Il bordello senza muri tra gli schermi: lo screenshot come vascello dell'osceno = The brothel without walls among screens: the screenshot as a vessel of the obscene

Abstract

In recent years, the practice of taking screenshots has become widespread, akin to photography but with its own unique digital implications. This act of capturing screen images is now a routine part of daily digital activities, often overlooked by mainstream literature (Frosh 2018; Jaynes 2020; Gaboury 2021; Švelch 2021) and yet revealing deeper meanings about digital society and online life. Despite its simplicity, the screenshot has complex consequences, altering how we expose, remember, and transmit information (Zurovac 2023, 2016). Screenshots serve as vessels for a new level of visibility of private moments and elements that would otherwise remain hidden. As McLuhan (1964) noted, just as celebrity images made stars more accessible, so too do screenshots, transforming information into a manipulable object, susceptible to interpretation. The inherent leakiness of digital content is accelerated by this practice, prompting users to adjust their online behavior, considering the potential of being screenshotted. Screenshots symbolize the era of hyper-connectivity, overexposure and surveillance, where every moment can be eternalized and every boundary between public and private blurred. In this media landscape, the screenshot highlights our paradoxical quest for control over our digital exposure. If photography in the twentieth century opened the doors to a "brothel without walls," screenshots now populate this brothel with screens, windows, or mirrors, inviting us to reflect on our digital existence