Instagram’s Higher Purpose
For the instant-sharing photo app, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts
Instagram is widely seen as the epitome of modern narcissism.
Many of the app’s 200 million+ average monthly users utilize the photo-sharing software to post pictures of food, material possessions and the increasingly common #selfie. To many, posting photos on Instagram is a way of advertising how amazing life is at any given time.
In an increasingly digital world where words like data and “success metrics” are becoming more than just buzz words, it’s no surprise that individuals are measuring the success of their personal social media presence, as well. On Instagram, “likes” are the social currency users seek (and give out to those deemed worthy). Recently, a friend of mine was visibly mortified after failing to “earn” the baseline 11 likes required to make the names of those who liked the photo disappear and get replaced by a sum of the total likes received. This may sound absurd, but anyone who is a moderate-to-heavy user of the app knows what I’m talking about.
Instagram’s cultural influence is undeniable as brands and companies have started to invest in and utilize the app at levels only surpassed by Twitter and Facebook. Celebrities have even realized that Instagram can be the perfect way to keep fans and observers interested in their lives while maintaining control over what is shared. Strangely enough, Instagram even has the power to make average people into minor celebrities. There’s even a word for it: Instafame.
Personally, I’m an avid user of the app and seek to be considered “good at Instagram” just as much as the next person. A few months ago, I enjoyed (very minor) exposure to “Instafame” after Starbucks decided to share a photo of mine on both their Instagram and Facebook accounts. The Instagram photo has garned over 137,000 likes so far and the Facebook cover photo has just over 16,000. The day the photo was shared, I gained over 150 new followers.
Needless to say, the millennial in me was *~thriving~* during those 15 minutes (more like seconds) of “Instafame.”
The instant sharing, pursuit of likes and varying degrees of aesthetic quality inherent in each individual Instagram shared make it easy to lose sight of the app’s greater purpose, though.
With Instagram, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
I learned this over the last year when I spent a summer interning in Austin, TX followed by a semester studying in Belgium and traveling across Europe. These exciting life opportunities took me to new and exciting places with equally new and exciting people. Naturally, the frequency of my Instagram posts and the quality of the content on display increased drastically.
My time in Texas was filled with tacos, white lights, an exciting workplace and lots of good beer.
My time in Europe was filled with beauty, food and more beauty.
(And even some wall twerking…)
Individually, these photos would be considered “good” by most standards (if I do say so myself). However, the real beauty and importance of these photos for me personally has increased with each passing day since those experiences ended. By sharing those photos as they happened, I am now able to look back and re-enter those exact (and glorious) moments. The people, the places and the experiences all come roaring back.
Additionally, these experiences have made documenting moments a habit for me. Frequently revisiting such moments has made me realize that Instagram is an amazing tool through which I can tell my life story — one moment at a time.
This was never more apparent than when I recently used a company called Copygram to compile my entire collection of European Instagram photos into a poster:
While the poster is a display of extraordinary places and circumstances, the lesson is applicable to anyone’s life, photos and Instagram.
Instagram is a tool through which you can tell your life’s story right now.(And enjoy it forever.)
I plan to continue this habit of documenting moments (both big and small). I won’t be doing it for the instant gratification of a few “likes,” though. Instead, I’ll be doing it so that I (and anyone who is interested) can easily go back and see the people, places and things that were most important to me at a given time.
Ultimately, it is my hope that Instagram is here to stay.
While it’s slightly weird to think that my (potential) future children will be able access a massive archive of personal photos starting at the time I entered college, it’s also pretty cool.
That way — what took How I Met Your Mother’s Ted Mosby 9 seasons of network television to do — will only take me an afternoon.
John Buysse is a Social Media Strategist at Hillary for America.
You can connect with him at www.JohnBuys.se and on Twitter & LinkedIn.
Check out his life story here.
