Tama Leaver - Instagram

1 Cover

2 Front Matter Instagram Visual Social Media Cultures TAMA LEAVER, TIM HIGHFIELD AND CRYSTAL ABIDIN polity

3 Introduction Introduction This is not a book specifically about photography, which at first glance might seem quite odd when reading about Instagram. After all, Instagram is synonymous with the mass popularization of mobile, app-based photography. Filters and square frames, part of Instagram’s initial affordances, made millions of people armed with nothing more than an iPhone feel like they were crafting photographs that suggested the professionalism of paid photographers (regardless of whether these feelings were justified). Each Instagram filter certainly alluded to a way of manipulating and crafting a photograph to imbue it with a specific meaning. And yet, the most used Instagram filters soon became clichés, often suggesting that the Instagram user was trying too hard to make their image speak in a way it simply could not. Rather, in this book, we argue that Instagram should best be understood as a conduit for communication in the increasingly vast landscape of visual social media cultures. We argue that the visual image, video and other combinations of these elements in Stories are first and foremost about communicating with one another. Instagram is a social media platform, but, we argue, the visual focus is particularly important in the success and relevance of the platform. As Instagram has grown from an iPhone-only app into a vast platform owned by Facebook, it has also had to wrestle with being a space where communication and commerce have overlapped, from the appearance of advertising to the rise of Influencers and a new class of content creators who strive for authenticity on a platform best known for selfies and self-representation. Moreover, as the platform amassed over a billion users, platform-provided filters have given way to socially-driven norms and what we argue is the templatability of visual social media on Instagram. We argue that Instagram is more than an app, more than a platform, and more than a jewel in the Facebook ‘family’. Rather, Instagram is an icon and avatar for understanding and mapping visual social media cultures, whether on Instagram itself, or through the many ways the material world has sought to become ‘Insta-worthy’ in redesigning practices, cultural institutions and material spaces. Facebook wants it to be an Instagram world out there and this book examines to what extent that desire has succeeded, how Instagram has changed over time, and what elements of Instagram matter the most. Scroll Down: What’s Below? Over to You: Instagram the Instagram Book!

4 1 Platform From Burbn to Instagram Facebook Purchase Third-Party Instagram Apps and API Changes Finstagrams, Rinstagrams and Multiple Accounts The Algorithmic Timeline Communities, Boundaries and Content Moderation Stories and Snapchat A Business Model The Departure of Instagram Founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger Conclusion

5 2 AestheticsIntroduction: The Visuality of Instagram Instagram’s Foundational Visualities Instagram’s Visual Identity Instagram’s Evolving Aesthetics of Normalization Telling Instagram Stories and the New Aesthetics of Normalization Instagram’s Platform Vernaculars and Practices Conclusion

6 3 Ecologies The Visual, Mobile and Locative before Instagram The Instagram Ecology Conclusion

7 4 Economies Reappropriating Instagram Influencers on Instagram Visual Genres of Influencer Advertising on Instagram Other Commercial and Advertorial Innovations Techniques of Relatability The Downside of Commercial Attention Optimizing Attention on Instagram Recent Guidelines and Ethics Regarding Instagram Commerce Conclusion

8 5 Cultures Subcultures on Instagram Instagram ‘in Real Life’ Conclusion

9 6 Lifespans Ultrasounds Sharenting Parental and Child Influencers Co-Creation Mourning, Death and Selfies at #funerals Instagram Data after Death Conclusion

10 7 From the Instagram of Everything to the Everything of Instagram Instagram Materialities Instagram in Popular Culture Virtual Influencers Templatability of Instagram From the Everything of Instagram … Instagram: Visual Social Media Cultures

11 Appendix: Instagram Timeline

12 References

13 Index

14 End User License Agreement

1 Chapter 2 Table 2.1.List of Instagram filters (as at August 2018) Table 2.2.List of defunct Instagram filters (as at August 2018)

1 Introduction Figure i.1.Instagram nametag for @polityinstabook

2 Chapter 1 Figure 1.1.Instagram ‘Create New Account’ popup message, 2017 Figure 1.2.Screenshot of health warning returned with Instagram #bonespo search.

3 Chapter 2 Figure 2.1.Selfie sticks warning sign, Kyoto train station, June 2016 Figure 2.2.Scene from western Austria, July 2012, as captured using Retro Camera for Androi… Figure 2.3.‘Temporary placement object’; Perth train station, April 2014 Figure 2.4.Type post templates (screenshots, 1 August 2018) Figure 2.5.Screenshot of Instagram story (with music) as viewed in the Netherlands in July …

4 Chapter 3 Figure 3.1.‘You’re all caught up’ message. Screenshot, 3 July 2018 Figure 3.2.Example photograph taken with Huji Cam – Amsterdam, 17 September 2018 (styled as… Figure 3.3.Selfie by TH in Amsterdam (March 2018), with various levels of Meitu filter appl… Figure 3.4.Sample output from Prisma, using ‘Mondrian’ style; based on original selfie by T…

5 Chapter 4 Figure 4.1.Instagram ad by @ongxavier demonstrating how he uses Nivea products in his clean… Figure 4.2.Artist impression of two Influencers who have tagged their accommodation and tra… Figure 4.3.Artist impression of a young girl holding a burger from an internationally renow… Figure 4.4.Instagram ad by @collettemiles demonstrating how she takes photographs with the … Figure 4.5.Instagram ad by @collettemiles featuring the Samsung product in her flatlay of e… Figure 4.6.Instagram ad by @collettemiles featuring her slipping the Samsung product into h… Figure 4.7.Artist impression of a fashion flatlay @beatricesays Figure 4.8.Artist impression of an Instagram post promoting Strangers’ Reunion in the capti… Figure 4.9.Artist impression of an Instagram post promoting Strangers’ Reunion in the geolo… Figure 4.10.Artist impression of @xiaxue’s instablog post Figure 4.11.Artist impression of @naomineo_publicly demonstrating and captioning the behind-… Figure 4.12.Artist impression of @naomineo_publicly demonstrating and captioning the behind-… Figure 4.13.Lists of hashtags that Instagram users used to commiserate over the loss of foll… Figure 4.14.Lists of hashtags that Instagram users used to commiserate over the loss of foll… Figure 4.15.Lists of hashtags that Instagram users used to commiserate over the loss of foll…

6 Chapter 5 Figure 5.1.DIY galaxy glazed doughnut offered by @boufesg that made for highly Instagrammab… Figure 5.2.Colour-changing drink offered by @boufesg that made for highly Instagrammable fo… Figure 5.3.Selection of Insta-worthy menu items, some of which involved a live demonstratio…