Space, Place and Empowerment. Blog #3

The Space and Place of Instagram

The World Wide Web has it's own unique language. Everything is appreviated or hash-tagged these days. For those of us who aren't 'down with the internet lingo', cyber-space can be a complex and confusing place.

Instagram contains several cyber terms in relation to its virtual space on the internet. These terms make up a special Instagram language which include words like: liking, following, uploading, selfies and hash-tagging. These terms are understood by the users of Instagram but would not be known to let's say less 'techno-savvy' people. These words all create a sense of space and place amongst the Instagram population.

Since launching in 2004 Facebook has "opened membership to all corners, and now hosts over 850 million users, 50 percent of whom log in every day" (Statistics, Laurie McNeill). This statistic shows how Social Networking sites (SNS) affect our daily lives by offering a compelling need to share unnecessary and sometimes misleading information on ones profile page.

Image 1: shows statistics on how popular Instagram has become.

Instagram allows its clientele to share and narrate photos by captioning them and tagging other users in pictures. This is the only type of self narration utilized on the Instagram site. Instagram also allows users to create their own virtual identity which can be as real or as made up as they wish. No matter how true you portray yourself though others will always perceive you a certain way. The photo's which are published on Instagram also help evoke a sense of space and place within its audience. 

Instagram has a main 'newsfeed' where based on who a person is following it channels information, mainly self-taken photographs, to the consumer. This creates the users own unique place within Instagram. It evokes an emotional sense of space for the consumer and shapes the way in which we represent our virtual online selves. This gives the consumer empowerment under the constricts of the Instagram format and website.



References:

Doyle, M. (2013). Statistics of Instagram (Image). Retrieved from: http://blog.twmg.com.au/todays-instagram-statistics/

McNeil, L. (2012). There is no “I” in network: Social networking sites and posthuman auto-biography. In Biography, 35(1), 101- 108.