Contemporary Tattoo and Social Media: A Special Relationship

Historically, tattoos have a negative connotation, being mainly associated with underground culture, while contemporary tattoos carry a different status, presenting themselves as culturally more open and professional. By distancing itself from the marginal phenomenon that characterized ancient tattoos and becoming a socially immersive medium, it is necessary to look at tattooing in the present from a different perspective in order to understand how the media are greatly responsible for this practice. Initially the mass media, mostly magazines and television channels such as MTV, and currently social digital platforms, both have enabled and promoted interaction between geographically distant people with common interests. Social media became popular for tattoo artists by bringing them closer to the public, making interaction and holding international conventions and meetings easier. Instagram is a network where it is easy to share the work done with a more diverse audience and has been one of the great drivers of contemporary tattoo. This paper looks for the relationship between tattoo and media and seeks to understand how Instagram has expanded the world of tattooing and allowed tattoo artists to get closer to the public by showing their work and being in contact with the audience.