When I first created my Instagram account, I promised myself not
to care about how many followers I had and the number of likes my photos would
receive. Though after my first few photo’s that were uploaded, my attitude
changed and I started to care about my Instagram status. I never really began
to break down and understand why society and I shared these similarities of
caring about how society viewed us on these social platforms.
During week 3 lecture Dr.
Victoria Kuttainen (2019), discussed the forum of ‘Power’ and how it plays
a major part in social networking. Firstly, the word ‘Power’ needed to be
understood as to what kind of power would be found in social networks. Power is
not just about having the biggest and strongest military, as Luke puts it,
‘Having the means of power is not the same as being powerful’ (Luke 2007, 59).
Power can be achieved through how a person is perceived by society,
if that person has had an influence on people they then can be anointed a
leader/prophet, an example of this is Jesus. A similar power has been developed
throughout Instagram’s network, the word ‘insta
famous’ was created to describe Instagram users who have high numbers of
followers and obtained many likes on their photos. This gave these Instagram
users a number of modalities of power such as manipulation, which was advising
others to not only follow other certain accounts but to share and like the post
for a reward such as a free item of value. Other modalities would be referent
on others, an appeal to be similar in the view of the outer body image, their
actions and beliefs.
Foucault evaluates on the power of sharing information and content
so that it can be read by other mutual friends. Foucault quotes that, ‘The act of sharing is a performance, to an extent-it a performative act, an act that does something in the world, as J.L. Austin would say. This is important. The performative aspect of sharing shapes the logic and experience of the act itself’(Foucault, 2012). Sharing certain content helps create a status for
that person, the content may be funny, therefore pleases viewers and influences
views to watch further content shared by that person.
Another major power component that I totally missed until now was
seduction, many users both males and females used certain photos as a way of
seducing followers and people of interest through body imagery. During Dr. Victoria
Kuttainen Lecture (2019), it was stated that ‘Power “produces” and “shapes” identities, it does not just restrict
possibilities. (Retrieved from Lecture Notes, week 3, 2019)
Although recently there has been a major change to Instagram,
which has created a barrier for some modalities of power such as domination and
manipulation.
Instagram now prevents Australian users from seeing the amount of likes
a photo has received. This is to help benefit the self-esteem
of young teenagers who are concerned about not receiving many likes on their
photos.
Thank you.Reference
Kuttainen, V. (2019). BA1002: Our Space: Networking, Narrative and
the Making of Place, week 3 notes [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from https://learn.jcu.edu.au/ultra/courses/_97532_1/outline
Timrayner (2012, June 21). Foucault and social media: life in a virtual panopticon. [web log
comment]. Retrieved from
Orlando, J. (2019, July 19).What’s not to Like? Instagram’s trial to hide the number of ‘likes’
could save users’ self-esteem [web log comment]. Retrieved from
The Power of Instagram [Image]. (2018). StickerYou Blog.
Retrieved from https://www.stickeryou.com/blog/post/power-of-instagram
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Good read! I quite enjoyed your structure. I do, however, think you could (possibly) have found a more provocative image. Although, you got your point across regardless.
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