Social Shaping of Technology and Instagram : Taylor Randerson
For this week’s discussion, I wanted to focus on how a “social shaping of technology” perspective can help to understand why studies have found that social media users often experience anxieties regarding their self-image.
This perspective considers the consequences of technology as resulting from both the technology’s configurations and the way people use them. In Personal Connections in the Digital Age, Nancy Baym expresses this theoretical approach in terms of social media, “social media platforms engineer particular kinds of sociality even as their users develop norms around their use” (Baym, 2015, p. 51). I feel that this idea illustrates how it is both Instagram’s structure as well as its developed user norms that constitute the impacts of the platform's interactivity.Specifically, Baym explains that anxieties regarding social media platforms commonly derive from their interactivity allowing users to manipulate a more favorable self-image. In the Guardian article Facebook aware of Instagram’s harmful effect on teenage girls, leak reveals, Damien Gayle elaborates on this idea explaining that Instagram users often experience pressure to share only their best moments to appear flawless to other users (Gayle, 2021). Thus, I think this ability to communicate a seemingly unattainable standard of well-being explains its negative effect on Instagram users' self-image. I feel that this expresses how it is not only Instagram’s interactivity features that cause these negative effects on its users, rather, the social conceptions of the app also contribute to how users are expected to interact.
What is another example of how Instagram’s structure and user norms elicit certain expectations regarding interactivity? How may this positively/negatively affect users?
References:
Baym, N. (2015). Personal Communication in the Digital Age 2nd edition. Polity Press.
Gayle, D. (2021). Facebook aware of Instagram's harmful effect on teenage girls, Leak reveals. The Guardian. Retrieved October 14, 2021, from https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/sep/14/facebook-aware-instagram-harmful-effect-teenage-girls-leak-reveals.
Hi Taylor
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your post! I thought your point that elaborates on this idea explaining that Instagram users experience pressure to share only their best moments to appear flawless was quite interesting. I have two sisters, and it’s crazy to see how much effort they put into deciding which photo to post on Instagram. Sometimes they will come up to me and show me 5 different versions of the same photo all with different filters… it all seems a bit excessive to me. In response to your question, I think another example of how Instagram’s structure and user norms elicit certain expectations is through the so-called ratio of ‘followers’ to ‘following’. In my opinion, this “ratio” is more of a vanity metric than anything else. The “follower ratio” seems to get more attention on Instagram and not as much on other platforms. I guess that a strong follower ratio highlights a person’s degree of interest form other users. If your ratio is greater, people perceive it as meaning that you are interesting, and more people care about what you post. I think that ratio as a measurement of your accounts engagement rate is much more valuable to brands and businesses, however I can see how paying attention to this as a teenager can build into the negative effects on its users and the social conceptions of the app.
Hey Taylor,
ReplyDeleteGreat analysis! I agree that developed user norms affects the way that the app itself is used through interactivity. An example I can think of are the norms associated with liking and stalking profiles. With a vast amount of social media profiles to browse, the connotation around stalking your friends and acquaintances is a rather negative one. We probably all do it but we are supposed to act as if we don't check up on individuals online. Furthermore, liking photos from a long time ago is against the social norm set as a standard by users on Instagram.
In how this affects self image, I think that we are trying to present ourselves favourably by going with the social norm rather than against it. If it's considered weird to stalk and like photos we are all probably not going to do it so that we don't get negative reactions. I personally think that this affects users negatively because interactions aren't genuine if it's guided by certain expectations on how to/how not to act.
Jinee
Hi Taylor!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your response, you brought up some great points! I agree with the way in which it is both Instagram's structure and the user develop norms that constitute the impact of the platforms interactivity. In addition, another platform that highlights this idea is LinkedIn. As Gayle discusses and you mentioned in your post, individuals only post their best moments on Instagram. I feel like LinkedIn is a great example of this as we are able to "alter" our image to look the most appealing to potential employers. Since this is the norm on LinkedIn and everyone posts mainly highlights of their career, it becomes normalized. Just like LinkedIn, Instagram users are more likely to do the same since everyone else is posting highlights of their life. I believe that both of these examples are negative. This culture creates a false reality and causes a lot of pressure to "be like everyone else". When job searching or networking on LinkedIn, it is almost impossible to not compare yourself to others. And when scrolling Instagram it is difficult to not get caught up in the false reality that others post.
Hi Taylor,
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I really enjoyed reading and think that you made a lot of really great points. Social media platforms including instagram largely shape the way in which act which leads to self regulation and added anxieties because individuals feel like they have to fit into a stereotypical norm. As mentioned by Gayle people only post their best self on social media, not showing the rest of their lives. This can lead viewers to have an increased amount of anxiety because they may constantly be comparing themselves to those on social media. If someone is going through a hard time and they see friends living their best life on social media it could worsen their mental health and sense of self. Another way that instagram leads to self surveillance is through likes. Many people who post on instagram constantly check to see how many likes they get on different posts. If someone does not get as many likes on a photo then it can lead to a decrease in self image for that person. Now on instagram there is a way for individuals to hide the amount of likes on photo so that those who view their profile are unable to see the amount of likes which takes some pressure off.