The Illusion of power

The illusion of power 

When power is mentioned some people think of the government looming over them and watching them. Others may go to a different image, one such as gaining multiple followers or likes on social media platforms or even sitting in a lecture theater as they depend on their lecturers for knowledge. Despite everyone thinking of power differently, we seem to understand its very concept in our everyday society. It has both positives and negative but regardless we still accept power as something that is and always will exist as part of the foundations for our world.  

Levin, J. 2016

“Power is not a ‘thing’ but a product of a relationship” (Kuttainen, 2017) Power cannot exist without something to create or feed it. To create power you need to form a hierarchy, regardless of where you are forming the power and the object or person in power must have something that is above everyone else. Currently I am part of a social platform, Instagram. This platform encourages users to share images of their experiences and to dress these images up in filters to make them more appealing to other users. In order to gain power on this platform, users must post aesthetically pleasing photos onto their 'insta' and place a small caption followed by hashtags. These hashtags make photos searchable, therefore it is key that the user chooses the correct hashtags. In the book Language and New media by Charlie Rowe and Eva L. Wyss (2009) it was stated "Both on and offline diaries may address particular kinds of readers specifically, but will design some of their entries to be understood by a wider range of participants, even overhearers, striving for maximum accessibility" (pp. 321). As people begin to receive 'likes' on their photo's they soon get followers. People follow others based on what they want to see, therefore there are many genres and sub genres of images and instagram pages.  

 

Pixabay, n.d.

As instagram itself began to notice a trend in what people begin to like it begins to then suggest pages or posts that are similar. This, though helpful for some, fuels the line of marketing that takes place over this network as many companies can use this data to target a specific audience. In this Ted talk Jennifer Golbeck discusses the danger of data and likes and how large social media platforms can use these against us. As an instagrammers follower count grows these users are able to use their following to sell products or influence their users. Sponsors begin to seek out popular instagramers and market a product to them offering them money in exchange for advertisement. Of course each product is suited to each genre of blog but this marketing technique has become an extremely effective and shows the large amount of influence popular instagramers have on their followers. 

So while it may be a reachable goal for some to reach fame on instagram, the majority appear to be happy simply following popular instas, blogs and youtube channels despite the obvious pattern of power that reigns over the new social media platform. 

Reference List: 

Golbeck, J. [Jennifer Golbeck]. (2013, October). Your social media "Likes" reveal more than you think [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/jennifer_golbeck_the_curly_fry_conundrum_why_social_media_likes_say_more_than_you_might_think 

Kuttainen, V. (2017).  BA1002: Our Space: Networks, Narrative and the Making of Place. James Cook University, Townsville, Australia. 

Levin, J. (2016). Person Holding Smartphone Taking Picture of Bridge during Daytime [Image]. Retrieved from https://www.pexels.com/photo/person-holding-smartphone-taking-picture-of-bridge-during-daytime-122383/ 

Pixabay. (n.d.) Person Holding Black Android Smartphone and 2 1 U.s. Dollar [Image]. Retrieved from https://www.pexels.com/photo/persom-holding-black-android-smartphone-and-2-1-u-s-dollar-163069/

Rowe, C., & Wyss, L, E. (2009). Language and New media: Diary 2.0?, Cresskill, NJ: Hampton press inc.