Is the digital imaging and re-blogging trend causing chaos in the fashion industry? In today’s digital and technology-driven world, using social media sites has become the norm where people can socialise and connect with one another.
Many businesses utilize social media networking sites to promote themselves. The fashion industry is just one of the many sectors that thrive from the use of photo-sharing sites. Fashion designers are always on Pinterest, pinning their latest designs and collections to attract more followers and potential buyers.
This goes to show that people are becoming more obsessed with visual and aesthetic pleasures, as most people process information visually rather than verbally, by seeing things in their mind’s eye.
Related reading: How to Grow your Business Exposure through Pinterest
This is good news for social media sites that specialise in photo-sharing such as Tumblr, Instagram and Pinterest. They have quickly become the biggest photo-sharing sites on the internet, relying heavily on posting, re-blogging and re-pinning photos ranging from fashion, fitness, food to celebrities. If you were to check out Tumblrs’ newsfeed, you will see plenty of images of beautiful, attractive, models dressed head to toe in the latest trends.
Is this such a bad thing? Surprisingly, yes, it can be!
It can cause damage to the fashion industry, mainly targeting designers who upload their images onto social media sites, as they can easily become victims of image theft. Uploading your images onto social media sites can create both drawbacks and benefits.
A tip for designers to deter image theft is to watermark images. However, the drawback of this is that it may ruin the image itself. Another way to protect images is to upload them to Flickr, another photo-sharing site, which allows users to add photos to their blog posts. This means that the owner of the photo can track their images whilst getting more exposure and traffic back to their site, which is a major benefit for fashion designers.
Another drawback of the mass use of photo-sharing sites is that it degrades the quality of the images being created. Many images quickly become repetitive, clichéd and are neither artistic nor creative but, to be put simply, photoshopped. Tumblr and Pinterest are both overexposed and overrated sites that are killing photography and squashing creativity out of the fashion industry.
Not only does re-blogging cause problems in the fashion world when people who re-blog do not leave the links and credits on the photos, but it also has a detrimental effect on our minds. It seems that this world of re-blogging and re-pinning is merely a dream and a fantasy for many of us. And yes, it is always fun to indulge and dip into this fantasy of luxury and expensive tastes by creating your dream fashion wardrobe board onto Pinterest. However, it is vital to not get caught up in the fantasy lifestyle where everything is perfect as it may lead to setting hopes dangerously high. The digital imaging and re-blogging trends give the fashion industry and the general public the best of both worlds. We can see the flawless images the industry produces, which gives us aspirations in the way that we look and dress, but we can also see how it can turn ugly if people infringe on copyright laws that can lead to complaints being filed and even being taken to court.
Ultimately, the fashion industry can be seen to flourish through the circulation of digital images, reblogging and re-pinning on photo-sharing sites. An example of this is the way a product on Pinterest catches the eye of potential buyers, who would then contact the designer directly to purchase. Another example that attracted attention recently, is a man who saw the perfect wedding ring on his fiancé’s Pinterest board titled ‘Favourite Wedding Rings’, which led him to visit the jeweller’s shop and buy it. There have been countless stories similar to this and it goes to show the huge power and influence of photo-sharing social media sites on the fashion industry.
Do you have any other insights into the impact of digital imaging on the fashion industry? We’d love to hear from you!
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