I'm no art historian, but from one point of view, good photography demonstrated qualities you'd find in good painting. Then the medium took on its own aesthetic

I'm no art historian, but from one point of view, good photography demonstrated qualities you'd find in good painting. Then the medium took on its own aesthetic with camera angles or color saturation of various films. Fast forward to today and between "vertical" compositions (screen orientation) and live photo (very short video) and let's face it, upvoting, our world is less about bad photos than it is about popular photos. From a collector's point of view, I'd think one would align with that more than, say, a contest winner's photo. And, an element of this has always been there, just not as amplified and dominant as it is in this social media era. @chefandy suggested a better title, and I'd agree. I'd suggest however that his/her title is too gentle. I'd say "How Mass Popularity and Tech Influenced Perception of Photography" because it speaks to the culturally aggregating effect of the Internet.