What is it about?
Based on two years research with Instagram, this paper asks a simple question. Does using Instagram regularly change our understanding of who we are? By focussing on men who regularly post images of themselves to the platform a new theory of masculinity is suggested, whereby regular users of the platform are able to create new notions of masculinity within their network of online 'friends'.
Featured Image
Photo by Tom Pumford on Unsplash
Why is it important?
As more and more people use social media everyday, they are increasingly fed a set of images (and text) that is curated for them to see by social media platform algorithms. These respond to the online choices we make, the things we search for and the connections we make to show us content that the algorithm thinks we want to see. This useful tool can also push regularly users to ever more extreme content, limiting alternative viewpoints and creating a digital world that has a unique perspective. This can normalise particular behaviour, content or behaviours, from fashion through to pornography and ultimately begins to change the way in which we think about what is normal.
Perspectives
This paper is not only of use to scholars interested in fashion or online communities, but speaks to a much wider societal impact of social media. The vast quantity of digital data that we consume on a daily basis can influence or skew the offline-typical behaviours and beliefs of regular users. This can be both a positive or negative phenomenon, but crucially this paper suggests that it means that large societal tropes (such as masculinity) have begun to break down. These are replaced by smaller networks of individuals who share more specific ideas, tailored to the focus of their online network.
Dr Joshua M Bluteau
Coventry University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Uncertain Masculinities, Journal of Bodies Sexualities and Masculinities, September 2022, Berghahn Journals,
DOI: 10.3167/jbsm.2022.030203.
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