How do teens portray themselves on Instagram?

How does this affect their profile?  

With social media being such a big part of society these days it is easy for us to get sucked into the social media world and show ourselves differently on the internet. We then start portraying who we really are and what for? We want the most likes, the most followers, the best pictures to show and we will do what we can to get all that. If that means showing ourselves as someone we’re not, then so be it and that is what shows on our profile. Nowadays this is happening more and more, we are showing ourselves differently. What affects our profile are the likes, followers, interactions etc. Why we feel we need to show ourselves differently on the internet in order to get those things, I have no idea. A factor that could come into this is maybe to relieve the pressure of trying to be perfect. 

When we first start posting fake pictures about ourselves, this causes a lot of attention and our mentality triggers something that craves more, more attention, more likes, so we keep posting pictures that are fake e.g. we may post a picture of ourselves  at the top of a mountain but in reality we don’t even bike and have just gone to the top of a hill and posed holding a bike with a caption talking about how much we love mountain biking. This intrigues people which gains attention, so we keep doing it. Our profile instantly changes from a profile about them and what they're up to, to a profile about a person who they don’t even know themselves and what for? To be the perfect person with all the  Instagram ‘worthy’ photos? The person with all the followers and likes? Why this is so important to some people I am yet to understand. 

  

What are the factors that contribute to them portraying themselves as someone else, what causes this to happen?  

Fake portrayal of self-figures on social media accounts are becoming a large phenomenon hitting the world and the online community by storm, with 800 million active users monthly posting, interacting and communicating with each other. 

Social media is gaining prominence in our life, online activities are no longer separable from our real lives but an integral part of it. Current research has led us to find that any given day, a teen accesses Instagram around 10-30 times. They check their likes, comments, share stories, view their friends’ latest posts, follow their interests and checking DMs from whoever and many more. THE Thing with Instagram is the difference between our real life and the supposedly “Dream Life” we post about. Reason being, our lives we portray to the world through Instagram are not fake, just not statistically right.  

We think we can follow people's lives like we are with them, vividly but that’s just the life they show. Sure we might happen to know where they went for lunch and what they ate but we don’t know every detail like we would if we were with them in reality.  

Instagram leaves you with total control over what other people see of you. Every post you see on Instagram is carefully staged, possibly not all pictures posted are part of a series of hundreds on someone's phone gallery. 

  

SURVEY QUESTIONS  

Our survey asked the following 5 questions: 

1) What do you like about Instagram? 

2) Is your account on private? 

3) Do you think your Instagram is safe? (information/picture wise) 

4) How much do you care about your Instagram account? 

5) How do you present yourself on your account and how close is this to your actual self? 

 When analysing the responses we found out that the majority of participants were aware of the footprints that are left from them. Multiple explained that they understood that even though your picture has been deleted, it is still plastered somewhere on the internet. Knowledge that teens carry about their accounts and social media in general are evolving into much more mature opinions, which are healthy for mentalities when accessing the online world.  

  

GRAPHS & SUMMARIES OF RESPONSES RECEIVED  

  

1) What do you like about Instagram? 

 enjoyment, viewing companion’s posts, everything, visual aesthetics & photography, entertainment (memes, funny posts), keeping up with things (news, friends), interaction, posting your own enjoyment and things you’re doing, entering the lives of others you're not familiar with, ability to look at subjects you find interesting, 2 people said its dumb and that they like nothing 

 2) Account on private?  

    - 74.67% YES 

    - 25.33% NO 

 3) Do you think your Instagram is safe? 

     - 55.07% YES 

     - 44.93% NO 

Comments summary: They understood that your technical footprint is left behind even after deletion, 

it doesn’t worry some as they say they are careful with the information they post and share. People are aware of the chance that someone could share their information, teens explained that Instagram holds all the information and so some went on saying that if it’s hacked your information is basically out there. They are aware of the company selling their data, most have come to terms with it as they couldn't do much about it. 2 people said they don’t know and they don’t use it. 

 4) How much do you care about your Instagram? 

 1 person said they don’t care and another participant stated zero 

Most that have participated in taking the survey have said they care quite little about their Instagram and that they don’t care an awful lot. 

Some have stated they cared quite a lot, using marks out of 10 and percentages to convey how much they care - usually between 6-8/10 or between 50 and 85% out of 100%. 

A few people explained that this is their go to social media site when bored, ultimately saying that they don’t exactly care about their accounts because it’s simply an escape goat to entertainment.  

 5) How do you present yourself on your account and how close is this to your actual self? 

 Response summary 

2 - don’t have an account/don’t use it,  

3 - don't know,  

Majority of participants have stated that how they portray themselves on Instagram is quite/very close to their actual self, they have said it shows them, family, and natural things they do. 

Some have said they barely post but when they do it’s a “snapshot” so it barely represents them as an individual. 

  

By Tamara, Caitlin and Cj