Sharing our mundane details of daily life did not start with Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.  For centuries, people have used pocket diaries, photo albums, and baby books to catalog and share their lives with family and friends.

Has social media made us more narcissistic, or have these new media technologies allowed us to pursue more meaningful ways to express ourselves?

In a Chats in the Stacks book talk, Lee Humphreys, associate professor in the Department of Communication at Cornell University, will present her new book, The Qualified Self: Social Media and the Accounting of Everyday Life (MIT Press, April 2018). Humphreys’ research explores the social uses and perceived effects of communication technology, mobile phone use in public spaces, and emerging norms on mobile social networks.

Light refreshments served.

The book talk series at Mann Library is supported by the Mary A. Morrison Public Education Fund.