The project is in the form of an Instagram profile. From the username, the bio and the posts, we aim to explore the topic of eating disorders and its relationship to social media. We sought to examine the link between fear and food for people suffering from eating disorders, for whom the lines between the two are somewhat blurred. The page is best viewed on a mobile device in a 3×3 grid or in a linear scroll fashion.

The creation of this project was quite methodical. There was a clear division of tasks and duties for each member, the nature of posts on Instagram meant we could each create a couple and then put them together in the end. The nature of this group project meant that several ideas clash together to form a more complex issue. Much like Ingold’s idea of entanglement, my idea of superstitions and fear “[threads its] own path through the meshwork” and stumbles upon the idea of body image, resulting in “knots in a tissue of knots” (Ingold 2011). In addition, the separation of the project in several smaller pieces of media artefacts leads into Alexander’s idea on microcontent which he defines as content that is “easier to produce and consume”, can be “reused in multiple ways and places” (2011, p.30 ). Through this, there is a sense of cohesion and a product that is greater than the sum of its parts.

There were 2 major affordances with the media that could be created for this project; the limitation of the Instagram profile and of the platform. Since Instagram presents the media artefacts in a 3×3 grid initially, we had to consider the structure of each post in an interesting manner. I took inspirations from Instagram profiles that utilise grid designs such as @the_oa, @pantone, @ellesenparlens. By using the 3×3 grid, they were able to create a scrollable feed akin to a puzzle, as well using a key colour that is present in every post. Consider the grid system, we picked mostly black, white and red posts to be in a ‘+’ pattern, whilst more colourful media works are stationed in the four corners. Furthermore, certain affordances of Instagram content meant that gif formats are not accepted and thus had to be converted into a video. Also, Instagram prefers that all media are square shaped, as such the media that we created attempts to follow this rule. The plus symbol places emphasis on the centre video, encouraging the viewer to look at the centre video which serves as a warning for people suffering from eating disorders.

The Instagram layout worked out as I hoped, in the future, I would want to expand on the grid so that there are more panels vertically, enabling different types of grid designs. One of the gripes I had with the final product is a lack of customisation available from Instagram. There really were not a lot of options available for us to modify apart from the profile picture, the bio and the posts themselves. Next time, it would be beneficial to have more elements on the page be customisable in order to better represent our ideas.

During the making of this project, a query I had was the effect of the media, in general, had on body image. From my research on the effect of media exposure on body image for women, I found a few points of interest to explore next time. According to a study conducted in 2008, it is suggested that “exposure to media images that depict the thin-ideal body is indeed linked to women’s dissatisfaction with their own bodies” (Grabe, Ward & Hyde 2008). However, in a newer study, this view is contradicted. “…only peer competition… predicted negative outcomes” associated with body image (Ferguson, Munoz, Garza & Galindo 2013). The idea of peer competition and its related effects is worth investigating in future projects.

List of references:

Alexander, B (2011) “The Next Wave of Digital Storytelling Platforms.” The New Digital Storytelling: Creative Narratives with New Media. ABC-CLIO, LLC: 29–43.

Ferguson C, Munoz M, Garza A & Galindo M 2013, “Concurrent and Prospective Analyses of Peer, Television and Social Media Influences on Body Dissatisfaction, Eating Disorder Symptoms and Life Satisfaction in Adolescent Girls”, Journal of Youth and Adolescence, vol.43, pp.1-14.

Grabe S, Ward L. M & Hyde J. S. 2008, “The Role of the Media in Body Image Concerns Among Women: A Meta-Analysis of Experimental and Correlational Studies”, Psychological Bulletin, vol.134, no. 3, pp.460-476.

Ingold, T (2011) ‘Rethinking the animate, reanimating thought’, Being Alive: Essays on movement, knowledge and description Routlege: London, New York, pp.67-75.