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Becoming #InstaFamous101
As part of BA1002 assignment I was tasked with the challenge of choosing a social networking platform and blogging about my experiences. My chosen network is Instagram.
Instagram or 'Insta' is a social media platform used by anyone from Sports stars to celebrities to the crazy cat lady at the end of your street. When using Instagram or 'Gramming' (as a verb) is the act of taking a photo putting a filter on it and uploading where others who have chosen to follow you can like and comment on your photos. For more info on Instagram Click Here.
Why use Insta? When a new user signs up to Insta they've entered a world full of endless possibilities, which including becoming rich, famous and Awesome!
If you have the followers, businesses will pay you hundreds or even thousands to 'subliminally' advertise their product in your posts.
However Insta, as wonderful as it is, can be addictive. There are several reasons as to why it can be addictive. One contributing factor of the addictiveness is power.
In the world of Insta, power comes from followers. The more followers you have the more powerful you are. One would gain more followers by posting artistic/interesting/nice looking photos. Another way of gaining more followers is by befriending someone with many followers and getting them to give you a shoutout, which is along the lines of what was stated in the week 2 lecture: “Power comes out of connections" (Kuttainen, 2015) and is also what J. Allen calls 'associational power' in the week 2 reading "Lost Geographies". As the quote goes 'With great power, comes great responsibility'. Most Celebrities/InstaCelebs also use their account to Raise awareness for Charitable causes such as, hospitals, wildlife endangerment, cancer research, ect.
Allen, J. (2003). Lost geographies of power. Malden, MA.:Blackwell.
Kuttainen, V. (2015) BA1002: Our space: Networks, narratives and the making of place,
Lecture 2: Power. [Powerpoint Slides]. Retrieved from http://www.learnjcu.jcu.edu.au
Tuan, Y. (1977) Space and Place: The perspective of experience London, UK: Edward Arnold
I agree that a driving force behind the addictive nature of Instagram is the theme of power, and the idea that more followers on social media platforms provides a greater sense of power in a virtual setting is very accurate. I think that the Instagram community reflects the notion that power is "part of the durable architecture of social life" (Allen, 2003, p.4) and that some people possess power but refrain from exercising it, whilst others "use it and even abuse it" (Allen, 2003, p.4). This idea that followers create power which consequentially drives addiction is further evidenced in the results of a 2014 survey conducted by Piper Jaffray, with 76% of American teenagers being regular users of the social media site (Blaszczak-Boxe, 2014). The emergence of "Instagram celebrities"(Patashnik, 2013) definitely lures in new users, with the aim of achieving fame and success by simply pressing a button on a smartphone.
ReplyDeleteReferences:
Allen, J. (2003). Lost geographies of power. Malden, MA.: Blackwell
Blaszczak-Boxe, A. (2014). Teens ditch Facebook for new social media favourite. Retrieved from http://www.cbsnews.com/news/kids-social-media-survey-instagram-twitter-facebook/
Patashnik, B. (2013). Say Hello to Instagram's Teenage Superstars. Retrieved from https://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/meet-instagrams-teenage-superstars
I agree with your point on Instagram drawing people in with the idea of becoming famous, or attaining power. It is as stated by Allen, J. "Though many of us might like to distance ourselves from it, the sense in which power is out there ready to be wielded or clung on to or flaunted is deeply ingrained." The idea of becoming rich, famous and popular surely contributes to the amount of posts and plays a part in what people decide to post. I like how you brought up that Instagram can be used to promote other people, through shoutouts; and due to that people want to make connections with the “powerful” users. But I also liked how you brought up that the powerful people can also use their “power” to raise awareness for good causes.
ReplyDeleteReferences:
Allen, J. (2003). Lost geographies of power. Malden, MA.: Blackwell