Interpretation of image and appearance culture in whatsapp statuses

Technological development invades and determines many aspects of current life, but one of the most influenced by social networks is communication; Without a doubt, virtuality has added new possibilities for relating and new concepts that impact culture. In this regard, the objective was to interpret WhatsApp Status messages as cultural artifacts of image and appearance projection. The descriptive-field methodology and the analytical-synthetic method were used. The sample was made up of 30 WhatsApp statuses, chosen intentionally (typical subjects) based on criteria such as: active account, public WhatsApp status, the owners must respond to the established age ranges, identify themselves as male or female and be students or professionals. The descriptive matrix allowed the data to be collected and classified according to a specific typology. The data analysis technique was content analysis (qualitative). The findings indicate that messages of: leisure/fun (27%), advertising (26%), personal photographs (16%), religious/reflection (13%), irony/sarcasm (9%), family (7%) predominate, news (2%). It is concluded that this selection of message types allows the sender to define the image and appearance they wish to project as desirable self-images that outline a self-constructed in a reflective-selective manner, tailored to meet social demands