The assessment declaration. [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]
Week 9:
Week 10:
Week 11:
‘How do the affordances of Instagram affect the way photos and videos are authored, published and distributed in the network?’
Throughout my experience in the Network Media course, I have learnt a lot about my social media use and subconscious actions when uploading content. The various constraints and affordances of Instagram and similar creative content apps pave the way users present themselves and are ultimately shaping younger audiences perceptions of identity and reality. In this report I will discuss social media platforms in a broader context and how it has affected my view of creative content applications. I will also discuss the idea of branding and how I have changed the way I view my online identity. Lastly, I will look at the various constraints and my adaptability to posting content during my weekly posts and throughout this last assessment.
To begin, social media has made a huge impact on the way users not only view others, but more importantly themselves. Within the first week of this course, I gained a reflexive understanding of my online habits and how they can impact my image and brand in both a positive and negative way, depending on how I chose to present myself. In Week 4’s blog post I described social media as a “narrative of sorts” created as a social construct to fill the void that social media dependancy has created. We can no longer have a awareness or active control over how we use platforms, as logistics and algorithms are one step ahead of our every move, continually pulling us in with relatable content to engage with. However we can change the way we author and distribute. In the first week of my door-themed Instagram posts, I chose to follow the standard conventions of traditional Instagram posts and imagery. This was due to my realisation that not much has changed between the old and the new. Apart from immediate pictorial differences and image quality, Instagram users still use filters, editing, and other subtle or more obvious ways to tweak the content they choose to post. The largest difference being we now have easy access to editing software condensed to free apps available to download at our fingertips. Week 9’s blog post spoke about the term “single platform medium”, in other words describing Instagram as a one-stop shop type of app for uploading, editing, curating and sharing media. Although largely true, and possibly more so during its initial release, there are now an abundance of software available to those who are particular with their aesthetic (which seems to be the majority of us in todays social media society wherever we like it or not).
Furthermore, the idea of an online brand and personal representation through what we post has stuck with me throughout the course content covered in the past 12 weeks. Before being introduced to the idea of finding your brand and honing that image, I would have never thought that someone who has an interest in amateur photography and aesthetic such as myself, would need to find who I am as a content creator and how I want to showcase this. This idea was discussed in my week 7 post where I explored a young photographer whose images I throughly enjoy. His Instagram page is curated in such a way that a clear theme has been established. My personal Instagram page is similar in this sense, as I choose to alternate my posts between music, lifestyle and images of myself and friends, which follow specific colour patterns. This is partially to create consistency in my feed and to appease my particularity with aesthetic and imagery. The closest link I found to my work and the style that Rayscorruptedmind posts was featured in my Week 11 post which showcases theatre signage of two rap artists performing at the Forum. It was clear to me that whether amateur or professional, finding a style and sticking to that aesthetic is vital in maintaining a following and asserting a persona. These personal constraints have an affect on the way I author, publish and distribute my content, as well as many other influencers who earn money for their posts.
Lastly, throughout this course, putting into practice the affordances, adaptability and constraints of Instagram has helped me learn more about our inbuilt software literacy. As discussed in the week 11 reading, software literacy, especially in the younger generations, is intrinsic. From knowing how to use search engines on the internet to picking up an iPhone and comfortably adjusting to its latest software updates, software literacy is apart of our ever growing understanding of social media. This is largely due to familiarity with its affordances and features, which I discussed in my week 2 post. In part 2 of my week 11 post, I spoke about the ease of having a camera (phone) in my pocket to capture a moment in time. I found that posting directly to Instagram without using second-party editing apps was a strange feeling. However by week 11, I was comfortable with this approach and had adapted my mindset to suit the task. The constraints I experienced were surprisingly more physical than digital, and with practice I learnt to use this to my advantage.
To reflect on this course’s content and the exploration of Instagram, I feel an astounding sense of awareness to specific things I would otherwise overlook. Clever advertising, influencer sponsored posts, the grid system, feed uniformity and countless other affordances of Instagram are now much more clear to me. I have always enjoyed using the app, but now I have a deeper understanding of how I can utilise its features and benefits to my advantage.
Word Count:
1,0001
References:
Khoo, E 2017, Software Literacy: Education and Beyond. Springer Briefs in Education, Springer.
Manovich, L 2016. Instagram and the Contemporary Image, ‘Introduction: ‘Instagram Platform as a Medium’, pp. 9-18, University of San Diego.