4 ms·
It's simply become memetic. Why bother combing through the video for a different still when you can use the same one everyone else is?
by redthrowaway 13y ago
It's simply become memetic. Why bother combing through the video for a different still when you can use the same one everyone else is?
- heyitsnick 13y agoI'm not sure if you're being ironic because you answer your own question. A newspaper wants content that is different from its competitors. It takes little effort to "comb through the video" to grab another screenshot. I also find it odd that everyone is using the same still.
- jessaustin 13y agoA newspaper wants content that is different from its competitors. Except in this case the Snowden image is not "content". It is an icon: visual shorthand that catches the eye and identifies the topic. In a story about a corporation, they would use that corporation's standard logo rather than a unique picture of the generic corporate campus. All of the pictures of Snowden's girlfriend in various poses and states of undress? Now that's content.
- ibisum 13y agoPlus, it helps the positioning of the people running the agit-prop against Snowdens' supporters. We only know the guy for that one moment in time - developing his personality in social consciousness will give people more affinity for his stated goals. Giving them the same, boring picture to look at, will eventually devalue any attention that society gives him, because the picture becomes iconic, we detach our emotions from what we think is a "branding exercise" sub-consciously. If we saw pics of him in the Russian airport, it would humanize him. The powers that be want to de-humanize this person.