Instagram is probably one of the most controversial social media platforms after Twitter. Unlike Twitter which allows people to express their opinions openly, which could cause issues as we have just seen with the Cardi B and Nicki Minaj fight, Instagram brings up a lot of discussions with respect to self-portrayal. If you are one of the few people that have never experienced the whole works of Instagram, it is basically a platform where one is able to share pictures with their followers. This social media platform has grown immensely and also causes a lot of issues in the younger generations. Instagram initially came out with intentions of being a place where people could share their favourite pictures and essentially share their lives with others but in a more visual manner. Over time, it evolved into a place where people cared about their “follow ratio,” the aesthetic of their feed, and the amount of “likes” that they got on one picture. The motives driving young individuals to take part in this culture on Instagram has become a controversial topic simply because the ethics and intentions were strange in a way.
On Instagram, individuals pick their best pictures, edit them (or even photoshop them) and then wait for the optimal time to post so that they can have the highest probability of having the maximum amount of likes and comments. This process might not apply to all people of course; however, it is something that is not uncommon. In fact, for a while, it was also not uncommon for people to tag their friends (who were not even in the picture) in their pictures so that they could let them know that they were important to them. Having spoken to my younger sister, I learned that she and her friends used to strategically place the tags on the picture to essentially indicate and “rate” their friends based on importance.
This whole process and social dynamic are questioning. Before social media existed, people interacted with each other physically and the image they created for themselves was only through the way they carried themselves and not what they chose to show to the public. The only way people let their friends know that they were important to them was either verbally or by body language. With Instagram, people can choose to show a specific side of themselves that might not necessarily be authentic and essentially, they compete against other people to see who can fabricate their life the best while also fulfilling the criteria in the Instagram culture.
However, one could argue that even without Instagram, this social dynamic was still present and without a doubt it was. But, with a social media like this, people now have the ability to create an almost fake and exaggerated version of what they wanted to show to the public and in a sense, the magnification of this social norm takes away from the unique identity of each persona. Instagram has evolved from being a platform to stay connected with friends to being a place where people compete to have a prominent presence on the internet, which has caused many problems in youth. A large majority of people no longer interact with each other in the same manner anymore simply because they always have the idea of social media presence in mind. If you really think about it, it is almost abnormal for someone not to ask you for your social media username when they meet you for the first time; whether it be Instagram or any other social media platform.