When deciding which theoretical
practice to talk about when discussing the prom queen of Instagram I thought
technological determinism would be appropriate considering how much the social
media presence affects society and peoples visions and beliefs of themselves
and others. Technological determinism can illustrate how individuals
participate on social media platforms like Instagram and how their behaviours
may be altered by these technologies. It explains the impact or influence that
different technologies and platforms have on shaping contemporary culture and
growth. It refers to machines that change us (27). Technological determinism
makes you feel like you need to be a part of platforms like Instagram and
Facebook in order to feel validated or fit in.
In terms
of “The Prom Queen of Instagram”, Lilli Hymowitz, this illustrates how many
people of the young demographic and beginning to view themselves and their
peers based on their appearance on social media outlets. Lilli has thousands of
followers which obviously makes her a popular figure and “Instagram celebrity”,
however this also causes Lilli a great amount of anxiety. She uses Instagram to
express her personality, desires and passions and allows others to have a glimpse
of her life. She shares posts, comments
and likes in such a degree that she has created an image for herself. Because she
has built this reputation of herself, it would be extremely difficult for other
individuals to view her in any other kind of light. Technological determinism
explains the structure and discipline of the social media platforms that many
individuals find themselves stressing over.
Hey Sydney, I agree with your point as to how technological determinism makes us feel that we need to be part of social media platforms to fit in. I for one can't even name 3 people in our generation who are not part of at least one social media website. I have attached a cartoon of a picture that I believe represents technological determinism and what technology is doing to our society. I feel that everyday I have to fight with technology in order to get my schoolwork done, interact face-to-face with my friends, and overall just completing simple tasks can be a struggle sometimes. Technology is created in order to make our lives easier but sometimes it indirectly does quite the opposite. For example, while completing an assignment it is much easier now a day to use a computer to research oppose than looking through textbooks, but at the same time I find myself distracted and end up on social media therefore making it take much longer to do my work than it should be. It’s as if these new innovations of social media platforms have made people (myself included) lose self-control when interacting with technology and as has become somewhat an addiction that we cannot stop.
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I completely agree with your post! I think that social media definitely can change people's behaviour especially if they are concerned about what picture to post. Online profiles give people a glimpse of who you are and people want to try to look their best. I think that these online profiles are not completely accurate because, as you pointed out, an online reputation is built up by you and it can be difficult for other people to see you in any other light. For example I know many people who take dozens of pictures because they want to make their Instagram post look perfect, then when they finally choose a picture they will edit it to make it look even better. This can give people a false sense of reality because everything is being carefully selected and edited. Online profiles really only give people a small glimpse of certain aspects of your life, by looking at someone's online profile does not mean that you actually know how they are as an individual.
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