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Whether we like to admit it or not, the use of social networking sites has become a significant aspect of our daily lives. With various ways to access the internet (mobile phones, laptops) and in a range of places (home, school, work), it is clear that the boundaries between reality and virtuality have gradually blurred together over time. Although many of us consider the two as distinct environments, both the real and the virtual influence the way we conceptualise and understand the world.
Personal narrative is a humanistic concept which interconnects events so we can make sense of the world (Van Luyn, 2015). The digitalisation of self-narrative was a product of the digital era which has enabled us to contextualise events in a different way. At this very moment, with the world wide web at arm’s reach, I am communicating and defining a digital version of self-narrative on Instagram; simultaneously, I am being “written and read...by the network” (McNeill, 2012, p. 66). Through a liking and following system, Instagram is dictating my self-identity in demonstrating who I follow and who is following me. Within the Instagram community, and social networking sites alike, there are millions of individuals creating their virtual identities in interaction between other people and the software itself (McNeill, 2012). Similarly, this notion is resonated in Taylor’s (2011) article “Technology: Is Technology Stealing Our Identities?”, which describes two factors that shape and determine self: our idea of self-awareness or internal factors, and our interaction with the world or external factors. There are, however, issues raised within the virtual autobiography in regards to authenticity. Not everyone chooses to or can represent their version of self on social media sites. This can be due to the limits within its design. Instagram for instance, bases the liking and following system as a tool to construct identity. While one’s personal interests is not a central aspect of identity, Instagram has prompted us to construct our identity through this way.
We naively sign up to Instagram with the intent to present our unique thoughts, feelings, and interests; however, it is just not that simple anymore. On social networking sites, we constantly change our self-narrative to suit the expectations of the software and users within the network. Despite how much we love it, Instagram is no exception in the way it manipulates how we present ourselves.
Reference list
McNeill, L. (2012). There is no “I” in network: Social networking sites and posthuman auto/biography. Biography, 35 (1). pp. 65-82.Van Luyn, A. (2015). BA1002 Our Space: Network, Narrative and the Making of Place. Lecture 6: Networked Narratives: Intertextuality. Retrieved from: https://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au
Image credits
Just one more hour on Facebook. [Image]. (2015). Retrieved from: http://static.entertainmentwise.com/images/54ef2697b2fef.jpg
I agree with your summary of the almost maniacal obsession we have with social media. I believe it is an important platform these day however. For many, myself included, it is how we get our daily news, and in many cases how we get the facts on issues as they are occurring through Twitter and such. Social media has more than proven its worth through social movements as well. The Arab Spring was largely aided by people posting on social media in order to rally and muster support for their cause.
ReplyDeleteMcNeill writes that 'the networked activities encourage the mutual, ongoing production of narrative, sharing the news and stories with them' (2012, p. 74).
Reference
McNeill, L. (2012). There Is No "I" in Network: Social Networking Sites and Posthuman Auto/Biography. Biography: An Interdisciplinary Quarterly. 35(1), 65.
I agree with you in the sense that Instagram manipulates us in many ways of who to be, what to look at and who to follow. But it is our core humanistic behaviour to write our own narrative (Van Luyn, 2015). You’ll see that there are generally two types of people, those that want to read stories of others and not their own, and those that want to have a great story to tell. Basically the listeners and the speakers. I believe Instagram holds this concept also, you either follow a bunch of accounts that assimilate your interests, or you are the person to follow as your narrative is so highly fascinating. The narrative is constructed to appease the people around you, though it may be yours and individual, it’s what Instagram wants you to post and show to the world for the most likes and the most followers.
ReplyDeleteReferences
Van Luyn, A. (2015). BA1002: Our Space Networks, Narratives, and the Making of Place, Networked Narrative: Intertextuality, week 6 [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from: https://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au/