2011.

Grove (2010) wrote that Instagram is grounded in “the instantaneous point-and-share functionality of Smartphones while providing users with filters to fancify and enhance photos and the tools to share them with the world.” Instagram allows immediate distribution and instant publishing while simultaneously providing seamless social integration with the user’s other social networks (Snow, 2011).

St. Moritz Hotel, Queenstown, New Zealand. May 2012.

The biggest trend fueling the Instagram fire and the third wave of the photo-sharing movement, according to another Mashable contributor, Shane Snow (2011), is the ubiquity of high quality camera phones. Not only do Smartphones have increasingly impressive image quality and advanced editing capabilities but all of these features stem from the same platform (Carter, 2011). With mobile photo-sharing apps there is no time commitment or need for equipment; Grove (2010) references this design as a closed loop approach as users take, share and view photos entirely from their mobile device. 

Masai Mara, Kenya, Africa. June 2009.

As cited by Carter (2011), Damon Winter, New York Times staff photographer, claimed that Smartphones are more practical than DSLR cameras, especially for journalists working in the field. Damon (as cited by Carter, 2011) explained that using DSLR cameras can create unwarranted attention because they often raise suspicion not only in war zone situations but any environment involving security officials, police and ordinary people passing by. Small, discrete and connected, Smartphones can send pictures and video around the world in seconds (Carter, 2011).

Sydney, Australia. February 2012.

According to Ronald Gomez (2012), Lens Diaries contributor, a new photographer is born the minute someone purchases a Smartphone due to the increase in Smartphone ownership and photography apps that are inspiring the creative eye in everyone. Due to the size and complexity, DSLR (digital single-lens reflex) cameras lack the spontaneity provided by camera phones. More importantly, connectivity is the main reason camera phones are running traditional camera lenses into the ground (Carter, 2011). 

The art of the photo-telegram: the heart and soul behind photo-sharing

Camp Nakanawa. Crossville, Tennessee, USA. July 2011.

Ashpari (2012) explained that Instagram is not replacing photography but transforming the art of photography by making it more accessible to the masses. In a sense, these mobile photo-editing tools are creating a new art form within the overarching category: the art of sharing photography.

 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. April 2012.

New York Times blogger, Holly Ojalvo (2012) references Karen Rosenberg’s “Everybody Lives in Pictures,” as an analytical approach to the Instagram phenomenon. Rosenberg cites Susan Sontag’s essays, “On Photography,” and her accurate prediction of how humanity slavishly depends on the visual confirmation of photos. Sontag explained this dependence as an “aesthetic consumerism” that we are all addicted. 

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. April 2012.

In today’s social app-orientated society, simply snapping the picture to confirm reality and enhance experience is not enough; sharing is the only aspect of photography that gives us validation. Not only are we addicted aesthetic consumers, Sontag said, we have also become aesthetic producers, obsessed with turning our photos into distributable content. Sontag observed, “The “image-world” is becoming virtually indistinguishable from the world at large” (Ojalvo, 2012). 

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. April 2012.

Though primarily utilized for self-motivated social network purposes, these new photo-sharing technologies have transformed our social relationships between individuals and between society at large. Fred Ritchin (n.d.), contributor and media producer for the Smithsonian Photography Institution, suggested that mobile photography has given rise to citizen journalism, emphasizing the ‘sharing’ in photo sharing. “We are seeing increasingly more images from people without photographic training who primarily attempt to capture information, not create symbolic images” said Ritchin (n.d.). The idea that all humans have the ability to contribute to the news gives people an underlying sense of community with purpose.

Queenstown, New Zealand. May 2012.

Unlike Instagram and other mobile-oriented apps, Facebook, Picasa and Flickr represent digitized versions of photo albums from the computer desktop as opposed to uploading from a Smartphone screen. According to Snow (2011), online photo-sharing from desktops focuses on "archiving memories and immortalizing artistic scenes."

 

In April 2012, Facebook founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, made a bold move in attempt to shift from predominately desktop to mobile device. Facebook purchased Instagram for $1 billion in cash and stock (Wikipedia, Instagram). Facebook is attributed as the biggest repository of photos online, said Gomez (2012). Gomez also explained that the telegram society of yesterday has transformed into today's Instagram world; the social visionaries of Facebook are betting on that new technology.

New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. January 2012.

The photo-sharing craze can be understood as a manifestation of archive fever, which Carolyn Steedman (as cited in Howard, 2007) described as a, “desire to recover moments of inception: to find and possess all sorts of beginnings.” When we share a photo online via social media, it is auto-archived. Our Facebook timeline or Instagram photo-stream exist as digital scrapbooks and personalized . Steedeman described the human relationship to archives as a place “where the past lives” and a place of nostalgic dreaming (Howard, 2007). 

Insta-gram brings tele-gram technology full circle

Tamarama Beach, New South Wales, Australia. February 2012.

History tends to repeat itself, but more importantly, all things in history come full circle. We end our journey in the same spot we started it just with a different point of view. And, here we are. One could even argue that the pre-1900s gram technology lay the foundation for the post-2000s gram technology. Instead of sending a telegram with Morse code, we are sending photo-telegrams with visual graphics (Muscat, 2012).

Just as the telegram was a platform of distributing information via text, Instagram is a platform of distributing information via photo. Instagram represents a new means of communication, specifically a photo-medium of communication, according to PC World assistant editor, Alex Wawro (as cited in Asphari, 2012). 

The big idea: Connecting the world one gram at a time

Masai Mara, Kenya, Africa. June 2009.

Bringing the world together, one upload at time. All communication technologies, from the telegram to instagram, are grounded in the principle of connectivity across the world. Time Magazine's Lev Grossman (2006) summarized the social media revolution as an opportunity to build a new kind of international understanding, not politician to politician, great man to great mean, but citizen to citizen, person to person.

North Texas highway I-30, USA. January 2012.

According to Standage, the modern internet, dominated by social media networks, can be classified as an "information superhighway." He also highlighted the 19th century precursor, the telegraph, as the "the highway of thought." Standage suggested that current internet users have inherited the telegraph's "highway of thought" and are applying it to their modern technologies, thus shaping the "information superhighway." The two publishing technologies stream together into the same lane of traffic on the superhighway of the digital future.

 

Cape Tribulation, Queensland, Australia. March 2012.

We often forget the most timeless aspect of the mobile social communication craze. The stage on which the entire production of social networking is set--the one and only, you, me and every other individual user. The larger dynamic at work amidst the obsession of photo-sharing is the celebration of the self, according to Time contributor, Brian Williams (2006). If it has to do with you and your life then it is important enough to tell someone, according to Williams (2006).

Telegram messages and Instagram photos are both suited for the real-time streaming of information passing through. Each update is only to be replaced by the next one. These technologies have existed and will continue to thrive as social communication channels. While grams of information may come and go, the channels that direct the distribution of this information with never fade, no matter how thick the Instgram filter.

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