Blog Post 2 - Mónica Valcabado
The Wall Street Journal did a report explaining that the Instagram app is very harmful to teenagers. We have technology so integrated into our daily lives that, as Baym says, we trivialize the consequences it can have, whether positive or negative. The social context in which we live determines the ways in which creators and users use technology, and the current social context in which we live leads to the inability to protect children on platforms such as Instagram. The article exposes that although boys are also affected by the standards and stereotypes perpetuated by Instagram, the most affected and vulnerable are girls, who claim that they still feel bad about their bodies and that the social network only makes it worse. Instagram users only upload to the platform their best photos, where they look their best or making the best plan in the world, this added to the likes, comments or the number of followers, only perpetuates the tireless desire of wanting to reach an unattainable reality and the anxiety that this impossibility entails.
Hi Monica, that's interesting you bring up Instagram's impact on the body image of users regardless of their gender. I wonder what your thoughts are on accounts that try to combat the unrealistic beauty standards perpetuated by social media by posting 'authentic' photos? Do you think they help promote more realistic ideas of beauty, or are they not as authentic as they claim to be? Do you think true authenticity is possible on a platform like Instagram?
ReplyDelete