Becoming #InstaFamous104
What does your story say about you?
Your Instagram Story is you, when your online… But is it
really you?
When Instagramming your life away, you may start to notice
yourself posting photos and then telling little lies in the caption. This may
go on for a while then, all of a sudden, your account has taken on a life of
its own. This occurrence is what is described as posthumanism within this weeks
reading.(McNeill, L, 2012)
The reason that this usually happens is when you first start
out on Insta you are yourself, a very true authentic self. After weeks and
weeks of following all these wonderful people online you start to doubt
yourself and wonder if your life is too boring. "In a virtual narrative
you are not the only person constructing your identity."(Van Luyn,A. 2015).
Then slowly you make small changes and edit information to make yourself seem
that little bit more interesting. Until eventually your coming up with amazing
stories in your head, then trying to find something to photograph to make the
story seem legitimate enough for it to happen to you.
When it comes to power over your content on Instagram, you
may believe you have authority over everything you post. This however is very
incorrect. As I had learned a few weeks ago, anyone can use your photos. I had
someone use a photo of mine as their profile picture, which at first was a
scary feeling, not knowing who it was or what they were going to use it for.
After 36 hours of constant reporting, was their account finally terminated by Instagram
HQ, The whole experiences leaving me feeling completely helpless. On Instagram you
can take the precaution of turning your profile to private.
References:
McNeill,L. (2012) There is no “I” in network: Social
networking sites and posthuman auto/biography
Van Luyn,A. (2015) Our space: Network, narratives, and the
making of place, lecture 5: Intertextuality [powerpoint slide 7] Retrieved from
http://learnjcu.edu.au
Great post! While I haven’t come across someone on insta who creates a false identity with such purpose and intent as to post fake events, I have come across people who manipulate their profile to create a virtual identity. This can be done by carefully selecting specific material to post. For example, even though you may not cook much, only uploading pictures of food you’ve made will make your account look like it belongs to a foodie. As you said in your post, it is easy to become lost in this online identity without even realizing it. This can also be influenced by the types of people you have following your account. If these people are party goers, foodies, gym junkies - your posts are going to cater to their personalities; if out of shame or a need to fit in is only know to the user - or not, (Kuttainen, 2015).
ReplyDeleteRef:
Kuttainen, V. (2015) Our Space: Network, narratives, and the making of place, lecture 5: Intertextuality [powerpoint slide 7] Retrieved from http://learnjcu.edu.au