Shake it like a Polaroid picture

Image source: Gallo/Getty Images.

I, for one, am happy to see the youth chewing on the concept of waiting to see what emerges in the spaces between the here and now.

What's trending? Retro-millennia

Bronwyn Williams  29 Jan 2018

If you consider the pace at which technology is moving our lives in, this trend may be the visual brakes we have been waiting for, here to remind teens of a few timeless truths.

Things that matter take time. Polaroid costs a lot more, which will make you think twice about how you are structuring your image and the composition. It motivates you to think a little more carefully, because, in real life, there is no filter, redo or delete button.

Not everything needs to be shared. With the explosion of shared content out there, teens are learning some hard life lessons about privacy. Lessons no 15-year old should have to learn. Polaroids cannot be uploaded quickly on the net and there’s no risk of embarrassing shares. You control the content and who can view it.

Things you can touch, feel more real. There’s something about holding a photo that makes the experience more visceral. Once it’s in your hands it inhabits the present moment, neatly folding past and present into your back pocket.

The need for authenticity is permeating every corner of social and who can blame a generation who has grown up with the evolution of social media, from Facebook (2004) Twitter (2006) Insta (2010) and Snapchat (2011) adopting each one into their lives with open thumbs.

But a life lived in pixels from your earliest age is no easy thing, as countless research and studies are showing. Turning towards Polaroid maybe teens way of connecting towards something more tangible... even if it’s just a carefully captured moment on a Polaroid picture.