The freedom of the internet allows people to express their views, thoughts, and even produce multimedia that can be shown to an international audience. Instagram is a good example of this freedom and accessibility to a wider audience, though Instagram itself monitors the content on their site to avoid disturbing and offensive images appearing. People can begin to create their own narrative on their Instagram page. Users may include pictures and videos from their life experiences or they may choose to post multimedia from other sources, regardless of what they choose these users are creating a timeline of stories, adventures, and emotions that embody what this user is online. Though not all that appears could be true, with the rising popularity of Instagram and the number of people using it, users are looking for specific blogs that cater for their own specific needs or wants. With this, users that aim to earn fame or money, choose specific things to post that will fit into this demand, often cutting out parts of their life that may not be as glamorous or fit into the style that is required. McNeill stated that online lives "provide rich sites for thinking through concepts of the posthuman, and trying out theories of Posthuman auto/biography" (2012) which explains the gap between human lives and manufactured experiences. The pressure from this need was so great that model and Instagram user Essena O'Niell decided to delete all of her posts and keep only 96 of her 'True' images.
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| "Censored" Rubber Stamp (2009) |
Though these people may choose what they want to post and say "You are not the only person constructing your identity." Kuttainen, V. (2017). Instagram monitors and reviews every image, video, comment, and caption that is posted onto their site. This means anything that may be disturbing, hateful, or offensive may be pulled offline and the user could even be banned or suspended from this platform depending on the severity of the issue. This monitoring acts as a filter for people online who wish to use the platform safely but as well as that, Instagram can use your previous data of hashtags, likes, comments, and searches to bring posts with Similar themes to your attention. If a person had looked up a post with #Bordercollie then posts containing the breed or something related would appear in the users suggested search. While this may seem helpful as many users wish to see more and more content that is specific to them on this platform and to not be shown unsettling images, it is obvious that though we may believe we are posting what we want and seeing what we want but it is actually Instagram itself who allows us to post and to see. This tactic though is not specific to Instagram, such pages like Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and even Google, filter content and uses your data to show you things they think you want to see. So really, who is in control on Instagram? The user, the trends, or the platform itself?
Kuttainen, V. (2017). Space and place. BA1002: Our Space: Networks, narratives and the making of place, week 6 notes [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from https://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au/webapps/blackboard/content/listContent.jsp?course_id=_84764_1&content_id=_2759369_1
McNeill, L. (2012). There is no "I" in Network: Social networking sites and posthuman auto/biography. Project Muse, 35(1), pp. 65-82. doi:10.1353/2012.0009
Speed, B. (2015). Lies of Instagram Retrieved from http://www.newstatesman.com/science-tech/social-media/2015/11/lies-instagram-how-cult-authenticity-spun-out-control
VaGla, P. (2009). "Censored" rubber stamp [Image]. Retrieved from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Censored_stamp.jpg
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