Instagram's Forms of Power

Within this weekly blog we are required to explore the concept of space and place within a certain social media site of our choice. I have chosen to write about the social media site Instagram. 

The purpose of instagram is to provide users with a space to upload photos, explore photos from around the world via hastags (#), follow friends or public figures and socialise over uploaded photos. This is done by users creating a personal account where they are free to upload images, comment on others and follow whoever they see fit. The accounts that one follows are then streamed over a constantly refreshing feed where they are free to like images or comment on them. Drawing from the concepts of Allen’s weekly reading, Lost Geographies of Power (2003) we are able to explore different powers in work within Instagram. “Power, as I understand it, is a relational effect of social interaction. It may bridge the gap between here and there, but only through a succession of mediated relations or through the establishment of a simul- taneous presence.” (Allen, 2004) With this being said, there are three notable instances of Power within Instagram: Following, Liking and Hashtaging.

 To follow someone on Instagram means you are accepting them onto your personal feed. In a way this power enables people to connect around the world through a single click and become regularly updated with their doings. The concept of power is seen within this site as users with large amounts of followers are seen to have more influential power over those with lesser amounts. The same can be said for Liking peoples photos. Popular members of instagram receive thousands of likes on every upload, giving them virtual influence over their followers. Lastly, hashtags can be seen as a form of power within the site as influential trends garner their own hashtags where users are able to search and see what is being linked. This holds power in itself as popular clothing brands, events or people can hashtag a word that will then potentially trend and reach thousands of interested individuals. 

Therefore an influential figure on instagram is able to make connections through followers, gain a virtual form of power through people liking their photos and create trending hashtags that allow people to view everything around that topic. 

References

 Allen, John. Lost Geographies Of Power. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub., 2003. Print.