Photos help us connect
SCI-TECH SCENE | Studies find written communication via Facebook, texting leaves many feeling more isolated
David Dailey, a 23-year-old photography hobbyist who moved to Chicago a year ago, takes photos to stay connected. But he says it's more difficult now that he no longer sees his college friends every day.
"I've definitely lost touch with many people back home in Alabama due to the 'business of life' these days," said Dailey, who felt culture shock moving here after growing up in a town of 5,000 and enjoying close-knit fraternity life at the University of Alabama.
Dailey has turned to the latest ways to communicate -- texting and Facebook messaging -- amid the occasional phone call.
His experience illustrates unexpected new findings about modern ways of communicating: People say they feel alienated by technologically driven communication. One study shows social networking can heighten divisions based on people's class and race.
A recent Kodak research study concluded that e-mail, texting, instant messaging and social networking have left people feeling their computer conversations are less meaningful than those in person or over the phone.
Chicagoans spoke loudly and clearly that technology isn't helping them gain meaningful relationships, according to the survey. Seven in 10 Chicagoans surveyed said they have fewer meaningful relationships than they did five years ago, compared with six of 10 nationwide.
Half of the Chicagoans surveyed wish they had more friends to turn to for support, compared with four of 10 nationally.
More than half (54 percent) of Chicagoans said they feel lonely, compared with four of 10 nationwide.
A separate report, by Danah Boyd, a researcher at Microsoft Research New England, and previous research by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, found that Facebook users tend to be male and have college educations, while MySpace users are more likely to be women, Latino or African-American, and high-school educated.
Researchers are begging to advise people how to overcome the barriers of technology. One cutting-edge idea is the use of photography to bridge the social gaps.
Judy Weiser, director of the PhotoTherapy Center in Vancouver, British Columbia -- at phototherapy-centre.com -- recommends that people interact with the photos around them, and increase their own photography and photo-sharing skills to enhance their friendships and relationships.
"If you let important people in your life in on the 'small stuff' -- the ordinary daily stuff -- it lets people know how you're doing in ways your words couldn't tell them," said Weiser, a Houston native who is known as a pioneer in developing, teaching and consulting about therapeutic photography and photo art therapy.
Just as country singer Jamey Johnson sings in the song "In Color," family photos are especially helpful in rekindling memories and feelings of closeness.
In fact, Weiser recommends that people talk with the photos at their homes and offices.
"What positive messages do you get from the photo?" she said. "What does it want you to know or remember? What were you feeling when it was taken? Why are you keeping this photo? Why is it important?"
The same therapeutic effects can be realized by taking photos, Weiser said.
Kodak, in a self-serving move, offers tips on how to use photos to connect more significantly at Kodak.com/go/smile.
Experts offer ways to save money while sharing memories: Today's phlethora of on-line, photography and office-supply resources offer a variety of low-priced photo printing and sharing techniques, including GreenPrint Technologies -- printgreener .com -- and Laptop magazine -- at laptopmag.com.
For Dailey, taking photographs reveals vulnerability on his part and that of the subject.
Dailey, who concentrates on portraiture photography, wrote his thesis on the vulnerability of the person taking photos, since the photographer is in some sense exploiting his subject, and the results of the photography. Dailey studied photographers such as Nan Goldin and Cindy Sherman, who focus on how people look at women in photos. Goldin took photos of herself after she was beaten by a boyfriend to expose the bruises and show her boyfriend's cowardice, Dailey noted.
Yet taking friends' photos also build relationships, Dailey said.
"I could call my friends at college and say, 'I've got an idea.' And they'd come meet me at the studio to take the photo," he said.