Assignment 3 – Report | Dylan Simpson

Assignment 3 – Report
Name: Dylan Simpson s3660001

I declare that in submitting all work for this assessment I have read, understood and agree to the content and expectations of the assessment declaration – https://www.rmit.edu.au/students/support-and-facilities/student-support/equitable-learning-services

Making Media blog links

This report responds directly to the course prompt:

How do the affordances of Instagram affect the way photos and videos are authored, published and distributed in the network?

Title of report: The faces we form to make ourselves known

Introduction

The following report is an analysis and deep dive into the ways of which the ‘affordances’ of Instagram not only affect the way we as individuals interact with the platform, publishing and distributing, but also the ways in which we as individuals subconsciously and consciously take note of these constraints and affordances in an ever changing race to create the most appealing and marketable version of ourselves, all while giving Instagram the numbers they want. Using evidence found through weeks 9–11 of the course from our own experience making media, as well as prior experience publishing on the platform, hoping to link back to earlier blog posts and research made throughout the course, i’ll be attempting to look into the ways in we as a user-base have altered the way we interact with Instagram not only literally, in regards to the constraints of the software, but also culturally, in regards to the things we seek from Instagram.

Background

To begin, Instagram was destined to do well, backed by Facebook, one of the largest companies of this generation, it’s launch was quickly afforded a portion of Facebook’s already insanely large userbase, growing into the millions after it’s initial creation in 2010. While it may have began as a simple way to share and post images independent of other social media sites, it has quickly become notorious for becoming one of the largest ways to sell yourself, a brand or an idea. No longer is it just a simple photo sharing app, it’s become a time sink in which we willingly give ourselves to the system that they use to sell whatever they can to us. People, lifestyles, products all ad-space disguised as others living the life you want to live.

This high traffic user-base is seen as an affordance, a positive for the platform. It “define[s] what actions are possible” (D. Norman, 1998, p82). Whether this is a positive for us or a damning fact about our future doesn’t change the fact that this user-base is one of the many affordances and constraints that define how Instagram has changed the ways in which we author, publish and distribute

Evidence/What?

From week 9-11 of this course, we spent our time putting the theory that we had learned up to that point to the test, spending each week posting at least two forms of media on multiple sites. Alongside this, i will also be talking from my previous experiences and analogies in regards to using Instagram and my goals for it’s use. As we began, i wanted to create a sort of persona or narrative. Already i used Instagram’s affordance of anonymity to form a personality that was outside of my own. Trying to use “techniques that define subjects, narratives” (L. Manovich, 2016, p18) to define a persona for others to latch on to. With this, i went on to take clear depictions of just doors, nothing else, nothing in frame where possible, just plain old doors which the character would “rate” on seemingly subjective terms. While nothing was particularly special, i also posted on tumblr and twitter.

At first, i tried to post as if i was using the app how it was originally meant to be used, to “display [my] photography [and] narrate [my] ideas and experiences” (L. Manovich 2016, p2) this evidently got me nowhere in regards to getting my images seen. Quite literally zero interaction on my first three posts using this method. Funnily enough, some of instagram’s biggest affordances, the ability to share and utilise hashtags to get your images seen, are also some of it’s biggest constraints. Due to the fact that, if you aren’t aware of these particular affordances, your posts are doomed to fail from the beginning. Instagram’s huge network is closed off from those users. And while it may seem that i’m just talking up a storm over nothing. After my first three weeks of posting, i changed up my methods, this time using something i’d learned over having previously spent quite a bit of time using my own instagram account to post work. I posted a set of tags hidden behind ellipses in the comment section, not only to keep the caption of the image uncluttered, but also to utilise the affordances of Insta’s search algorithms. After changing up this method and not only posting tags there, but also using them in my external distributions, i found immediate post interaction. While minimal due to it being a fresh account, the change was noticable almost immediately.

Of course, the interaction may have been larger if i had been say, a better photographer or had a clearer subject. Of course, i did take photos with certain constraints in mind such as Instagram’s gridlike display system, or the fact that photosets don’t do as well as individual photos, but as it was so aptly put, we “are all photographers now” (K. Kuc, and J. Zylinska, 2016, p7) and because of this, posts that don’t have an immediate hook or air of professionalism to them, generally don’t immediately draw the eye of the average user.

Evaluation

Overall, i feel that the way that Instagram has evolved over time has become defined itself as quite different from it’s original intention. No longer is it’s purpose to post images for friends and families, no now the most successful ways of using the platform are those that “have worked around its intentional constraints.” (L. Manovich, 2016, p12) Instagram has changed and along with it, so has it’s goals. Publication is no longer posting out for the world to see, authoring is no longer just taking what feels right or candid and distribution is no longer just telling your friends what you posted. It’s become a carefully curated system, massive productions resulting in the final, edited, perfected image to then be cross distributed in the ways that best spread your name among the network. Instagram hasn’t just changed over time, it’s monetized what was once a process to be used among friends or userbases. Now it has become nothing more than a means to distribute manicured and meticulous ad space and sponsored posts

Conclusion

To conclude, i’d like to say that due to complications with my work schedule and final year of uni, i had some problems being able to complete all the work to the standard i would have liked in the timeframe provided. Regardless, i have posed my stance on the way we instagram has altered the ways in which we author, publish and distribute, and that is all i can provide

References

Manovich, Lev. Instagram and the Contemporary Image. University of San Diego, 2016, viewed May 25th, 2019 <http://manovich.net/index.php/projects/instagram-and-contemporary-image>

Kamila, K & Zylinska, J, Photomediations: A Reader. Open Humanites Press, 2016, viewed May 26th 2019, <http://www.openhumanitiespress.org/books/titles/photomediations>

Norman, D 1998, The design of everyday things, Basic Book, New York (Sections: Preface vii-xv; Chapter one pp 1-13; Chapter 4 (constraints) pp 81-87; (computers) pp 177-186).