“Social networks are websites that connect people virtually. In this day and age, if you aren’t active on social networks, you are in danger of being ‘out of the loop’. Social networks are wonderful tools that can reinforce your brand and allow you to make valuable contacts, share information, and extend your brand’s reach.” (Dan Schawbel 2009 Me 2.0 p.143.) This is true in the 21st century, those without social media leave themselves exposed to the possibility of become alienated and “left out.” The look into this I turned to Instagram, the social media where people flock to post their photos are certain events, or certain moments in life or simply selfies for their ample or little amount of followers to observe and like if they choose too. Instagram is an online community that gives a sense of space. Instagram is a social media extremely popular with celebrities/athletes and other famous individuals, people like these have millions upon millions of followers by posting photogenic photos of them or their lavish lifestyles. Instagram is a place for people to live vicariously through others and follow up on the lifestyles on family and friends or leave a comment. Genre comes into play with instagram with its very insightful use for the hashtag symbol. “Genres actively generate and shape our knowledge of the world” (John Frow, 2013.) Hashtags on Instagram can be used in captions on photos to denote what is actually in the photo and do so in quirky way or way to lighten up serious situations in some cases. They also sort photos into genres, By typing in a hashtag followed by the subject you are searching for it will show up all the photos in which that hashtag was posted which essentially sorts hashtags in categories chosen by the people. Other ways hashtags can be used to shop, Instagram is a very popular marketplace for items of all varieties. “When it comes to shopping, we set out to create something that was less transactional and more immersive. Something that gave people more time and space to browse and evaluate products, making mobile shopping feel just like shopping.” (Mary Beech.) By typing your hashtag into the search bar followed by whatever you are searching for almost anything can be found and bought on Instagram. Instagram is an online space for people to post photos they find appealing without fear of judgement, whether someone has one follower or one million followers people are able to use Instagram as a place to post without feeling judged, each person uses their own Instagram as an online home for them to be free and do and post as they wish and as they please.
Thomas Statham.
References:
(John Frow, 2013.)
(Dan Schawbel 2009 Me 2.0 p.143.)
Beech, M. (2017). A Better Shopping Experience on Instagram. [online] Instagram for Business. Available at: https://business.instagram.com/blog/a-better-shopping-experience-on-instagram?locale=en_GB [Accessed 8 Aug. 2017].
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