Many have criticized Instagram for promoting unrealistic expectations of reality, but none better than @SocalityBarbie, a satirical account that aims to show how unauthentic images of supposed #authenticliving can really be.
All forms of social media are tools that allow users to actively engage in impression management, a process whereby individuals attempt to control the way they are viewed by others. It is only natural to want to show ourselves in a positive, flattering light so that we can both maintain high self-esteem and gain the esteem of our peers. But what happens when we try so hard to portray our best selves that we begin to diverge from reality? What happens when the aspirational "selves" we see online cannot be brought in line with what is possible?
In most instances, we know that our friends are pretty similar to us. Yes, they might have felt truly #blessed for their #starbucks #PSL on Thursday morning, but we saw them post-selfie and knew they were late to class and wearing the same clothes we saw them wearing in the library the night before. That caffeine was the only thing getting them through class. Despite their social media presence that suggests otherwise, they, just like us, are human. But then there are people we don't know outside of their online personas: celebrities, athletes, or complete strangers who just happen to have an eye for good lighting. These are the people being addressed by Hipster Barbie and all her beautiful, scenic snapshots of the Pacific Northwest. We know that her mountaintop selfies are mere moments in time, and that they are genuinely illustrative of neither that moment nor her life as a whole. The account's creator started this project to make fun of the fake lives people pretend to lead, but somewhere deep down we want Hipster Barbie's perfect life, and the perfect lives of everyone else who is Insta-famous, to feel real. Because if they can do it, maybe so can we. Do instagram accounts such as these inspire us to live beautiful #authentic lives, or do they promote negative self-evaluations and feelings of inadequacy?
In a recent publication, Lup et al. (2015) found that, well, it depends. In this observational study, online questionnaires were used to establish each participant's Instagram use and administer self-report scales regarding depression and social comparison behaviors. Unsurprisingly, Instagram use correlated positively with depressive symptoms (though only marginally). But, statistical analysis also revealed that the amount of strangers followed moderated the association between Instagram use and depressive symptoms via social comparisons. The SparkNotes version of their results essentially suggests that Instagram will negatively impact your sense of self if you follow a bunch of strangers but won't if you follow fewer strangers.
Following beautiful instagram accounts will fill your feed with pictures of happy, beautiful people living happy, beautiful lives, but the repercussions of such selective curation might be less joyous. Next time you're looking through your account, consider leaving the celeb selfies to TMZ and just following your friends.
Lup, K., Trub, L., & Rosenthal, L. (2015). Instagram# Instasad?: exploring associations among Instagram use, depressive symptoms, negative social comparison, and strangers followed. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 18(5), 247-252.
[Post by Colleen Hynes]
I definitely think that this topic is important to be aware of and it is very relevant within the past two years. I wonder, though, if the desire to be seen by others in the way that you want to be seen (impression management) by using Instagram, also stems from the Terror Management Theory (TMT). By using Instagram to portray oneself in a particularly positive light, she might be doing so to increase her own self-esteem so that she can use that as a buffer of her anxieties about mortality. Also, I've personally noticed that many users of Instagram, particularly females, comment on other females' selfies with compliments, flattery, and praise. They could be using the ingratiation strategy for impression management, which is to praise or compliment others in order for them to like you, to eventually raise your self-esteem.
ReplyDeleteKelly O'Halloran
This topic is very interesting, especially considering the increase in technology use throughout the last 20 years. There is a sense of interconnectedness that technology provides to us on an everyday basis, and it is our instinct as humans to seek others and want to feel connected. By doing so we have been comparing our lives to those of others through social media. Whether it's Instagram, snapchat, Facebook, twitter, what have you, every human needs to feel like they are liked and appreciated. Much of the reasons why most of these social apps have the ability to give an individual a sense of superiority that is somewhat surreal and nonexistent. Much like the article The Filter Bubble, I believe that having an online identity can impact an individuals sense of self and self esteem.
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