It shifts the time spent going through and evaluating images away from the moments when they are being taken to the next day, which presumably is meant to help preserve the integrity of the experience being documented rather than burdening it with the self-awareness of how well it is coming across on the screen. The photos aren’t made “social” by posting them to a feed or snapping them directly to a person or group; instead their sociality is in how they behave as one part in a larger gallery of themed shots.

excited to say i wrote a book about photography and social media! it's out with @VersoBooks in April and you can pre-order it now if you'd like: https://t.co/lD43PwRjJa pic.twitter.com/bmOt0U7R5W— nathanjurgenson (@nathanjurgenson) February 4, 2019