A Subtle link Between Poverty Porn and Social Media Clout

The concept of poverty porn, also called development porn or famine porn, first originated in the 1980s, an era of immense charity campaigns. The practice once exclusive to UNICEF, Oxfam and similar organisations has become a tool for clout, with the audience intentionally or unintentionally hyping it. With arts like street photography becoming so popular, such media cascades everywhere on the internet. We can see Twitter, Facebook and Instagram congested with posts showcasing the miserable lives of underprivileged people. Triggering a false lull of sympathy in the minds of people, the imagery roots for the coveted clout of the privileged.

With access to mobile phones, the internet and cameras, the desire to influence others has seen a stark rise. With new trends showing up every day, social media has become a platform of infinite talent. From education and fashion to news and entertainment, everything now is one click away. However, with everything good, something worse has also seen a rise. Poverty porn, a relatively unaddressed issue, seems to have become a passion for many. Poverty porn is any type of media — photographed, filmed or written which exploits the poor’s condition to engender sympathy for sales, increasing donations or support for a given cause. The concept first originated in the 1980s, which happens to be an era age of immense charity campaigns. Though some campaigns were successful in raising money for charity, the media used what the critics called an “inappropriate use of children in poverty”. An emaciated child in mother’s lap, women feeding on garbage heaps, a beggar with their hands stretched out and an infinite pool of similar images pops up if one does a Google search. The practice once exclusive to UNICEF, Oxfam and similar organisations has become a tool for clout, with people intentionally or unintentionally hyping it.

From the biggest cities to the smallest slums, we can see Twitter, Facebook and Instagram congested with posts showcasing the miserable lives of underprivileged people. This is done in the form of write-ups, films and photographs. The unchecked fact being whether it was consented to by the protagonist or not. The social media industry has opened gateways to emerging artists to present their work and skills publicly. Beginner documentarians and photographers of the developing countries have taken to social media to attract employers and audiences, and poverty porn has re-established itself. While in some cities the poor charge money for pictures and stories, no such thing exists in villages and small towns and consent remains unchecked. What needs to be clearly underlined is that consent is not just asking a person to take their pictures or videos, it’s clearly making known to them how these pictures and videos would be portrayed and manipulated. Sensationalism in such media distorts reality and exposes the plight of a person only to satisfy the passion of the privileged. It disregards the right to privacy and exposes the already vulnerable to predation.

Danish aid worker Jorgen Lissner in an article for the New Internationalist in 1981 wrote “The starving child image is seen as unethical because it comes dangerously close to being pornographic, it exhibits the human body and soul in all its nakedness, without any respect for the person involved.” It’s easier to make underprivileged children smile when clicked owing to their natural innocence, without delving deeper into the issue and understanding the menace that one is sustaining. With arts like street photography becoming so popular, such media cascades everywhere on the internet. Triggering a lull of sympathy in the minds of people, this imagery caters to the coveted clout of the privileged and the powerful.

All avid social media users have been witnesses of poverty porn and contributed to it in one way or the other, even if it’s just by looking past it like any other pop culture term on the table. The issue roots in ignoring this vicious cause of clout and the inability to bring forth accountability. Through easy access to a global audience, poverty is now sold in millions. Under the pretense of charitable goals, which actually need to be achieved without objectifying suffering, poverty porn has become a tool for exploitation. To simplify, it is convenient to capitalize on the miseries of the underprivileged for creating a false narrative that focuses more on the messiahs than the actual cause of poverty; it has thus turned poverty into a commodity.

Taizeem Bilal is a student pursuing English Literature from Jamia Millia Islamia.

Edited by: Diptarka Chatterjee