The Formation of Online Identities in Young Girls through Self-Presentation

Tanana_Fatima_15362818_Final Conference Paper

Abstract

This paper considers the implications of Instagram for the identity formation of young girls as they adjust their self-presentation to meet expectations and feel accepted by online communities.  Physical appearance, beauty, body image, poses and selfies, are just some of the aspects of self-presentation that this paper will explore and how they are affecting young girl’s confidence, insecurities and self-doubt over their real identities. Readers will discover how the amount of likes, comments and followers affect young girls and how they are transforming and recreating themselves to seek approval from their audiences. The results of a study conducted in Singapore to determine the reasons why girls engage in self-presentations, and how social comparison is stirring up girls to own new proclaimed online identities will be closely examined into. Readers will gain more awareness surrounding the construction of online identities in young girls and how they are controlled by a powerful social media tool such as Instagram.

 

Keywords: Instagram, self-representation, online identities, social influencers.

 

The Effects Instagram Is Having On Young Girls to Form Online Identities through Self-Presentation.

 

 

It must be extremely exhausting for young girls who are growing up in the digital era. Not only are they inclined to deal with real life matters such as puberty, relationship issues, self-esteem, school/tertiary education, body issues and the usual every day dramas; but they also have to create an online identity for themselves that will make them worthy in society. The world now has applications such as Instagram that have encouraged young girls to be submissive to the expectations, desires and pressures of owning an online identity. The idiom “Looks can be deceiving” can genuinely apply to Instagram as forging personas has become a norm and deception and lack of honesty has driven young girls to act entirely different to their offline identities. Identity has somehow become questionable and self-representation has somehow become vague. Instagram has become a platform that unintentionally encourages young girls to modify their identities so they can earn a desired amount of likes and comments; establishing approval from online communities.  Hence, the codes of self-presentation found in online communities on Instagram have largely influenced the identity formation and expectations for group acceptance in young girls.

Struggling to fit in the reality world and trying to figure out who they are as individuals is already conflicting for many young girls; thinking of what kind of identity to self-present through Instagram can be seen as an extra burden.  Goffman (1959) emphasises that individuals whilst they are in the company of others engage in a selective self-presentation, that aspires to control the situation and impressions made by the audience. Therefore, self-presentation is sincerely about “impression management”, that requires young females to learn about how to deal with the audience response and maintain control of their profile by putting on a “face” (Goffman 1959 & Mascheroni, Vincent, & Jimenez, 2015).  Many young girls feel socially accepted when they have approval for their online self-presentation, even if it is not a true version of themselves (Mascheroni, Vincent, Jimenez, 2015).  It reconfirms their status amongst peers just to be part of social inclusion and avoids them from being marginalised even though they are conforming to beauty standards (Mascheroni, Vincent, Jimenez, 2015). It is tough as it is to make an impression in the real world but now with the introduction of Instagram, young girls are facing many hurdles and challenges to try and fit in both the real and online world.

Many young girls Instagram profiles give them the feeling of empowerment through the amount of likes and comments that they receive. Unfortunately, there are also many other girls who feel deflated due to the lack of likes or comments they might not receive. Instagram profiles form online identities whether it is a true self-presentation or not of the actual individual; they also provide girls with the flexibility to modify and present themselves to feel accepted by online groups by posting anything they desire, so long as they feel adequate (Boyd, 2007).  Clearly, identity on social media has become a performance that can be categorised into two stages: the front–stage and the back-stage. The back-stage consists of individuals who are less articulated and prefer privacy, intimacy and own a familiar identity performance (Pearson, 2009). The front-stage involves individuals that ‘play their part’ because they have constructed an identity that is displayed to numerous followers and are conscience they are in the ‘spotlight’ performing their online identity (Pearson, 2009). They are the individuals who own public profiles and give (followers) young girls access and awareness of what types of presentations are socially appropriate, and what kind of cues they can gain to present in their own profiles (Boyd, 2007). The issue with having notifications on public is the unknown audience that consist of strangers that bear witness to every post uploaded (Boyd, 2007).  According to Boyd (2007, p.7) ‘Friends are publicly articulated, profiles are publicly viewed, and comments are publicly visible’. Consequently, this can give trolls an invitation to retaliate and verbally attack girls, and the self-presentation that they have formed to reflect their online identity can be dampened in a matter of comments.

The emergence of trolls can be quite surprising and disheartening for many girls who are trying to create identities for themselves online. According to Pew Research Center, a survey administered exposed that young females are more likely to experience online harassment and that there are numerous cases of targeted, repetitive online abuse addressed to females (Nagel & Frith, 2015).  Trolling known as a game based on identity deception which does not have consent from all the players; involves followers who pass as legitimate participants that jump at the opportunity to disgrace, shame and ruin the reputation of the individual posting (Donath, 1996). But why does trolling occur? The answer is simple: Females are easier to hurt, are weaker and generally react out of anger to what is being posted (Gorman, 2015). So how does trolling begin? Trolling commences with social or micro influencers; females that have many followers that promote aspects of their lifestyle that the average young female cannot have but wish she did have (Chae, 2017).  These influencers gloat about their designer fashion items, exotic holiday locations and expensive dinners at famous restaurants while displaying an immaculate body that any young girl would dream of (Chae, 2017).  The self-presentation they are promoting through their profiles does not necessarily mean it is a genuine perception of who they are, sometimes it is cry out for attention and acceptance. Nevertheless, social comparison is creating envy and envy is sometimes creating trolls whom are tarnishing others online identities and unfortunately mostly their very own.

Many Instagram followers do not see beyond what is depicted in a post. They are easily impressed and at times extremely gullible to the different identities owned by other females who may be considered leaders, role models or just famous influencers that promote a lifestyle that is captivating for many followers. Unfortunately, it causes issues especially for the parents of these young girls who want to impersonate and imitate these influencers but cannot afford to own such lifestyles.  What many young girls do not know is that many social influencers glamorous lifestyles are not effortless. In fact, their self-presentation is based on calculation, management, energy and time (Chae, 2017).  The selfies and the poses do not come without professional expertise and they require hours of sitting in a makeup chair, carefully chosen clothing, poses that are practiced endlessly before uploading, and lighting and photo-editing applications that make that one picture worth a million dollars (Chae, 2017).  Therefore, girls feel envious towards something that really does not exist because many females are actually getting paid to endorse a fancy lifestyle (Chae, 2017). On the contrary, there are young girls who go out of their way to imitate social influencers.  They spend hours achieving the perfect pout, selfie, or flat stomach and unlike social influencers- they do not get paid to do so. As MacMillan (2017) states in Time magazine “Instagram easily makes girls and women feel as if their bodies aren’t good enough as people add filters and edit their pictures in order for them to look perfect”. Society has succumbed to the pressures of owning a materialistic online identity and young girls are wasting a lot of time preparing for their next post- a post that will entail a jury whom will communicate their verdict through “comments” and “likes”.

The phenomenal aspect of Instagram is the ability to change between identities while self-promoting a range of self-representations. Constructing an autonomous identity is considered an individual accomplishment amongst females on Instagram and is comprehended as a social and rational process (Mascheroni, Vincent, Jimenez, 2015).  In addition, (Buckingham, 2008; Corsaro & Eder, 1990) confirms that identities are constituted due to interactions through identification and differentiations from the peer group. To some extent, possessing an Instagram account lets a girl live in a fantasy world in which they have the choice to erase any bad history of online photos of themselves, which may have possibly attracted any negative reviews (Turkle, 1997). For instance, a natural brunette dying her hair blonde may have many followers who disapprove of the new look and made it obvious through the “comments” or “Instagram poll”.  Thus, Instagram is unconsciously controlling the online identity and for this reason girls can recreate new looks or selfies to feel acceptance and hopefully double the number of likes or followers (Turkle, 1997).  Turkle (1997) believes it is a chance to self-transform in an environment that allows experiences to occur that may be hard to come by in real life. Admittedly, Instagram has the power to explode authorship of a post and as result the individual can be multiplied without limit as other strangers can see posts that are commented on (Turkle, 1997).  It is granting individuals a deliberate online performative space in which young girls are delivering self-representation and implementing identity claims of themselves that may resemble or insanely differ from reality (Pearson, 2009).  In retrospect, this can cause anguish amongst young girls as they need to sort out what identity is acceptable enough for the many followers on Instagram.

A study conducted in Singapore consisted of 24 interviews with secondary school girls to clarify their engagement in self-presentation through posting selfies on social media, and how peer comparison is causing controversy. Results indicated that participants yearned for peer attention and a desire to look as pretty as other girls, confiding that insecurities are driven by fear of having “ugly” or “lame” pictures judged by others (Chang & Chua, 2016). All participants in the study revealed that feedback on their posts are delivered through the number of likes and followers which is apparently more significant then comments (Chang & Chua, 2016). Participants also disclosed that negative health consequences such as unhealthy dieting, harm to self-perceptions, low self-esteem, feeling worthless and insecurities are all a result of peer comparison which can eventually create a vicious circle of antagonism (Chang & Chua, 2016). Selfies on Instagram are persuading girls to negotiate their self-presentation efforts to attain the standard of beauty schemed by their age group (Chang & Chua, 2016). The hashtags that come along with the selfies such as #selfie #tagforlike#thighgap#pretty#instaselfie #selfietime #followme #instalove #likeme #selfieoftheday reveals the desperation for acceptance and attention (Instatag, 2015). Hashtags increase engagement through followers and most importantly allow young girls to gain new followers (Loren, 2017). However, this does not necessarily mean it is a positive concept as followers may view this as a chance to destroy a person by negatively commenting about their physical appearance. For instance, if a girl states she is #pretty# and #likeme# in the hashtag; this can attract trolls to disgrace and damage the girl through comments such as “you have a big nose” or “don’t like you”; which inflicts more harm than good.  Hence, young girls need to be mindful of what they post because a hashtag can have reverse effects and may receive unwanted feedback. This can result in self-destruction as young girl’s physical appearances- a sensitive subject for many girls becomes the topic of conversation amongst many followers.

Nowadays, Instagram gives no options but to compare and judge girls based on their physical appearance and the girls that are judging are the same girls that are engaging in self-presentation. The study in Singapore confirms that “selfies” and “outfit-of-the-day” are frequently uploaded so young girls can observe and compare themselves with the rest of their peers (Chang & Chua, 2016). Scholars such as Mendelson and Papacharissi (2010, p.4 cited in Chang & Chua, 2016) acclaimed that when individuals use Instagram as a channel to articulate their identities, they tend to present a “highly selective version of themselves”.  Young females should be aware that their actions are in fact damaging their own and others mental health through a simple post or story on Instagram. A survey conducted from the Royal Society of Public Health in the United Kingdom questioned 1,500 young people (aged 14-24) on which social media tool impacts on their health and wellbeing (Royal Society for Public Health, 2017).  Out of all of the social media applications available; Instagram turned out to be the worst for young people’s mental health (Fox, 2017). In fact, the Royal Society for Public Health has requested that all social media platforms take action in preventing young users to feel Tanana_Fatima_15362818_Final Conference PaperTanana_Fatima_15362818_Final Conference PaperTanana_Fatima_15362818_Final Conference Paperinadequate and anxious by placing warning images that have been digitally manipulated (Fox, 2017).  Maybe then, young girls will think twice before uploading fake posts and hopefully this move will eliminate social comparisons and rather promote genuine real diverse identities online.

The qualitative research methods that have contributed to this conference paper includes surveys, interviews, focus groups, and facts from The Pew Research Centre. They have been the core of providing information in regards to the influence Instagram has on identities and self-presentation in young girls. The Quantitative data from The Royal Society for Public Health gave reliable and accurate statistics of the impact of Instagram on young people. In fact, the report concluded that 9 in 10 girls are unhappy with their bodies and 70% of 18-24 years olds would contemplate having cosmetic surgery (The Royal Society for Public Health, 2017). Such staggering results are evidence of the damage Instagram can have on mental health (The Royal Society for Public Health, 2017). Sociologist Erving Goddam has also explained his stance on self-presentation and identities throughout this paper and most of the supporting articles back his theories.  The limitations noted throughout the literature reviews include the lack of information on how girls are keeping identities a mystery and as a result create anonymous identities. Relationships is another issue that could have been considered, such as young couples flaunting their relationship online and the effects it is having on identity and self-representation.  Most importantly, discussion concerning the positive influences of constructing online identities and self-representation was absent from most of the content accessed. All in all, there were similarities across all content retrieved in reference to the negative impact Instagram is having on young girls.

To be able to construct an online identity and to have the flexibility in advertising that identity through different codes of self-presentation, is clearly taking over young girls Instagram’s profiles. Editing, packaging, prepping, filtering, countless practices of poses and selfies; to perfect the self before heading out into the spotlight for the audience to critique, has become the norm amongst many young girls.  The mental health of these young girls is being affected as they voluntarily play characters trying to fit into an online community that is causing more harm than good. The need to impress an audience that is giving them feedback through comments, views, likes and followers is more of a reason why these young girls are being pulled into an online environment that continuously adjusts their online identities.

 

References

 

Boyd, D. (2007). Why Youth (Heart) Social Network Sites: The Role of Networked Publics in Teenage Social Life Boyd, D. (2007). ‘Why Youth (Heart) Social Network Sites: The Role of Networked Public in Teenage Social Life.’ In Buckingham, D. (ed.) MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Learning – Youth, Identity, and Digital Media Volume. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Retrieved April 01, 2018, from http://resourcelists.st-andrews.ac.uk/items/05130D1C-8E2C-E051-3F8D-24C0D6001498.html

 

Chae, J. (2017). Explaining Females’ Envy Toward Social Media Influencers. Media Psychology, 21(2), 246-262. DOI:10.1080/15213269.2017.1328312

 

Chua, T. H., & Chang, L. (2016). Follow me and like my beautiful selfies: Singapore teenage girls’ engagement in self-presentation and peer comparison on social media. Computers in Human Behavior,55, 190-197. DOI: 10.1016/j.chb.2015.09.011

 

Donath, J. (1999). Identity and Deception in the Virtual Community. In P. Kollock, & M. A. Smith (Eds.), Communities in Cyberspace (pp. 29-59). New York: Routledge. Retrieved from
http://smg.media.mit.edu/people/Judith/Identity/IdentityDeception.html

 

Fox, K. (2017, May 19). Instagram worst app for young people’s mental health. Retrieved April 02, 2018, from https://www.cnn.com/2017/05/19/health/instagram-worst-social-network-app-young-people-mental-health/index.html

 

Gorman, G. (2015, February 27). ‘We go after women because they are weaker’. Retrieved from http://www.news.com.au/technology/online/social/interviews-with-the-trolls-we-go-after-women-because-they-are-easier-to-hurt/news-story/c02bb2a5f8d7247d3fdd9aabe0f3ad26

 

Instatag. (2015). Instag. Retrieved from Instatag.net

 

Loren, T. (2017). The Ultimate Guide to Instagram Hashtags in 2017. Retrieved from https://later.com/blog/ultimate-guide-to-using-instagram-hashtags/

 

MacMillan, A. (2017, May 25). Why Instagram Is the Worst Social Media for Mental Health. Retrieved April 01, 2018, from http://time.com/4793331/instagram-social-media-mental-health/

 

Mascheroni, G. Vincent, J. and Jiminez, E. (2015). “Girls are addicted to likes so they post semi-nakend selfies”: Peer mediation, normativity and the construction of identity online. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 9(1), DOI: 10.5817/CP2015-1-5

 

Pearson, E. (2009). All the World Wide Web’s a stage: The performance of identity in online social networks. First Monday, 14(3). DOI:10.5210/fm.v14i3.2162

 

Royal Society for Public Health. (2017). Status of Mind: Social media and young people’s mental health. Retrieved from https://www.rsph.org.uk/about-us/news/instagram-ranked-worst-for-young-people-s-mental-health.html

 

Turkle, S. (1997). Constructions and Reconstructions of Self in Virtual Reality. In S. Kiesler (Ed.), Culture of the Internet. Hilldale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Retrieved from
http://www.mit.edu/~sturkle/pdfsforstwebpage/ST_Construc%20and%20reconstruc%20of%20self.pdf

 

Van Der Nagel, E. and Frith, J. (2015). Anonymity, pseudonymity, and the agency of online identity: Examining the social practices of r/Gonewild. First Monday, 20(3), Retrieved from http://www.ojphi.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/5615/4346

 

 

 

19 thoughts on “The Formation of Online Identities in Young Girls through Self-Presentation

  1. Hi Fatima,
    I agree that the issue of identity for adolescents online through social networking sites is a growing concern. The usual pressures of being a teenager are amplified and available 24/7 online with the ability to curate a desired self-presentation creating unrealistic beauty ideals. Hodkinson argues that it is mandatory for teenagers to engage in social networking sites with the choice of friends and posts a public performance of identity (2017). Social networking makes these years of self-discovery a public event. I don’t envy the youth of today growing up in the public sphere online.
    I question one of the comments included in your paper, that females are “weaker” and “react out of anger”, as these are comments seem to be made by an online troll quoted in an online news article and not substantiated by any facts. I would be interested to see research on gender differences on social media, and how trolling effects identity and presentation online. I don’t believe that gender makes a difference in how people react to trolling comments. Many females on Instagram do seem to be willing to post imagery that is based on looks and beauty, rather than activities and skills, but there are also a large amount of males who pose at the gym flexing their muscles.

    Hodkinson, P. (2017). Bedrooms and beyond: Youth, identity and privacy in social network sites. New Media and Society, 19 (2), 272-288. doi: 10.1177/1461444815605454

    1. Hi Nadine

      Thanks for your comment, I appreciate the feedback on my paper. As you might have read, the troll in the interview is anonymous and was having a conversation with the journalist. He was simply stating why he trolls females and basically gave his opinion. I reinterpreted the word weaker in being more emotionally affected by cyber bullying or harassment as opposed to males. According to a Pew Research Centre survey, ‘women report higher levels of emotional stress from their experiences and differ in their attitudes towards the underlying causes of such incidents (Duggan, 2017). For instance, 35% of women who have experienced any form of online harassment say they found their most recent incident to be “extremely” or “very” upsetting, more than twice the share among men who have been targeted online (16%) (Duggan, 2017). Moreover, 11% of women have specifically been harassed because of their gender, compared with 5% of men. I hope this gives you some perspective on gender differences on social media.

      Duggan, M. (2017, July 14) Men, women experience and view online harassment differently. FactTanks. Retrieved from http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/07/14/men-women-experience-and-view-online-harassment-differently/

      1. Hi Fatima,
        Thanks for providing these statistics. They certainly substantiate your position.
        Interestingly research seems to focus on females, their beauty ideals and social media use. Kim and Chock examine both female and male relationships with body image and social media use (primarily on Facebook), and have found that males increasingly feeling pressured to conform to masculine body ideals.
        I wonder if the concerns we have for young women are just the start, and if 24/7 online access to social networks will increase body dissatisfaction in both females and males.

        Kim, J.W. & Chock, T.M. (2015). Body image 2.0: Associations between social grooming on Facebook and body image concerns. Computers in Human Behaviour, 48, 331-339.

        1. Hi Nadine

          Indeed, it is fair to admit both males and females experience self doubt over their body image. However, it has been reported by Fredrickson & Roberts (1997, cited in Wagner, Aguirre, Summer, 2016 ) that females are more likely to be viewed as physical and sexual objects whose social value is a result of their bodily appearance. Hence, females are more likely to participate in self-objectification which establishes the sense of connection between their physical bodies and their sense of self-worth (Wagner, Aguirre, Summer, 2016).
          According to White & Halliwell, (2010 cited in Wagner, Aguirre, Summer, 2016), girls aged 11–16 report being unhappy with their body image and consequently females tend to report greater body dissatisfaction than males (Furnham, et al., 2002 cited in Wagner, Aguirre, Summer, 2016). This clearly implies that body dissatisfaction is evident among males and females. Thus, females self-presentation through Instagram has a bigger impact on identity as opposed to males.

          Reference List

          Wagner, C., Aguirre, E., & Sumner, E. M. (2016). The relationship between Instagram selfies and body image in young adult women. First Monday, 21(9). doi:10.5210/fm.v21i9.6390

  2. Hi Fatima, Your paper draws together the impact of social media on young women and the modern-day need to perform identity and self-presentation online with the expectations surrounding the aesthetically ideal woman. I liked your description: “a post that will entail a jury whom will communicate their verdict through comments and likes” (Tanana, 2018, para.5). This really sums up the pressure on young people comparing and competing with one another in order to get ‘likes’ by performing online self-presentation in an aesthetically idealised way, or risk social oblivion. There have always been supermodels and airbrushed celebrities that live in a faraway land, but I think social media brings the ideal of perfection into intimidatingly closer range, and ups the ante for modern youth. Great paper; thanks for the insights. Alice.

    1. Hi Alice

      Thanks for taking the time to read my paper. I am glad that you agree with me when it comes to the pressures young girls are facing due to social media. Unfortunately, the comparing and competing aspect is becoming unhealthy in the 21st century. It is more of an issue these days due to the fact young girls are competing and comparing themselves based on physical aspects and materialistic lifestyles. I always viewed social media as a way to socialise with others but now I believe people have different purposes for it.

  3. Hi again Fatima, you may be interested in Instagram sensation and comedian Celeste Barber who parodies celebrities by posting purposefully hilarious pics of herself in similar poses and with similar backdrops to compare. She’s Australian and has quite a following (3.6 million) and her actions are said to be calling out body shaming and therefore liberating for many. Check it out sometime. Alice.

    1. Hi Alice

      I just started following Celeste Barber thanks to you. I love the photo in which she is comparing her body to Kim Kardashian. It provided a raw, honest and natural perspective on how most females bodies look like. It would be so beneficial if before and after photos can be provided for young girls, so they can see how much work goes into having the perfect Instagram body. Maybe then, they would be content with who they are and learn to love themselves as they are.

      1. Yes, it’s amazing the following she has. Starting out as a bit of fun and now an international role model for women of all shapes and sizes! That’s the power of social media for the broad dissemination of information quickly. Glad you liked it. Good conversation. Thanks for sharing with me during the conference. Alice.

        1. Hi Alice and Fatima,
          Celeste Barber is a true comedian, and has managed to capture a backlash against the body perfect ideals of Instagram. If you have a moment, watch the interview she did with Andrew Denton. Her motivations are not purely altruistic, and being a “role model” is instead a byproduct of a funny and topical Instagram feed. Although I agree that the way she calls out celebrities is brilliant, and great for self-image in young people.
          Nadine

  4. Hi Fatima,

    I enjoyed reading your paper. I am definitely glad that I am a bit older and did not go through school with social media being so prominent – I think MySpace starting gaining popularity when I was in year 10, and certainly nothing like it is now.

    Why do you think that girls place so much weight on the amount of Instagram likes and followers they have? Do you think it makes them try to change how they are perceived in order to gain more popularity?

    Thanks,
    Hayley

    1. Hi Hayley

      Thank you for taking the time to read my paper. I believe any individual craves a sense of belonging and Instagram provides this through likes and comments. The more likes and followers means females are accepted for the self-presentation they are portraying through Instagram whether it is genuine or not. I also think its sad that acceptance is based on numbers of likes and followers and that girls will do anything to modify themselves in order to score likes, comments and followers.

  5. Hi Fatima, thank you for your paper, it was insightful and I completely agree that the girls of today have it so much tougher than even I did when I was in high school 10 years ago. It’s unfortunate, confronting and also relatable to see that 70% of 18-24 year olds would consider cosmetic surgery. As someone who is at the end of that age bracket (23), I have often looked at other’s on Instagram and wondered what I would look like with slightly bigger lips etc. Comparison has always been and will continue to be, a negative element within society but platforms like Instagram really do make it that much easier, accessible and detrimental to our self-esteem.

    I think Influencers, YouTube stars and celebs have a responsibility to showcase the true reality of their lives and I hope that more young women saw that what is shown on Instagram is very much an edited version – like you’ve stated. Like Alice, I too love the raw, funny and lighthearted nature of Celeste Barber – she’s so refreshing! Do you see a time in the future where platforms like Instagram will not have such a powerful effect on society, especially on young women?

    1. Hi Peggy

      Thanks for taking the time to read my paper. I definitely do see a time in which Instagram will slowly be less effective and have a lesser impact on women. This will only occur if Instagram itself will start making changes on its own. As you have read in my article, I pointed out that Royal Society for Public Health has requested that all social media platforms take action in preventing young users to feel inadequate and anxious by placing warning images that have been digitally manipulated (Fox, 2017). If this takes place, then Instagram can be used for more genuine purposes rather then portraying fake self-presentations like may young females do. Moreover, out of all of the social media applications available; Instagram turned out to be the worst for young people’s mental health (Fox, 2017). I believe their will be a time in which Instagram will realise the negatives over the positives and will have no choice but to amend their application.

      1. Hi Fatima,
        I agree that this feature would be incredibly beneficial however the reality of actually implementing it, i’d say would be much more complex. The endless availability and array of editing apps (even features in Instagram itself) means that the majority of pictures that are uploaded would be editing in some way. I guess the issue of body confidence, perception online and self-presentation will continue to be a complex issue for a fair while and no one way will be able fix/solve it. However, if there are more measure’s in place, at least that is something and if it can help even a small bunch of girls, then that’s something.

        1. Hi Elise and Peggy

          Thanks for your comments. I actually wonder if some girls would actually stop using Instagram if their was any modifications to it. For instance, putting a warning image over fake pictures. I also wonder if they would actually stop posting any pictures completely of themselves and maybe start focusing on hobbies or interests. The possibilities are endless and it would be interesting to note how Instagram would change or it will change in a few years from now.

      2. Hi Fatima (and Peggy)
        I wonder if this suggestion for a warning on digitally manipulated images will actually change or improve the way Instagram affects young women. Especially since so much of what we see is not just altered online, but these bodies are transformed under the knife and are already unrealistic before any photoshop is applied.
        Cheers
        Elise

  6. Hi Fatima

    I was interested to read your thoughts on how trolls can affect or ‘tarnish’ people’s online identities. Personally, I can spot a troll a mile away on someone else’s profile (I have never been targeted thankfully, as I don’t have any sort of large following), and it means that their comments don’t really affect the way I process the image or information they are commenting on. You can tell they are just trying to spark a reaction and rile people up, which generally works – so many people rush to the defense of the person the troll is attacking. This doesn’t necessarily mean their reputation or representation of themselves has changed from this. I am interested to know more about how online identities can be affected by trolls?

    Cheers
    Elise

  7. Hi Elise

    Thanks for your feedback. In response to your question; do you remember Australia’s Next Top Model Charlotte Dawson and how she was trolled to death? She was affected by trolls to the extent it added to her depression and caused her to commit suicide. I believe that some individuals are more resilient then others and turn a blind eye to what followers are saying. However, there are females who just cannot handle the pressures and negativity coming from followers. Charlotte Dawson discussed her attempt with suicide in a 60 minutes interview and how it was a result of trolling on twitter. The struggle is real and yes some followers do come out in defense of the person that is being trolled but we cannot escape the reality that their are some followers out there who enjoy causing havoc in peoples lives.

    Reference

    O’Brien, N., Ralston, N. (2014, February 22). Charlotte Dawson found dead: The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved from https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/celebrity/charlotte-dawson-found-dead-20140222-338j6.html

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