The Instagram Effect
What even is an Instagram? Instagram was created to allow the public to connect through photography. It has altered the way we share photos and videos with the world. We can now shoot, edit, and share photos with people from all over the world. From the time instagram launched in 2010, the popularity of the app has skyrocketed. The application began as a way to share photos and after years of enhancements it is now used to promote companies, latest fashion, politics, and even allows users to get an inside look on the life of their favorite celebrity.
Obviously the tool was targeted for the “young”… no parents allowed. There is an element of exposure to a certain type of culture with this tool. Instagram has been most influential among teens and young adults because of the positive and negative affect it has on them. It allows exposure to culture, political awareness, and is also a way social skills can be development. It does show a negative side to social cutlure by glorifying negative behaviors and creates an image and beauty standard.
Instagram displays and allows interaction with people from many different cultures and ethnic backgrounds. This encourages teens to take a step out of the stereotypical norms that society sets for different cultural groups and makes them question these stereotypes and think critically about different cultures. Instagram also allows exposure to events that are happening all over the world. Instagram allows teens to not just gain knowledge about these events but also voice their opinion through images. Teens also can learn social interaction with their peers through this application. This source of social media allows fact to face relationships with people all over the world.
Of course there is always a negative side to social media sites. Social media today tends to glorify drugs, alcohol and sexual behaviors. Instagram challenges teens and young adults who are still in the developmental stage to make good behavioral choices. Instagram also has a major impact on self-esteem and beauty standards. Specifically girls tend to follow their favorite celebrities and automatically compare themselves to the images these celebrities post on their pages. They are still in the stage of creating an identity for themselves, so seeing the people they idolize makes them believe they have to look a certain way to be considered beautiful. The idea of getting “likes” on pictures tends to make teens question their beauty and identity. It has almost become a popularity contest amongst young adults. What teens need to understand is that people are always going to post the best possible and mostly unrealistic version of their life.
Regardless of the negative side of the application, instagram remains a convenient and fun way to share your personality with the world. My point is that we should make it less about comparing and more about connections.
