I know I was meant to do a post on travel, but I will save that for later. Today, I want to talk about how people on the internet use images to express themselves in new and unique ways.

Throughout human history, auditory literacy has been widespread. Not being able to read or write was common, and the written word was usually reserved for the upper echelons of society. In the latter half of the twentieth century, people’s visual literacy was increasing quite dramatically – movies, advertising and television were opting for a highly visual, rather than dense text- or auditory-based method of communication.

The internet, however, is primarily text-based. Still, people manage to use the images of the real world to express themselves online, making use of the higly visually literate audience. A picture of a face or an animal can convey an emotion far more convincingly than any emoticon, and can even help drive a point home.

I’ve delved into my stock of pictures, and I thought I’d share them with you!

First stop, pointing out failure.

The best way to win an argument:

…and its variants:

…or winning through absurdity:

…to expressing surprise:

…and using TV clips to drive your point home:

…calling out trolls:

…or congratulating them:

…a desire for more:

…or less:

…laughing at others:

…getting angry:

…or laughing at another’s stupidity:

…celebrating good content:

…feeling overwhelmed with awesome:

…to making fun of another’s posting style:

…using a mix of themes to emphasise the intended expression:

…celebrating:

…and calling others out on their newbie cryfaces:

…more animal/emoticon confluence:

…and a congratulatory applause from the internet’s favourite anarchist:

I can’t help it – I adore the use of .gif and .jpeg to enhance and enrich my online experience, both in my own expression and the creation of a culture.