Madeleine Catalli Blog Post #3 The negative effects of instagram
Last week we learnt about Nancy Baym and her position that the widespread diffusion of digital media forms and practices throughout our everyday lives is often the source of individual and collective "anxiety". Baym goes further to say that she believes this is because a lot of these media are interactive (Herman, 2022). The article titled Facebook Aware of Instagram's Harmful Effect on Teenage Girls, leak reveals is an example that demonstrates Baym's argument. Research has shown that there is a substantial amount of harm done to teenage girls who use Instagram (Gayle, 2021). When looking at Baym's third perspective on the causal relationship between technology and society, social shaping of technology, we can find connections in the way that people use Instagram. Instagram acts as a highlight reel of a person's life, focusing on the positive and perfect aspects of their lives that they want to showcase to their followers. Something that has become bigger in the past few years is fitness influences on Instagram who will post their workouts, gym selfies, meals and more and will promote a very active lifestyle. However, influencers along with anyone else who creates content on Instagram will capture their best-looking body and will even use editing to enhance any curves or definitions. for these reasons, young teens are consuming content that is unrealistic and ultimately fake. Through Baym's fourth perspective which is the domestication of technology, we begin to understand how technologies have become so woven into our everyday lives that their effects (positive or negative) and becoming normal to us. It has become a routine for us to wake up and scroll through Instagram feeds, and continue this at any chance we get the entire day, but what we don't realize is the number of times we are participating in "social comparison" on these platforms (Gayle, 2021). "Thirty-two per cent of teen girls said that when they felt bad about their bodies, Instagram made them feel worse" (Gayle, 2021). In conclusion, anxiety about our bodies and lives, in general, is found to be connected to the interactivity of new digital media such as Instagram because of the constant action of comparing and consumption of unrealistic beauty standards that young teens are exposed to on a daily basis.
By Madeleine Catalli
Great post! As we go through this course, with the help of Nancy Baym, It has really opened my eyes to the effects social media has on our lives. It made me look into other stories where social media has ruined or negatively affected someone's life. What influencers and other followers users post on Instagram to make it seem like reality is tarnishing the youth's views on how they need to look for them to be 'cool' or fit in. Baym uses her perspectives to really illustrate these anxieties teenagers face when they are on social media and how it affects their daily life. More emphasis needs to be put on teenagers and the correct way to view these "realities" of the social media world.
ReplyDeleteHey! I do agree with Nancy Baym's assertion that the widespread adoption of digital media forms and practises in many aspects of daily life frequently serves as the root of both individual and societal "anxiety". I would never have understood the way social media is viewed as a harmful form of communication without Nancy Baym. It's because Instagram can foster a toxic environment and have an impact on your daily life that I now see why my friends would deactivate it permanently. I love how you mention at the end of your post on how social media is actually creating a routine for many individuals and we do not even recognize it is considered "social comparison" when you scroll down on Instagram.
ReplyDeleteOverall, great job thank you for elaborating on Nancy Baym's perspective and mentioning Baym's different perspectives.
Best,
Irene Yang
Great post! I really agree with what you're saying in how the anxieties caused by Instagram and how social media and specifically Instagram is just a highlight reel of someone's life. I know lots of people who have very few posts and all of the posts they look great or they're always doing exciting things but especially for younger individuals, it's not always easy to understand that that's not how their everyday life is and it is simply posting the best pictures from the best moments. I am curious to see if younger and teenage boys would also feel the same way that the girls felt!
ReplyDeleteGreat post :)
Wonderful post. I fully agree with your point around the anxieties by social media and particularly through Instagram. Instagram does in fact act as a highlight reel of someones life as you mentioned, making people quite conscious of what their reel should look like through the social influences of peers and celebs that act to post falsified images to build a non-authentic branding of their life. While the article is directed towards teen girls, I believe that similar implications have applied to males as well. There are many depictions and influences on social media regarding how men should look and act and speak, and mental illness is non-discriminatory. All these influences in relation to Baym's domestication of technology demonstrate how such influences and social media's we interact with become integral to our lives, allow it to shape how we act, feel and in turn try to falsify who we are to gain the attention and aesthetic of our influences regardless of gender.
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