Almost everyone has an Instagram these days, and what is becoming increasingly popular is more than one Instagram. Certain Instagrams are created based on certain roles a person has that they want to showcase to the public or friends. These different Instagram show different identities of a person. For example, I have two Instagrams and at one point I had three. Each of these Instagrams portrays a different identity and allows me to control what people see. I have a photography Instagram where I just post my photography to present myself as a professional photographer. I have another Instagram for my close friends, and the one that I do not have anymore was a personal one that was just me as Frances for a wider group of friends. On Instagram there are accounts for nearly anything. There are food accounts, weddings, travel, fitness, families, photographers, etc. Anything you want to see, you can, and they all represent a different identity of the account holder. A mom or dad, a fitness instructor, a cook, a traveler. Do we ever see the back stage of an Instagram user? Is anyone truly themselves? It seems that Instagram only allows people to have a front stage where they represent their different role they are trying to portray through photographs. People on Instagram are constantly working on and revising their self and their identity for their followers. Instagram is not for people that really want to get to know someone. It is to showcase certain identities and control what people see and what they do not see in relation to someone's life and their self.
Hey Frances!
ReplyDeleteYes I agree with you, what you are describing here is self-branding. Social media has created that social concept where we are able to control what people do and do not see of our lives. This is the way our culture has developed and grown. Going off on what you said, Instagram and other social media platforms have been useful to the fashion industry and to their stores in promotion.