From Visual Pleasure to Visual Pressure:Youngsters Social and Political Engagement across Nations and Borders via Visual Networked Societies

The increasingly intimate connections between our visual technologies and us clearly contribute in expanding and alter the public, by some called 'me-first' society. Simultaneously, at an even younger age, people from different socio-economic backgrounds, ethnicities and genders, some of whom have ideas relegated from the mainstream public or confined to the outer edges or margins of society through practice, policy and attitude (Dralega 2009), are now with less hindrances accessing and entering the visua l public networked sphere. Pictures from mundane moments; the worldwide selfie-epidemic; to political activists and actions; violence and war, all are examples of visual spectacles that are shared on to the worldwideweb. Visual networked societies repres ent a public hub of images that to a lesser degree is possible to restrict and relegate: the ?me-first culture? meets marginalised subaltern voices. ENGAGE aims directly at core challenges regionally and internationally, namely a current and future need for young people to engage politically and partake in societal, economical challenges and decision-making, aiming at reduce inequality and social exclusion and differences as well as stimulate social responsibility across borders and nations. ENGAGE see p ublic dialogues and enactments between people through image sharing and commenting, as available powerful pedals for stimulating social and political engagement.