The social impact of Instagram by Meta
Exploring the influences of Instagram by Meta, a social media platform, through an anthropological lens
When we speak about self-esteem, we often refer to sum of all of all our existing selves. But what happens when one of these selves is placed under a direct spotlight—vulnerable to the eyes of anyone. Does the sum of selves fallout of balance? What happens to self-esteem?
Origins
Instagram began as a photo-sharing app called “Burbn,” exclusive to iOS, launched in October 2010, created by Kevin Systorm and Mike Krieger. The platform quickly grew, reaching a million users in only two months and 10 million within a year (TechSpace, 2024).
As smartphones became more common, Instagram became more popular, and by 2012, Facebook—now Meta—acquired it for one billion dollars (Meta, 2012), marking its turning point. Facebook provided Instagram with the necessary resources to expand worldwide as it launched on Android phones. This caused Instagram to transition from a simple photo app to a large social media network with never-before-seen features.
Between 2013 and 2016, Instagram enabled the rise of “influencers”, allowing for business profiles and analytics. Instagram became a space for brands and marketers and their advertisements. Influencers were now able to create images displaying their lifestyles, shaping perceptions of their identity and their social status--creating a new digital hierarchy.
In 2016, Instagram introduced a feature inspired by another platform feature--SnapChat--called Stories, where images and videos were posted for only 24 hours (Blystone, 2024). Stories became popular within the app, as people could now share pictures in real time, showing more realistic aspects of their lives and connecting more with their audience.
In 2020, Instagram added Instagram Reels, a video explore page. Reels was inspired by the short video format of another popular app called TikTok. It allowed users to discover short and entertaining videos within the same app. According to research, Instagram is now one of the top 3 social media platforms, with over 2 billion active users (Vora, 2024).
Impact
Instagram has allowed wide-spread imposition of societal norms on the general public, especially as it is easy access to all, but only permissible for teenagers at least 13 years old. Its attractive proposition of having direct access to other’s lives, and having the opportunity of curating a persona, makes the network extremely popular. Despite its preference, having continuous consumption well-curated ideas has shown detrimental effects. Negative effects upon particular populations such as teenagers and women as it continuously perpetuates unattainable social norms.
Negative effects upon people’s social lives have been more apparent in teenagers and young adults, a vulnerable group. According to Turner and Lefevre (2017), Instagram has been linked to symptoms of orthorexia nervosa, an obsession of eating healthy foods. Research also mentions that orthorexia has not been linked to any other social network. Possibly implying that instagram has become a powerful tool in influencing thoughts and provoking obsessive behaviours.
In another study, Bragg et al. (2021) conducted a study on teenagers that spend time onlines, and their ability to recognize instagram and traditional foods ads. This study also showed that teenagers had a preference for instagram ads rather than traditional ads. Instagram presumably has successfully captivated teenagers' interests over other stimuli, possibly influencing individuals in general to spend more time online.
In relation to other people, Instagram has impacted the way in which we communicate with one another. Furthermore developed new ways of communicating and created new norms of how we should behave in this ‘public setting’. Likes and comments under other’s posts have grown to be a popular means of interaction, especially with those we don’t know fully. It opened new means of connections that specifically allow for non-confrontational bonds between clients and businesses, institutions, or influences.
In a particular study based on likes and body image on undergraduate students, Tiggemann et al. (2018) found that the increase of personal significance of likes in participants' lives influences how they think of themselves. Images that received more likes made others compare and feel worse about their own image, thus instagram’s perpetuating the importance has influenced marketing practices of institutions and influencers. There also must be acknowledged that the like has grown to importance in the maintenance of relationships between people; liking friends and families posts has developed to be an act of love and appreciation.
Implications
Despite its relatively recent development, Instagram has left a profound impact not only on society as a whole but also on individuals. As a platform that aims to allow individuals to share their lives, Instagram influences how individuals perceive themselves and others.
The platform quickly became widely used in daily life and many aspects of society. Due to the rapid increase in users, it became something many people relied on in terms of communication with others and sometimes emotional validation. Users began using it to define their self-worth based on the number of “likes” they, or others, received on their posts.
Instagram led people into an obsession focusing on self-presentation, the more people try to increase their amount of followers the more perfect they try to appear. Despite the appearance this behavior is not superficially driven, but instead is shown to happen because of a desire for self-acceptance and validation from others (Trifiro & Prena, 2021). Instead of acquiring this internally, they search outward to find satisfaction.
In search of external validation, individuals carefully select photos, use tools to edit them, and highlight positive aspects of their lives. Despite the aim of showing off their best selves, it disregards the effects on others. The constant exposure to perfect, unrealistic, or edited bodies can lead others to develop unrealistic beauty standards. Many individuals do not have the proper knowledge and understanding of to what extent images can be edited, and staged, to curate the perfect photo.
Moreton and Greenfield (2022) found that Instagram can have a lasting impact on the mental well-being of different users, increasing the frequency of social comparison and thus influencing a decrease in self-esteem and body satisfaction. These results are the consequence of saturated exposure to others at other's best, while we inevitably experience our worst.
Lastly, cyberbullying and hate speech are significant contributors to damaging mental well-being (Sánchez-Hernández et al., 2023). Instagram has promoted free speech within its app by allowing open commentary on other users' profiles and posts, which creates opportunities for malicious behavior. Negative comments serve as a positive reinforcement, making individuals fear judgment and discouraging them from expressing themselves authentically. This may contribute to feelings of isolation and inadequacy.
The platform shows a clear link to how people perceive themselves and others, and due to the potential negative effects it is important to be aware of them and use the platform mindfully. This means recognising that many images that appear on the platform are carefully curated and may not accurately reflect reality. By being aware of the negative drawbacks we are able to protect our mental well-being.
References
Blystone, D. (2024, July 9). Instagram: What It Is, Its History, and How the Popular App Works. Investopedia. https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/102615/story-instagram-rise-1-photo0sharing-app.asp
Bragg, M., Lutfeali, S., Greene, T., Osterman, J., & Dalton, M. (2021). How Food Marketing on Instagram Shapes Adolescents’ Food Preferences: Online Randomized Trial. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 23(10), e28689. https://doi.org/10.2196/28689
Lin, K. (2023, March 7). História do Instagram: Como tudo começou Path Social. Path Social | Seguidores Reais Instagram | Crescimento Orgânico Instagram. https://www.pathsocial.com/pt/resources/history-of-instagram/
Meta. (2012, April 9). Facebook to Acquire Instagram. About Facebook. https://about.fb.com/news/2012/04/facebook-to-acquire-instagram/
Moreton, L., & Greenfield, S. (2022). University students’ views on the impact of Instagram on mental wellbeing: a qualitative study. BMC Psychology, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-022-00743-6
Sánchez-Hernández, M. D., Herrera, M. C., Villanueva-Moya, L., & Expósito, F. (2023). Cyberbullying on Instagram: How adolescents perceive risk in personal selfies? Cyberpsychology Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 17(5). https://doi.org/10.5817/cp2023-5-2
TechSpace, S. (2024, February 5). The Evolution of Instagram: A Journey Through Its History. Stratton TechSpace. https://strattontechspace.com/the-evolution-of-instagram-a-journey-through-its-history/
Tiggemann, M., Hayden, S., Brown, Z., & Veldhuis, J. (2018). The effect of Instagram “likes” on women’s social comparison and body dissatisfaction. Body Image, 26(1), 90–97. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2018.07.002
Trifiro, B. M., & Prena, K. (2021). Supplemental Material for Active instagram use and its association with self-esteem and well-being. Technology Mind and Behavior, 2(3), 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1037/tmb0000043.supp
Turner, P. G., & Lefevre, C. E. (2017). Instagram use is linked to increased symptoms of orthorexia nervosa. Eating and Weight Disorders - Studies on Anorexia, Bulimia and Obesity, 22(2), 277–284. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-017-0364-2
Vora, A. (2024, July 11). The 20 Most Popular Social Media Platforms in 2024. Backlinko; Backlinko. https://backlinko.com/social-media-platforms