Abstract

Instagram has swiftly become one of the most used social media applications with more than 300 million daily users. This paper investigates how the online portrayal of the self on Instagram often does not mirror the real offline identity of an individual. It explores how users make use of the different features of Instagram and other applications to modify the presentation of their online self. The research also reveals that the existing online identities on Instagram have a greater impact upon females as compared to men since they are presumed to rely more on their self-presentation. Other notable findings include how Instagram allows the existence of micro-celebrities and how their online identity influence their followers.

Keywords

Instagram, social media, micro-celebrity, identity, self-presentation

With the upsurge of the web 2.0 and the growth of social networking sites like Instagram which is a platform allowing users to share pictures and videos, the portrayals of alternate identities have become nearly endless. Launched in 2010 and acquired by Facebook in 2012, this online platform consisting of more than 200 million monthly users, takes the construction of the self to another level(Lup, Trub & Rosenthal, 2015). As Instagram was initially produced as an application, it is mostly utilized via smart phones and provides several functions and features that enable a disembodied, controllable and mediated identity which often widely differ from the reality of different users (Donath, n.d.).

On social networking sites like Instagram, people often modify their online identity and conceal unwanted aspects about themselves to attain a desired impression on the audience that includes diverse communities and social groups. As stated by (Subrahmanyam, Reich, Waechter & Espinoza, 2008), the affordances of Instagram enable individuals to selectively self-present themselves across asynchronous media. For instance, on Instagram, the presentation of the self primarily consists of a person’s username, profile photo, bio and the pictures, videos uploaded with their descriptions or captions and frames to assemble a digital storyline (Hu, Manikonda & Kambhampati, n.d.). Due to the image driven nature of the platform, one of the most common ways through which one can control his or her image there is by using the different filters available on the application to edit their pictures before uploading them. Many users make use of photo editing applications to hide imperfections like pimples, change the size of their nose or eyes, modify their face line and then come to the Instagram filters to enhance their pictures even more prior to uploading (Pearson, 2009).  While these features may be used as a form of self-expression, individuals often exaggerate upon its usage and develop an identity which do not reflect their offline self.

 Although self-portraits and photography are usually presumed to be a feminine domain, findings divulge that photos are central to both boys and girls in the process of presenting one self on Instagram(Barker, 2009). However, girls are assumed to rely more upon their visual self-presentation compared to boys which explains why most users who make extensive use of these editing and filter features on Instagram are females. As illustration, studies conducted by Apodaca (2017) found that females lead the numbers on Instagram ‘’spending about 10 minutes to men’s 7 minutes on the mobile social application.’’ They drive the content on Instagram and are thus more influenced than men by their experiences on the platform since females are more likely to self-disclose, express emotions and post more pictures of themselves. This is also highly because some girls explicitly associate their social acceptance with the approval of their online self- presentation. Their internalization of the ideal self is immensely affected by the multitude of models, symbolic online social forces and images created and uploaded on Instagram (Apodaca,2017). They always want to upload photos which are consistent to the conformist beauty standards to avert from being marginalized. Many females today, specifically teenage girls, engage in the online presentation of the self by posting selfies, self-portrait photographs or share ‘’outfit-of-the-day’’ pictures on Instagram to observe and compare themselves to their followers (Barker, 2009). Concurrently, many female instagrammers upload pictures of themselves in such a way to conform to the patterns of femininity which in turn most teenage girls consider as the idealized beauty standards.

For instance, there are many stars like Lady Gaga or Kim Kardashian who exceedingly use Instagram to provide snapshots of their lives and interact with their followers. These ‘’celebrities’’ upload so many selfies and pictures of themselves that they twisted it into their own genre through their peculiar visual clichés and conventions (Marwick, 2015).  To illustrate, these people often create their own canned poses using flattering camera angles such as the famous ‘’Myspace angle’’ which is a popular style of profile pictures for social networking sites. These pictures are usually taken in a way that makes the subject appear thinner by outstretching the arm above eye level and holding the camera above one’s head (Sessions, 2009). Along with this, they also make face expressions such as the pursed lips which is colloquially known as the ‘’duck face’’ (Marwick, 2015). Moreover, many hashtags ‘’#’’ which is a form of semantic tagging are also accompanied with these pictures. This well-known feature of Instagram helps users to find content on a specific topic quickly since adding a hashtag to a post signifies that the post will be found and viewed by people looking for that precise term. It acts as a technique for sorting, organizing and sorting content (Daer, Hoffman & Goodman, 2015). The issue with hashtags is that even though the pictures of these celebrities are extremely edited, they still add hashtag #nofilter implying that no such manipulation occurred.

Sequentially, girls especially during their transitory years perceive these kinds of presentations as a model of feminine desirability since their self-confidence is rooted in their appearance and beauty. For instance, research conducted by (Mascheroni, Vincent & Jimenez, 2015) about young people’s engagement with the construction of their identity online through pictures in three European countries (UK, Italy and Spain) explored how girls evaluate their appearance around the pictures of these Instagram stars and based upon the number of likes they receive on their pictures. For instance, one among the participants, Simon, thinks that if she does not receive any likes it means that no one is interested in her. Additionally, her stepsister who is a bit overweight with curly hair does not receive as many likes as Simona. This made the girl feel so upset that Simona decided to help her by editing her pictures and make the latter appear thinner and attractive and she gained 25 likes afterwards (Mascheroni, Vincent & Jimenez, 2015). Another prime example is Elsa, who is a 14-year-old girl but who other individuals say she looks like at least 30 years old through the provocative pictures that she uploads on Instagram, ‘’If you see her in real life, she’s like… she’s got straight hair. She’s not ugly, but she’s just a normal looking person but it’s just like, yes, it is a fake identity’’ (Mascheroni, Vincent & Jimenez, 2015).

Hence these factors depict how the way people construct their identity online can contradict their real and offline selves. Social networking sites like Instagram act as a playful space for identity formation. It allows individuals to play with characteristics of their self-presentation while inadvertently portraying a deceptive identity (Chan, 2000). In the real world there is an intrinsic unity to the self as the body offers a convenient and gripping definition of identity. Even if the self might be mutable and complex over time and conditions, visual cues such as expression, body language and para-linguistic cues like the tone of voice act as a stabilizing anchor portraying a real and strong identity (Donath, n.d.). In contrast, the virtual world of Instagram is dissimilar. It is an impalpable space without the body’s unifying anchor and with many diverse electronic personas (Donath, n.d.). Identity formation upon this platform can be highly codified and mediated, they only exist as pixels on the screen since users thoroughly manipulate these pictures. Thus, rather than reflecting their true identity online, it creates a setting where a staged self may exist. Whilst the Instagram filters can surely give a different ‘’feel’’ through the colors, brightness, message communicated and so on, people mostly try to display a desirable and socially accepted persona instead of their real self (Seehafer, 2017). They disguise all aspects which do not fit into the ideal standards and only show the ones that are idealized which Rosenberg and Egbert (2011) describe as the process of ‘’self-monitoring’’ where only favorable aspects of identity are exposed.

This also aligns with what Goffman (1959) argued about how individuals construct their online identity based upon the flow of their social interaction. They are immensely influenced by their cohorts upon a platform and therefore try to build an image that would fit this particular milieu due to their heightened self-consciousness. They intend to manage their impressions in a way to gain the acceptance of their peers and social legitimation. Therefore, these identities that users create through editing and manipulating pictures only subsist within the imagination of users, a notion that Pearson (2009) defines as social hallucination since these online contents are not representations which reflect reality, not all of the identities present there are genuine.

Another way in which ‘’regular people’’ can perceive a different identity from their real selves is by being instafamous and attract a mass audience. One way through which an individual can be popular on Instagram is by being conventionally good looking, work in cool industries like tattoo artistry, modeling and by emulating the symbols and tropes of traditional celebrity culture, that is, posting pictures of their designer goods, glamorous self- portraits or luxury cars (Marwick, 2015). For instance, Lim is a 22-year-old boy who studies merchandising in California. His Instagram account comprises mainly of pictures of his collections of designer shoes, jewelries and himself in expensive couture clothing and he has more than 30,000 followers. Lim uploads images of his massive collection and thoroughly notes the brand of each designer piece featuring in his selfies. To demonstrate, one of his most popular photo reads: “Every day is a battle. Dress to kill. Phuck what they think. @badgalriri for #rihverisland camo jacket. #dita shades, #cartier’’ (Marwick, 2015). He also often generates comments like ‘’wow you’re so wealthy! So many louboutins!’’ and he usually responds to his followers through a virtual grin and by saying that he is not wealthy, but he achieves those materialistic things by working hard and that all Asians work hard.

While he might indeed work hard for his studies, it is rather dubious that an average merchandising student can possess four diamond Cartier bracelets worth $10,200 each or collect more than 50 pairs of Louboutin loafers worth of $1,395 each (Marwick, 2015). Instead, most of his wealth apparently comes from inheritance since he is rumored to be the son of Peter Lim, a Singaporean billionaire. Still, this person confidently states that those shelves of designer goods from Balenciaga, Hermès and other luxurious brands are the rewards of his labor despite that he only studies for the time being. Therefore, this once again illustrates how many people on Instagram pull back the curtain if not on all, but some aspects of their identity. Many youngsters look upon these accounts and dream of the same fame but these individuals possessing these kind of Instagram accounts remove several truthful aspects of their identity which in turn creates a fake belief into their followers (Chan,2000). It also depicts how Instagram represents a mania for digital documentation and the proliferation of micro-celebrity culture, a self-presentation practice which involves a high degree of self-commodification and where the notion of identity is perceived as a branded good (Put, Glas & Kustritz, 2017). In other words, a micro-celebrity practitioner is someone who inhabits a celebrity subject position by using advanced technologies and social media platforms despite not having the huge number of followers as real celebrities, popular athletes or musicians have. These people might be food or fashion bloggers, vine comedians with millions of views, activists or simply just Instagram users who however perceive themselves as being public personas and treat their followers as valued fans whilst expecting that the latter will act in the same way (Marwick, Marshall & Redmond, 2015).

This emulation also calls into question whether Instagram promotes equality or merely acts as a more accessible platform where people deliberately gain the currency of attention economy since it is mostly wealthy people who are considered as ‘’prestigious’’ persons due to the type of pictures they post (Fairchild, 2007). For instance, Lim could affect the attitude of a boy/girl next door about his/ her identity even if it is his inherited immense wealth which is the real reason behind his appeal. This is because individuals who are not as famous or wealthy as those micro-celebrities do not benefit from this ‘’star system’’ of attention or currency. Instead, it leaves them in finding those Instagram post as aspirational but at the same time it lowers their self-esteem. Sometimes the comments made by these persons like Lim about Asians always working hard can often make someone feel incompetent since they are basically enticing people in desiring something which they cannot afford to have. Thus, it can be said that Instagram in some ways reinforces a hierarchy of fame where only the iconography of luxury, glamour, wealth, connections and good looks make a potent symbol of status and lead its users in finding what generally resembles the lifestyles of the rich and famous as ‘’inspirational’’ (Fairchild, 2007).

As such, these factors illustrate how in the modern society people form a strategic identity of themselves using different tactics which make them appear more favorable and create a desired impression upon their audience. They feel so pressurized to fit within a certain group that they deliberately choose to put forth identity cues that extensively contrasts from their reality. This is exceedingly reflected on Instagram where individuals are free to create a diversity of possible selves, yet these formations of the self are massively derived from the sociocultural norms provided through Instagram and their social experiences on the platform (Huang & Su, 2018). The only identities that seem to be valuable on Instagram are based according to their ability of attracting ‘’eyeballs’’ in this media saturated world. However, it is also true that numerous posts on Instagram can also echo the identity of people’s real self and can have positive effects upon the formation of other persons’ online identity. After all, a viewer’s perception towards the posts they view also greatly depends to his/ her way of thinking towards the content that he/she is exposed to. Different persons would have different ways of processing a message and as a result, how they are influenced. People should not forget that online others are only represented through the language of their avatars and molded by the architecture of their chosen social networking platform.

Limitations

The first limitation of this paper is that the research and examples presented here were limited to European countries like the UK, Italy and Spain. Another limitation is that the arguments in this paper may not be completely generalizable since it mainly emphasizes on the negative side of identity formation on Instagram. If the positive view point of Instagram upon self-identity were chosen, there would have been more beneficial factors established leading to different results and findings in relation to the presentation of the self online and offline.

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