Curated Content: Charisse
With focus on the Instagram trends in our social media crazy culture.
An Instagram Generation, a film by Ravi Vora
Critics have argued that the ironically titled “social media” encourages isolation over real, interpersonal communication. Ravi aims to persuade people that Instagram has contradicted this notion.
His film documents a social gathering of Instagram-users, which he termed: Instameet. The film begun with establishing shots — a scenic beach and colourful beach houses at Santa Monica. Shots of people interacting portray a sense of camaraderie over a common interest for photography. Ravi mainly used shots with the view of a person’s iPhone screen in the foreground and people staging and posing for an ‘Instagram-worthy’ photographs in the background, illustrating the efforts that went behind the scenes before uploading the photo on to Instagram. Instagram has empowered us to become our own art directors, models, and photographers of our own right. The use of statistics at the end of the film persuades viewers about the immense popularity and influence Instagram has on our culture.
As Ravi highlights its benefits, my group, on the other hand, intends to dig deeper and portray the darker side of the trend — its effects on self esteem, and the false portrayal of a perfect life.
(189 words)
The Pride Sg, Singaporean social media influencers
This is a typical photo uploaded by @thepridesg, a group of “influencers” promoting the idea of a modern gentleman. Decked out in stylish outfits, they aim to encourage Singaporean men to imitate them and take pride in their dressing. The photo is symmetrically pleasing, with the glossy red Citroën car as the centre of attention, surrounded by equally showy men posing ostentatiously. Their associations with fashion, cars and high-profile social events earned them the label — rich high-flyers, a lifestyle that many are envious of. In Singapore’s hot and humid climate, one might find them odd to be suited up all the time, as it seems to be in their Instagram feed. Furthermore, as the fashion influencers scene is conventionally dominated by females, these group of men have garnered some unflattering epithets for breaking that stereotype, and are deemed to be narcissistic and pretentious.
Bringing in the idea of stereotypes, my group aims to highlight the various stereotypes present on Instagram and how these photos are becoming a two-dimensional, superficial representation of one’s identity. These stereotypes may suffocate the Instagrammer himself, as he may find it hard to live up to the identity that he has established on Instagram.
(201 words)
