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Instagram has turned us against ourselves

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Re: Instagram has turned us against ourselves

#31

Post by swlkr »

reading-at-work wrote: post #23

I see the reasoning, but I don't think it's necessarily true. Look at someone like Joe Rogan, who has millions of followers but a fairly eclectic mix of content and no one thing that defines what he does (interviewer, commentator, hiker, traveler, hunter, MMA enthusiast, fitness and "nutrition" advocate, etc). Come to think of it, most of the famous people I follow post random content as well, like musician Ola Englu…

I've noticed this too, like pewdiepie on youtube, similar situation. Of course he also spent years as the "guy who streams himself playing games"

Re: Instagram has turned us against ourselves

#32

Post by Apocryphon »

leroy_masochist wrote: post #27

Counterpoint: IG allows you to curate an online photo album about yourself and either broadcast it to the world or distribute it to a permissioned list, and this has significant value for many people. It also has intrinsic negative value for many, in the way outlined by the author (and also described by the seminal Wait but Why post [0]). People see their friends posting snapshots of their nominally awesome lives and…

Sure, but less Skinner boxlike alternatives have always existed. Flickr, Google Photos, Apple Photos, hell even Facebook's own photo albums are less designed to maximize engagement and compulsion. Of course, these options have smaller audiences because of network effects, fostering IG's domination, and so on.

Re: Instagram has turned us against ourselves

#33

Post by ct0 »

Raphmedia wrote: post #29
snarf21 wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most kids I know have one or more finsta accounts plus a "real" one that they let their family follow.

Exactly. It's so common that there's even lingo around it. Finsta and Rinsta. Fake instagram account / real instagram account.

Frame or Fake?

Re: Instagram has turned us against ourselves

#35

Post by germinalphrase »

TACIXAT wrote: post #4

Set your profile to private and stop giving a shit about engagement. If you're selling something, great, make a themed profile and increase your follower count with as many #hashtags as you can cram into that comment section. If you're using it socially, post about your life and chill out on measures of popularity. I do strongly agree with the idea that we need a better way to reach out to our friends. Posting a phot…

I agree, but also feel it’s a consequence of a reduced role for public living in our cities. I think of this question: How many locations do I have in my life in which I socialize without buying something? There are homes, of course. A few city parks? I’m a member of no social clubs, so not much else. We are seeking alternatives to public life without having the urban and (more importantly) social infrastructure to achieve it.

Re: Instagram has turned us against ourselves

#36

Post by etrautmann »

ngngngng wrote: post #8
TACIXAT wrote: post #4

Set your profile to private and stop giving a shit about engagement. If you're selling something, great, make a themed profile and increase your follower count with as many #hashtags as you can cram into that comment section. If you're using it socially, post about your life and chill out on measures of popularity. I do strongly agree with the idea that we need a better way to reach out to our friends. Posting a phot…

I recently deleted facebook and instagram in an effort to take back my privacy. I really miss the stories feature on instagram. Stories don't have a concept of engagement besides views. People actually post what they're doing throughout the day in small, bite size pieces. I think it's a fantastic way to keep up with people.

Interesting - I see this less as "keeping up with people" and more voyeurism. It feels odd to me when I see someone who I haven't talked to in a while but I know all about what they've been doing/etc.

Re: Instagram has turned us against ourselves

#37

Post by thatoneuser »

etrautmann wrote: post #36
ngngngng wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recently deleted facebook and instagram in an effort to take back my privacy. I really miss the stories feature on instagram. Stories don't have a concept of engagement besides views. People actually post what they're doing throughout the day in small, bite size pieces. I think it's a fantastic way to keep up with people.

Interesting - I see this less as "keeping up with people" and more voyeurism. It feels odd to me when I see someone who I haven't talked to in a while but I know all about what they've been doing/etc.

Eh idk. I’d say that it’s more like going to a play to watch an old acquaintance perform while sitting in the way back where they can’t see. Is that voyeurism? Because on social media, typically the idea is people opt to display their lives so that they can be observed. Idk for me voyeurism implies more of a one sided observation where the observed isn’t really aware or intending.

Re: Instagram has turned us against ourselves

#38

Post by hi5eyes »

TACIXAT wrote: post #4

Set your profile to private and stop giving a shit about engagement. If you're selling something, great, make a themed profile and increase your follower count with as many #hashtags as you can cram into that comment section. If you're using it socially, post about your life and chill out on measures of popularity. I do strongly agree with the idea that we need a better way to reach out to our friends. Posting a phot…

the limit is 30 tags

instagram/facebook public posts were always for acquaintances/broader

most people had groups/groupchats for more personal communication with the closer groups... and those groups have instagram gcs..

im confused did people not understand this?

Re: Instagram has turned us against ourselves

#39

Post by dingaling »

Puer wrote: post #6

I don't care about how many likes or how many followers I get. I use Instagram to share my photography which is my hobby. I only follow my friends and people whose posts I genuinely want to see. Through Instagram I've been able to connect with other likeminded photographers that inspire me with their work and support me in mine. I also find it a great way to keep up with old friends that never used Facebook in the sa…

> I use Instagram to share my photography which is my hobby.

But Instagram has horrific resizing and compression algorithms that make good DSLR photos look like artifacted junk. They're designed to plaster over the smudgy quality of phone photos and when you feed them a 20MB 100% JPEG it all falls apart.

I realised this when IG photos from my ancient 350D beater were less artifacted than photos from the 1Ds3...

And they do something to colours, red-shifting blues to purples; presumably for more POP on mobiles.

You'd be better using a proper gallery site.

Re: Instagram has turned us against ourselves

#40

Post by latexr »

> deleting accounts and ostracizing yourself socially

I read this as the former implying the latter, and was reminded of a tweet by Mike Monteiro that was something like[1]:

> I’ve seen excuses from people who say they want to leave Facebook but can’t that would make heroin addicts blush

[1]: He was part of DeactiDay, so the account and tweet are no longer available.

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