Instagram has become one of the world’s most popular social media platforms. In recent years it has had the ability to bring people together from many different cultures through sharing images and videos. It is the ability to present your life through social media that drives each user to communicate various aspects of who they are from the click of their smartphone. Instagram also poses new opportunity for businesses to communicate with their audience, showing the power of convergence surrounding media and its impact to reach an international level.
By 2019, Instagram had over 1 Billion active users making it the 3rdmost popular social media network in the world (Doney, 2020). After launching in 2010, the platform has seen increasing success, becoming a pioneer in digital photo-sharing (Blystone, 2020). Instagram holds so much more meaning than to simply share photographs. Sarafinelli argues it is a way of building “connective bridges among cultures, societies and visions” (Sarafinelli, 2018 p.1).
With this in mind, Instagram connects people from the simplicities of life such a brunch date with friends to an important business promotion. With recent developments, the app has introduced new ways to connect with people from IGTV, messenger and shopping all in one application (Instagram, 2020). Although these actions were implemented on other apps such as Facebook, it evidently demonstrates the influence of convergence culture. A consumer centric business such as Instagram relies on this as they see audience participation as something that can be modified and marketed to others (Jenkins, 2006). Instagram aspires to bring people together on an international scale in the attempt to witness each other’s lives.
A normal person’s Instagram feed can be filled with various content. Before 2020, it would have contained various homogeneous images of people travelling the world and celebrating the “perfect life” (Blystone, 2020). It can be argued that the application gives people the ability to portray a false reality and live their lives through the photos they upload (Sarafinelli, 2018). Instagram could be classed a social construct by which users develop relationships and communicate in ways different to real life. As Doney suggests, the likes, views and comments are the primitive way of measuring the personal success the user produces (Doney, 2020). Is it fair to say that people become heavily reliant of the inter-connectiveness they can be granted for applications such as Instagram? The homogenisation of the app allows us to see the issues with transmedia convergence as consumers strive to achieve a sense of perfection through their posts.
However, in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, social media has been the prime source of inter-connectivity rather then people showing their own lives but investing in others. Instagram in particular, has been the aid for many businesses, producing Instagram Direct helping business interact with consumers (Instagram, 2020). Brand Engagement has suffered on social media as people are buying less. Statistics show that industries such as fashion and beauty had rapidly declined with their Instagram engagement at the start of 2020 (Feehan, 2020). Many brands rely on their social media coverage as a main source of marketing and reaching out to potential consumers. However, public health and education have managed to utilise their connections during the pandemic by spreading awareness through Instagram and reminding people that people should come together during difficult times (Anesth, 2020). The codes and conventions of Instagram have surely changed in rapid time yet manage to maintain the vital communication standards of the application.
Overall, international communication has been extremely helpful in sustaining a global media culture. Instagram has indicated that sharing photographs is a global commodity dedicated to bringing people together around the world through their own perspective. It demonstrates that media itself is a useful tool congregating various demographics with one thing in common, consuming content. The ability to establish connections through social media expresses the importance of interrelations and how valued it is on a personal and business level.
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