The (in)disputable ‘power’ of images of outrage: public acknowledgement, emotional reaction, and image recognition

Abstract

A recent news image – that of a drowned 3-year-old Syrian boy washed ashore on the Turkish coast as a result of refugees fleeing the ongoing war in Syria – resonated with international audiences and world leaders, becoming a seeming catalyst for action. But, as time has shown, the effect was short-lived. Through survey data, this research explores iconic images and visual collective memory throughout history and into the era of digital news and social media. More specifically, the research considers connections between public acknowledgement, emotional reaction, and image recognition. Studying such relationships will help us to further understand the (in)disputable ‘power’ that famous photographs possess to imprint themselves onto people’s minds, thus leading to supposed effect and action.

: Emoji and Religion in the Twitter Discourses on the Notre Dame Cathedral Fire

“…The Notre Dame fire, indeed, recalls existing discourses, especially on Muslim terrorist attacks in Western countries or on Christian buildings. This resonates with the aforementioned literature on emotions and religion on Twitter (Papacharissi, 2014;Dahmen et al, 2018;Kraidy, 2017;Mitchell, 2006;Döveling et al, 2018;Ge & Gretzel, 2018;Stark & Crawford, 2015), even if in this case there is no connection between the Notre Dame topic and Islam or Muslims. This suggests that the fire might have triggered the outpouring of narratives about religious identities.…”

“…Emotional exchanges on Twitter are enhanced by the use of images, which might trigger powerful emotional reactions through holding a deep symbolic power over consumers. Iconic images, such as the picture of a drowned 3-yearold Syrian boy taken in 2015, give relevance to a specific story and emotionally impact internet users through their circulation on social media (Dahmen et al, 2018).…”

Paved with Bad Intentions: QAnon’s Save the Children Campaign

“…Beyond the topic's age, though, is the medium through which issues of children's suffering have often been shared. Specifically, issues of child exploitation, starvation, and suffering have long been communicated via photographic media-e.g., a photo of Alan Kurdi, a drowned three-year-old Syrian boy during the 2015 refugee crisis (Dahmen, Mielczarek, and Morrison 2019), or Omran Daqneesh, a five-year-old Syrian boy who garnered international attention after being photographed in an ambulance following a Syrian-government airstrike (Wilson, Zhou, and Starbird 2018)-with such photos often rising to the level of "iconic imagery" (Dahmen, Mielczarek, and Morrison 2019). The commonality and impact of these photos of children suffering, we contend, establishes a visual motif that can be further exploited by malevolent groups, as audiences are already familiar with these graphical representations.…”

“…Such mobilization is not specific to social media, though. As we discuss above, iconic imagery has power: Kurdi's death and its photographic depiction are thought to have had significant political impact in Europe, with popular sentiment pushing governments to increase assistance to migrants (Dahmen, Mielczarek, and Morrison 2019).…”

Warmth portrayals to recruit students into science majors

“…The visual communication literature suggests that visual means of communication provide viewers with information that can influence their cognitive and affective reactions toward an event, incident, or experience (Barnhurst et al, 2004; Dahmen et al, 2018; Iyer and Oldmeadow, 2006). For example, in the world of non-profit organizations, print advertisements were found to influence consumers’ emotions and increase their donation intentions (Bebko et al, 2014).…”