Digital Life on Instagram

Elisa Serafinelli, Athina Karatzogianni

• Publisher: Emerald Publishing Limited
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9781787564978
• Topic: Languages & Linguistics
• Subtopic: Communication Studies
• Index: Languages & Linguistics

How does Instagram shape how we relate to each other online? Are users concerned about privacy when documenting their lives in fine detail? How does Instagram work as a marketing machine? Drawing on three years' research with Instagram users, Elisa Serafinelli explores how Instagram is changing people's visual experiences. Instagram is now by far the most popular online photo sharing platform, fuelled by the growth of smart mobile devices, and the management of an online persona is now part of millions of people's everyday reality. This has not gone unnoticed among commercial actors, with the savviest of these exploiting the social dynamics of sharing that underlie the very logic of Instagram. This book addresses the issue of how mobile media and visual communication permeate people's daily routines, how marketing influences practice, whether privacy and surveillance concerns are a reality, and how the platform shapes social relationships and identity formation. In its conclusion, the book advances the innovative concept of new mobile visualities to describe the social communication of photography and its huge expansion. Digital Life on Instagram is an online ethnography fit for the modern age of social media.

CHAPTER 1

NEW APPROACHES TO DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY AND ONLINE PHOTOSHARING

Since the arrival of photography, visual communication has been interpreted as a means to discover the unknown, placing connective bridges among cultures, societies and visions. In fact, Martin Heidegger wrote in The Age of the World Picture (1977) that in the modern age, the fundamental event was ‘the conquest of the world as picture’ (p. 134) describing the approach to unseen visualities as a determining aspect in cognitive processes. Following this, digitality opened up a vision of new scenarios with an elevated characteristic of reproducibility via online sharing, which expands the concept of mechanical reproducibility elaborated by Benjamin (2008) in the 1930s. Nowadays, Benjamin’s concept of reproducibility is substituted by the potential of virality and connectivity of the Internet, which plays a crucial role in shaping the information sharing.

Through the innovative combination of three fields of study, mobility, mediation and visuality, this book investigates the ways Instagram has changed social approaches through visual experiences. To address the complexity of this subject, this book is divided into five thematic nodes (photosharing, social relationships, social media marketing, privacy and surveillance and identity). The sectorial division into themes, explained here as the architecture of this book, articulates critical investigations that converge towards a unique interpretation of the phenomena. The arrival of smart mobile technologies significantly changed the approach to new media, opening new pages for interpreting the human–technology relationship and increasing, in fact, access to digital contents. Through their constant use, people also intensify the activity of taking photographs, altering content and how they are shared. In addition, technological developments contribute to strengthen the circulation of photographs through the Internet and social media platforms. In this, they contribute to the hyper-representation of the world (e.g. from the photo of the cappuccino in the morning to the Friday night out with friends) showing the predominance of visual elements in many daily practices.

This book discusses the significant features and affordances of the popular photosharing platform Instagram (a smart phone application that enables users to capture, apply filters and share photos also on other social networks), identifying the key elements that shape new mechanisms of visual communication. To do so, it examines how images are used in various forms of communication (marketing, social relationships and surveillance, for instance), showing how visuality is changing people’s perception of the world and their mediated lives. It advances a critical re-reading of the combined interrelations between mobility (smart mobile devices), mediation (platforms) and the thematic areas mentioned earlier, delineating the changing dynamics that digitality determines in visual communication. To understand the growth of new visual practices, this book considers how relationships develop among individuals, visual technologies, practices and images, society and culture (Pink, 2007). The current lack of structural categories to interpret a combination of the conditions mobility–mediation does not help with improving the knowledge of the social practice of photosharing. This book corresponds with the necessity to advance a thematic critical understanding around the complex sphere of mobile media and visual studies.

The relationship between visuality and the current developments in research on social and mobile media is the focus of this book, which envisions a large-scale discourse on photography and the practices of photosharing. Starting from the conception that there is no single characteristic or practice that represents the essence of photography (Tagg, 1988), it is helpful to compare the present book to a complex cubist art piece characterised by a variety of facets that merge together in a unique composition on canvas, giving a multi-faceted vision of all the various constitutive parts of the phenomenon. The subdivision of this book into thematic areas (one per chapter) takes into account the representative moments of the conspicuous international debate in the fields of social media, communication and visual studies that, since the 1990s, has evolved beyond the original separate disciplinary connotations in the domain of social sciences.

In Chapter 1, this book defines the context of analysis providing with the theoretical framework and circumscribing the analysis around digital media and visual studies. The combination of these two disciplines is necessary in order to both delineate the existing inter-relationship between human and smart technologies and to investigate how visuality fits into this relationship. Defining the area of analysis, this book exemplifies the critical approach that interprets smart mobile devices as objects of socio-cultural studies. The critical understanding of the role of smart mobile devices leads to broader perspectives on mobility and visuality, which question smart mobile communications and their ubiquity (Bechmann & Lombrog, 2012). Indeed, by reflecting on technological innovations, the peculiar elements that guide smart phones to become socially embedded (Green & Haddon, 2009) testifies to the growing dependence people have towards such devices. This shift recalls some of the fundamental studies of semiotics (Barthes, 1980; Eco, 1979) and theory of the image (Belting, 2005, 2011; Boehm, 1994; Mitchell, 1996, 1998, 2005) to set the interest of this investigation around the triangulation of mobility–mediation–visuality.

Chapter 2 recalls relevant theories in media and convergence (Jenkins, 2006; McLuhan, 1964) to engage with the practice of photosharing online (Van Dijck, 2008, 2011) and its capacity to make individuals perform, feel emotions, engage with each other and remember (Van House, 2007, 2009, 2011; Van House, Davis, Ames, Finn, & Viswanathan, 2005; Van House et al., 2004). The basic functioning mechanism of Instagram shows how the practice of photosharing goes progressively towards the direction of mediated photosharing, identifying the mediation and connectivity of the platform as a valid means to share visual stories. Photosharing is experienced and practiced on a daily basis in different sectors. For some, photosharing is a daily habit, a way of working and a personal mise-en-scène (Goffman, 1959) that follows precise guidelines breaking the idea of instantaneity of communication typical of social media. The general analysis of the practice of photosharing discloses the common conditions present in its various practices: online (Chapter 2), sociality (Chapter 3), marketing (Chapter 4), protection of personal information (Chapter 5) and formation of the self (Chapter 6). Indeed, photosharing emerges as a constant condition that enables different ways of communicating visually.

Expanding the considerations advanced in Chapter 2, Chapter 3 discusses the social possibilities that the practice of photosharing offers in everyday social interactions. In this case, the intuitions advanced by McLuhan (1964) and Giddens (1991) combined together set the theoretical foundations to interpret human relationships and technological interactions. The increased use of social media shows how sociality is affected and mediated by new mobile technologies. This chapter begins with a review of the notion of community, discussing the implications of social media. The theoretical frameworks of online communities (Baym, 1995, 1998; Wellman, 2001; Wellman & Giulia, 1999) and social networking theories (boyd & Ellison, 2007) support the investigation of the current state of virtual social relationships (Bakardjieva, 2003; Turkle, 1997, 2011). An examination of the social uses of mobile devices (Lugano, 2008) helps to reflect on the motivations (Lakhani & Wolf, 2005; Sarvas & Frohlich, 2011) that guide to consider the exchange of images as a practice dedicated to the creation and/or maintenance of social relationships. As a photosharing platform, Instagram is inscribable in the creation and development of communities of interest (Rheingold, 2000) that recognise their main social expression in offline meetings (InstaMeet and InstaWalk). The interest in moving the discussion towards the combination of sociality and visuality comes from the intuitions that Van House’s (2007) advanced while studying photosharing as an effective practice for maintaining social relationships. Although the social potentiality of (visual) social relationships through Instagram itself does not offer a variety of verbal communication mechanisms, this encourages offline meetings or the relocation onto other social media.

Using Fuchs’ (2012) analysis of the value of Facebook’s friends and friendships, Chapter 4 reviews the key theoretical concepts of the political economy (Herman & Chomsky, 2008; McChesney, 2008; Mosco, 1996, 2008) and its complex connection with the environment of social media. Critical interpretations of the political economy of social media and social networking platforms moved the academic attention towards the dynamics that connect companies and users. From this consideration surfaces the growth of social media marketing that sees in the use of consumer-generated advertising (Campbell, Pitt, Parent, & Berthon, 2011) the base for new plans. Understanding the general strategies that move social media marketing helps to progress this book to the consideration of visuality as part of these new techniques. In fact, on Instagram advertising and promotional campaigns are well organised considering the power of images. Taking into account the engagement that brands intend to establish with users/potential customers, the necessity for reducing the distance between businesses and peoples emerges. The engagement between actors (user–user, brand–user) figures as the key aspect of social media marketing (Evans & McKee, 2010). On Instagram, this principle is recognised in photo contests, calls to action and promotional photo campaigns. From this, the tendency arises for advertisers to create visual imageries close to users/potential customers developing what Schroeder (2008, 2013) defines as ‘snapshot aesthetics’. The co-presence of new social media marketing strategies and the progression of the snapshot aesthetic in advertising rely on users’ voyeuristic interest in watching and being watched and it is that which motivates the practice of photosharing.

Following the ‘big brother spirit’ that animates the majority of social media, Chapter 5 examines the delicate issues related to privacy (Debatin, 2011; Ellison, Vitak, Steinfield, Grey, & Lampe, 2011; Nissenbaum, 2009), surveillance and visual communication online. It focuses specifically on the publicity of the Internet, that is the aspect that constitutes increased fragility for the majority of online services. The way in which businesses monitor and collect users’ personal data in marketing shows the controversial context of public and private presence online (Fuchs, 2012; Lyon & Bauman, 2013; Miller, 2011). However, the compulsory agreement to terms and conditions necessary for the use of social media does not seem to cause any concern to Instagram users. They passively accept them as they are aware that most of Internet services (to provide the services they provide) access their personal data and metadata. Indeed, the only concern that Internet users have regarding privacy and surveillance is being subjected to the spread of personal and private images. This concern takes the place of other types of monitoring systems. The surveillance practiced by businesses is not perceived as excessively invasive as much as is the surveillance practiced by other users. The voyeuristic spirit (Denzin, 1995; Mulvey, 1975) that animates Instagram does not come from an interest in images related to sex or sexual pleasure (Calvert, 2000), rather it is more related to the curiosity and the pleasure in observing new visualties recognised in particularities and unordinary images. The co-presence of protection and disclosure of images opens the discussion towards the intent of disclosing imageries related to identity and memory of the self.

The visual interest in watching and being watched is associated with the protection and disclosure of the self-identity as Chapter 6 illustrates. The ubiquitous use of smart mobile devices constitutes a significant cultural change towards an increased mediated visibility. The polycentric character of modern society (Giddens, 1991) guides to consider the theme of identity through the notion of ‘fragmentised subjectivity’ described by Bauman (1998). The decentred and mediated nature of contemporary identities is discussed in relation to the presentation of the self (Goffman, 1959) through images and interpreted within the mediation of social media and social networking sites (boyd & Ellison, 2007; boyd & Heer, 2006; Turkle, 1997). This self-representation is commonly associated with the exhibition of self-portraits that nowadays take the name of ‘selfies’.

Overall, this book produces a critical interpretation of Instagram which can, to a certain extent, speak of the mediation and mobility of other platforms. Considering that ‘digital culture now involves more than merely sitting at a computer terminal’ (Miller, 2011, p. 1), the mobility and mediation afforded by smart mobile devices seems to establish new ways for producing and sharing images. This shift guides people to think visually of events, people and the surroundings. Everything is perceived as a photo opportunity, and this constant state of mind produces new forms of experiencing everyday life. The triangulation of mediation–mobility–visuality is rethought as a unique instance maintaining the polivocity (multiple voices) of media and the current understanding of visuality. The ephemerality of digital culture is discussed in this book considering the importance that people give to the act of producing visual contents more than the contents themselves. In this, the extensive use of Instagram represents the foundation of a new mobile visualities aesthetic. In its conclusion, this book argues that increasingly visualities have been noted to have crucial functions in different contexts (e.g. marketing, leisure, information) that, through the co-presence of the mediation and mobility of platforms, radically transform traditional functions of photography.

1.1. MEDIA THEORIES TOWARDS NEW VISUAL PRACTICES

The Internet connectivity in mobile communications plays a crucial role in the development of social practices that now increasingly include visual elements. The Internet presents a complex area of study that requires the deconstruction of previous theorisations to move towards ideas that support the dynamism of the subject and that follow new technological advancements. Without the notion of media convergence (Jenkins, 2006), it is difficult to comprehend the evolution of human behaviours in relation to the progression of new smart mobile technologies. Essentially, by convergence, Jenkins (2006) referred to the flow of content across multiple platforms, as well as the collaboration between media industries and audiences. Exploring the paradigmatic notion of convergence, he described the shift of communication systems and media environments. The augmented interdependence among communication systems produced the collision between different media settings (old and new). In that way, print, television, radio and the Internet merged together. Laptops and mobile phones are concrete examples of this shift that present various levels of interactivity, such as social media platforms.

Technological developments brought together multiple functions and became a phone, television, stereo and photo-camera all-in-one device, producing also visible modifications of people’s behaviours, leading to arguments for the advance of the new cultural phenomenon of convergence culture (Jenkins, 2006). The undeniable innovation of convergence was that multimedia contents and information shifted across different media easily and quickly. The widespread use of mobile devices and smart applications are examples of this conduct that encourages people to create, share, modify and move contents, stories and images from one means to another. Evident consequences of these possibilities are now recognisable in the facility to alter existing aesthetic models, ways of telling stories, informing, communicating and engaging.

An emblematic example of this alteration was dated 28 April 2004 when, during 60 Minutes, the historic CBS television programme disclosed, for the first time, services and images related to Abu Ghraib tortures. A series of amateur photographs, taken by digital cameras and mobile phones, conveyed the scandalous happenings inside the Iraqi prison (Danner, 2004; Eisenman, 2007). That memorable episode showed how the potential of media convergence brought new forms of collection, storing and sharing never seen before (Gaby, 2010). In fact, Gaby (2010), taking as visual examples episodes captured with camera phones, described how they break the unclear line between amateur and professional journalism, bringing into discussion the idea of live streaming as a current trend of information sharing and visual communication.

Photographs of the Abu Ghraib event lost their material supports (paper), surpassing the problem of its collocation (mobile phone and camera phone) to find in the Internet a new home, as discussed during the programme 60 Minutes. Within media convergence theorisation, the photographs of Abu Ghraib become a clear example of cross-mediality (Bolter & Grusin, 1996), the potential of the Internet and the communicative power of images. In parallel with media convergence lies the concept of Remediation (Bolter & Grusin, 1996) which emphasised the possibilities offered by cross-mediality and hyper-mediacy.

Given that the process of remediation is ongoing, Kember and Zylinska (2012) suggested combining the knowledge of media objects with people’s sense of mediating processes. This idea led them to think Life after New Media (2012) through the notion of mediation rather than the notion of re-mediation (Bolter & Grusin, 1996). Their assumptions propose to understand photography as an active practice of cutting through the flow of mediation at perceptive, technical and conceptual levels. They argue that ‘over the last half century, photography has become so ubiquitous that our sense of being is intrinsically connected with being photographed, and with making sense of the world around us through seeing it imaged’ (Kember & Zylinska, 2012, p. 76).

The potential afforded by new digital technologies have also been witnessed through the London bombing event (7 July 2005), during which fear and terror did not stop people in the underground and in the middle of the street from recording the tragic terrorist attack and promptly shared it over various social media platforms. Helen Boaden, BBC Director of News at that time, described the event in this way: ‘People were sending us images within minutes of the first problems; before we even knew there was a bomb’ (Allan, 2007). Through her speech surfaced the importance of the event. The photographs of the London bombing represented one of the first events coverage recorded and shared by amateurs’ smart mobile devices. The photographs taken using smart phones inside the London tube immediately went viral within global networks. That was another example that amplified further the significance of reconsidering new media convergence towards the evolution of the uses of social media, smart technologies and the power of visual communication.

Within the panorama of convergence and remediation, it can be witnessed how new media develop into hybrids (D’Amico, 2008) and mobile interfaces (Farman, 2012). Discussing technological changes in the digital age, D’Amico (2008) emphasised the fusion between photography and other media, introducing the pioneering notion of digitographies. This new term classified digital images through their material components: a numerical writing with an extraordinary characteristic of abstraction. In correlation with her discourse and in relation to the two photographic examples discussed earlier, Farman’s (2012) theorisation of mobile interfaces and mediating environments that make experiences and constitute people’s experiences exemplified how mobile devices stimulate new phenomenon of communication and sharing enabling people to manage daily practices through the mediation of screens. The introduction of the notion of mobile interfaces (Farman, 2012) contributed to the progressive interest in the relationship between humans and technology useful to start thinking about smart mobile communication.

Discussing the recent developments brought by media convergence, the mobility afforded by new digital technologies (smart phones, for instance) represents one of the latest subjects of interest in media studies. In relation to the dichotomy of human–technology, Sheller and Urry (2006) advocated the turn towards a ‘new mobilities paradigm’ that focuses on the dynamism of people, objects and information. The interactions between people located in distant places are increased by the adoption of mobile technologies that also extend the access to the Internet and social media platforms in everyday activities (e.g. posting, sharing and liking). As observed in the two examples mentioned earlier (Abu Ghraib and the 2005 London bombing), the element of mobility, in combination with the connectivity afforded by the Internet, played a crucial role in the creation and dissemination of those visual contents. Shortly after those events, through the widespread of smart mobile devices, people started to contribute more actively to multimedia content dissemination, which includes information, entertainment and social networking. In fact, while in the past amateur photography was seen more as a casual practice and the photos as unintentional, with the mass adoption of digital cameras and camera phones in 2000s more casual photography become possible (Manovich, 2016).

Previous Internet theories (Bolter & Grusin, 199...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title Page
• Chapter 1 New Approaches to Digital Photography and Online Photosharing
• Chapter 2 The Practice of Online Photosharing
• Chapter 3 Visual Social Relationships
• Chapter 4 Visual Media Marketing
• Chapter 5 Privacy and Surveillance
• Chapter 6 Identity: A Visual Representation
• Afterword
• References
• Index