Week 3

  Instagram

I have recently joined Instagram, a forum for people to share their photographs online.  You can capture images and post them to your profile for your followers to view, comment and like.

Some of the filters available through Instagram

As discussed by Turkle there is a commonality between people using the Internet, even if it is just "enough money or connections to buy or borrow a computer or modem" (p.246).   In the case of Instagram I believe the use of smart phones has greatly contributed to this forums popularity, boasting over 100 million active users world wide today.

One could also attribute some of this popularity to the ability it provides to be creative within the medium.  Editing tools can be used to change the mood of the picture, through colour, lighting, tone and cropping.. The result of this editing can be everyday shots transformed into something artistic  As discussed by Wood, Ward and Abramm (p.1) truth is based on perception.  Instagram can offer us some truths into the lives of those we follow.  The photographs they choose to post are often reflections and extensions of their own personalities (Van Luyn).


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References:

Turkle, S. (1995). Life on the Screen,  America: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks.

Wood, Ward, Abramms.(2006) The Multiple truths of the Mappable World. Oxford, UK: New Internationalist Publications.

Van Luyn, A (2013): BA1002: Our Space: Network narratives and the making of place, Lecture 3, retrieved from: https://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au/webapps/portal/frameset

Image: 

 Retrieved from:  https://www.google.com.au/search?gs_rn=2ikip