Instagram is a social media that I use very regularly just like most people who fall into the Generation Z to Millennial age gap. In fact one of the reasons I use Instagram is because it's the most common platform amongst my friends. The way I use Instagram, like many others, is to share images that either represent what I’m doing now, where I am or how I’m feeling.
Instagram is a platform that gives pre-eminence to the image. Unlike Facebook for example, which is as much about the comment or caption, Instagram has always been a platform where the image is the hook. When I post on Instagram, the image needs to be ‘post-worthy’. Often, what makes the image post-worthy is based on the types of images that others post. Celebrities and influencers use Instagram in a certain way to promote themselves or products. But the post is usually about them which means they feature heavily in the image, through selfies or the ubiquitous photo in the mirror shot. Because these types of self photos are so common and because they are used by famous or successful people, they are acceptable, even if they are a little indulgent or vain. Somehow that makes it ok for the rest of us.
At the same time, if you’re going to post images of yourself, you need to be pretty confident in your self image to post your unvarnished self. So most of us apply some kind of filter. I kind of like slightly retro or vintage things, so I present myself in that context. That way the image isn’t just about me, it’s part of my story, which is part of the affordance of Instagram. It’s about everyone’s sense of self, as they want it presented in pictures. So even though I like to think the sense of self that I present on Instagram is authentic, in reality it is shaped by the platform and how others use it.
I think there is an interesting tie in here, with the idea of a social media influencer. The origin of the term ‘influencer’ is based on the traditional concept of opinion leaders (Sánchez-Fernández & Jiménez-Castillo, 2021). In the social media context it has come to be associated with the promotion of products and the influencer being paid to advertise. Some studies suggest that the advertising effectiveness of social media influencers is not high (Sánchez-Fernández & Jiménez-Castillo, 2021), but even if these influencers are not shifting as much product as the advertisers hope, they certainly are influencing how Instagram is used and many of us are copying the style of posts. Influencers on YouTube perhaps display a similar effect where the popular video blog, is aspired to by millions of kids who dream of becoming professional YouTubers! Mind you, YouTube is not just about one format as there are many different types of videos.
Instagram on the other hand is mainly about one format, the still image. On Instagram the images we display are not just about the picture but the mood it portrays. And the way we do this is to some extent a mimic of influencers who are displaying their content for the widest possible audience. Perhaps even unconsciously, this means that we portray our sense of self, with a wider audience in mind than just our friends and family, even if our posts are sent mainly for them.
Raquel Sánchez-Fernández & David Jiménez-Castillo (2021) How social media influencers affect behavioural intentions towards recommended brands: the role of emotional attachment and information value, Journal of Marketing Management
Christina Shane-Simpson, Adriana Manago, Naomi Gaggi, Kristen Gillespie-Lynch,2018, Why do college students prefer Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram? Site affordances, tensions between privacy and self-expression, and implications for social capital, Computers in Human Behavior,
Volume 86, Pages 276-288
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