Why do you go to the 'gram?'
Instagram is one of the suggested course Web 2.0 platforms for this week. Many people recognize the logo even if they don't use the application. Before I get started, let me explain what Instagram is. I found this explanation online:
Instagram is a free photo-sharing application that allows users to take photos, apply a filter, and share it on the service or a variety of other social networking services, including Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, Tumblr, Flickr, and Posterous (https://safesmartsocial.com, 2014)
I'm not an Instagram user. I own the app, but it's there because my nephew has an Instagram account and when he's visiting he likes to 'stunt' on my i6. It's late, he's sleeping, so I decided to ask my daughter, who has an account, "Why do you go to the 'gram?' The response I got tied in so neatly to what we are discussing on the boards in EME 6414 about lurkers and participants that I thought I'd blog about her feedback rather than join Instagram, try to figure it out, then blog.
The Good
She thought the sharing and support can be great. People share videos of their talents, perspectives, memes or pictures with text and viewers leave positive comments. Filters can help users 'perfect' their pictures before posting. Additionally, some people leverage their popularity on Instagram to get endorsement deals with companies especially companies with makeup lines or fitness lines. She liked watching nature videos and pictures of art. At first, she was an active participant because she enjoyed all of those things but then there was the BAD.
The Bad
She dislikes that she can't control who sees her pictures, so she's limited her presence on Instagram. She's become more of a lurker. When she first joined she didn't realize that people she didn't know had access to pictures and that there was no way to stop them from 'following' her account. Friends of the people she didn't know but who followed her account started following her. (The network structure we discuss in class is definitely evidenced here. A friend in common was the "spanner" between disjointed networks.) "People can peer into your life and see what you're doing. People you don't know. Like little voyeurs!" She can't control privacy levels as she does on Facebook. She noted the lack of control and privacy more than anything makes her participate less on Instagram. There was also an UGLY side to Instagram.
The Ugly
She pointed out that Instagram comments can be an assault on a poster's self-esteem. Uninvited viewers can post comments on pictures and sometimes those comments are just plain mean, at times vicious. She noted that everyone has begun to look alike on Instagram. There's an unwritten standard of beauty that is pervasive. The erasure and absence of women of color in major marketing campaigns for some of her favorite swim and surf gear lines have led her to reevaluate her support of those companies. She said "No matter how far back you scroll in any of their Instagram campaigns, you won't find a single black woman. Not one!" So she's considering deleting her account and sticking to her minimal social media presence on Facebook.
What say you?
What about you? Do you use Instagram? If so, for how long? What have your experiences been with the 'gram?' Do you see instructional opportunities for student learning that outweigh the Bad and the Ugly? Share one of those opportunities with me if you have one. If you agree or disagree with my daughter's sentiments let me know!! Send me a response. Let's talk about it. I'm going to join and spend some time there, and I'll come back to the 'gram' in this blog before the course is done.
Thanks for sharing! I use Instagram primary, and it's funny that your daughter brought up not being able to control who sees the photos, because that's exactly why I use it: because I CAN control who sees my stuff. You can easily put your profile to private and if you prefer to stay public, you can block people you don't know, as you are alerted anytime someone follows you. I feel like I have more control and privacy than I do on Facebook. However, now that Instagram uses an algorithm to predict photos they think you will like best, I feel like I miss a lot of posts from people I enjoy seeing but don't actually "like". It's made me have to "like" a lot more so my feed can be full of what I actually want to see. And the self-esteem thing is too real. I follow a lot of fitness accounts that post before and after photos, and people rip each other to shreds on there. I really dislike that aspect.
ReplyDeleteRachel, thank you so much for your response. I copied and forwarded your reply to my daughter and gave her the assignment to figure out how to work the privacy settings (Terrible to have a constructivist for a mom)! Maybe she will give up her lurking ways and go back to being an active participant. She showed me how the predictions work at least in part. We put in a hashtag with a pic she posted of a surfboard and then she saw suggestions from other posters who used the same hashtag. She could search for that hashtag as well. You inspired a mom/daughter training session today. Thanks again!
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