What are the potential negative impacts of the ubiquitous nature of digital photography, particularly the cultural aspect and for kids growing up with it?

Inspired by jca’s post on what a digital diary of your life would look like.

We splurged to buy a 35mm camera when our son was born in the early ‘90s – it was a big expense for us. I got a digital camera in 2002, and had flip-phones with photo and video capability before getting the first iPhone when it came out. I’ve wished I had had the ease of a camera phone when my son was small so I’d have more tangible mementos of his childhood.

Within a month of getting that first iPhone I joined Fluther, but I also social sites that were like a cross between Instagram and Twitter where we shared photos and conversations about all sorts of things. I have taken and posted most of the cliches of digital photography: selfies, pet pics, food pics, boudoir pics (for my sweetie’s eyes only), clouds from the airplane, etc. I personally enjoy these sites and seeing photos from people around the globe (although selfies do get on my nerves when it’s the vast majority of what the person posts).

One thing I’ve become aware of is how people post pics of their kids nearly every day – and most of these kids are posing. There are very few candid photos of people anymore – we are keenly aware when someone is pointing a camera at us. When at events, I see people who are focused so intently on making a photo or video record of the event that they are not actually present at the event.

Some of my thoughts are that for these kids, they get the message that their physical appearance is important, since someone can snap a pic at any moment; but also impression that the attention gained from getting “likes” is of value. They also might think that each day or week, there is a special event taking place. What happens when adulthood hits and they are really faced with the mundane or even real adversity – especially with the economy still struggling and so many young people not able to get jobs in their chosen career?

Part of this spills over to and from other cultural phenomena, like ‘reality’ TV, and ‘graduations’ from preschool and kindergarten, and coming-of-age parties that surpass the weddings from a generation ago, etc. And there are the other issues of sharing too much personal info online that future college admissions boards and potential employers could see. But I’m having difficulty finding the actual words to phrase the issue I’m trying to discuss here…

I guess my main question is the cultural aspect digital photography regarding of the value of the photo documenting the occasion versus being in the moment to enjoy the experience and make real memories. What are today’s generation of kids learning about the value of participating in an event as opposed to the value of showing that you were there? Perhaps some Jelly who is far better with philosophy and/or language can grasp what I mean and rephrase it for me.