The photo-sharing new media platform, Instagram, was founded in the year 2010 by CEO Kevin Systrom. (Bruner, 2016) Instagram is used globally and as of 2017, has 800 million recurring monthly users. (Aslam, 2018) Instagram is one of the most popular social media sites and has taken the world by storm since it’s release 8 years ago.
Instagram is a public space for people to post the content they want as a form of self-expression — as long as it follows the Instagram guidelines (no full nudity, no self-harm, no graphic content, etc). (Instagram, 2018) This allows users to post photos following their daily lives: friends they’re with, food they’re eating, clothes they’re wearing, events they’re attending, or content they’re creating.
The problem arising from allowing people to post sequences of their daily lives, is the unrealistic standard they are setting for those viewing or liking their content. Those viewing their content may feel defeated because their lives aren’t as exciting or luxurious as the Instagram personality is appearing to be.
Due to the fact that those posting photos can choose what they post and how they’re going to edit their photo, they’re choosing what to post in order to appear a certain way to their audience. Most of what we see on Instagram is staged to some extent, so those average users are inevitably comparing themselves and their content to other users, and feel disappointment or envy.
A study conducted on 1,500 teenagers and young adults (aged 14 – 24) by TIME magazine, revealed the app is linked to high levels of anxiety, depression, bullying and FOMO, or the “fear of missing out.” (MacMillan, 2017) Social media posts can also set unrealistic expectations and create feelings of inadequacy and low self-esteem. Women responding to the survey admitted that Instagram fuelled their body dysmorphia and prevented them from seeing their own body’s as beautiful because of the unrealistic body standards set by Instagram models. (MacMillan, 2017)
Carmen Papaluca, PhD. conducted her own study revealing younger female Instagram users in her study (late teens and early 20s) found that images on the app made them feel most badly about their bodies. (MacMillan, 2017) The study also revealed that users watching their friends on vacation or going out can make them feel as though they’re missing out or not living their lives to its full potential, hence the “FOMO” mentioned above — creating a feeling of worrying things are happening without you, so you must stay connected. (MacMillan, 2017)
Instagram creates an unnecessary competition on who’s living a more fulfilling life and is increasing the insecurities revolving peoples work and lifestyle. In comparison to the images of the apparent successful and interesting social lives and careers of others on Instagram, they felt that their own lives “lacked meaning”. (Raynes-Goldie, 2018)
This is extremely harmful because the amount of followers the Instagrammer has and the likes they receive on their photos, is the determining factor of their success. This creates a whole other daunting insecurity on those who are average users. Those who receive 20 likes on their photo feel inadequate compared to those who are receiving 100,000 likes. In reality, the amount of likes on a photo do not determine success or happiness, however that is what users strive for, and not receiving those likes can harm a persons self-esteem.
Instagram used to show every photo in chronological order on your homepage, so you could look at the content as it was being uploaded. Since 2016, Instagram updated their algorithms to show you “what you’d be most interested in” on your homepage regardless of the upload date. (Tait, 2017) This has spiked a growth in what some users call the “Instagram Mafia.”
The Instagram mafia is a large group of exclusive Instagram personalities who assist other members of the “mafia” in receiving optimal likes and followers on their profiles. It is not confirmed how they manage to do this, but it is confirmed by famous users that they do in-fact exist. (Tait, 2017) This perpetuates the idea that people feel scant to users who are using money, connections or power to appear successful — which is unattainable and unrealistic for the everyday user. People are comparing themselves to a disillusion of what someone else’s life is like.
There is no way to prevent people from altering their photos or choosing to only post their successes (because no one wants to post about their bad, stressful days) but there should be precaution to inform younger, more impressionable users that not everything they see on this platform is reality. Matt Keracher, author of the #StatusofMind study said: “We’re not asking these platforms to ban Photoshop or filters but rather to let people know when images have been altered so that users don’t take the images on face value as real.” (Fox, 2017)
Instagram can be beneficial in being a space to create content, creating media-related jobs, and to bring self-identity to some. However, the lack of attention the platform gives to the amount of users photoshopping and editing their content to appear a certain way can be harmful to those who are unaware of that possibility. Those who are unfamiliar with the idea of photo-altering may perceive every photo they come across as reality, but it can be far from it.
The app and others alike should take responsibility in informing users not to compare themselves to these constructed photos. To those reading this, remember: your life is valuable, incomparable and so much more than anything you or anyone else could post online.
Photo: Courtesy of Pexels.com
Works Cited:
Aslam, Salman. “Instagram by the Numbers: Stats, Demographics & Fun Facts.” • Instagram by the Numbers (2018): Stats, Demographics & Fun Facts, Omnicore, 11 Feb. 2018, http://www.omnicoreagency.com/instagram-statistics/.
Bruner, Raisa. “Take a Look Back at Instagram’s First Ever Posts.” Time, Time, 16 July 2016, time.com/4408374/instagram-anniversary/.
Fox, Kara. “Instagram Worst App for Young People’s Mental Health.” CNN, Cable News Network, 19 May 2017, http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/19/health/instagram-worst-social-network-app-young-people-mental-health/index.html.
Instagram. 2018 “Community Guidlines.” Instagram, electronically viewed on 14 April, 2018, https://help.instagram.com/477434105621119.
MacMillan, Amanda. “Why Instagram Is the Worst Social Media for Mental Health.” Time, Time, 25 May 2017, time.com/4793331/instagram-social-media-mental-health/.
Raynes-Goldie, Kate. “Why Instagram Might Be Affecting Your Mental Health (and What You Can Do about It).” Phys.org – News and Articles on Science and Technology, Phys.org, 15 Jan. 2018, phys.org/news/2018-01-instagram-affecting-mental-health.html.
Raynes-Goldie, Kate. “Young Women on Instagram.” Particle, Particle, 17 Jan. 2018, particle.scitech.org.au/people/instagram-might-affecting-mental-health-can/.
Tait, Amelia. “‘It’s Not Right That We’re Doing This’: inside the Instagram Mafia.” New Statesman, NewStatesman, 31 May 2017, http://www.newstatesman.com/science-tech/social-media/2017/05/it-s-not-right-we-re-doing-inside-instagram-mafia.
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