For apps to pull in a chunk of money through ads and endorsements isn’t new. In fact, we see it more often than we used to all over the Internet: Facebook, Youtube, Tumblr, Reddit, etc. In light of Facebook’s recent controversies of selling private information, promoting ads based on consumer behavior and other notorious dealings, Instagram seems to be slowly integrating toward the same path as Facebook, though for a different demographic.
Facebook bought Instagram in 2012 for nearly $1 billion when Instagram only had 30 million users. Now the platform has risen in fame, and for many youth and young adults, Instagram has become the preferred platform over Facebook. The Pew Research Center reported in a 2019 article that 67% of 18 to 29-year-olds use Instagram, whereas 68% of Facebook users are 50 to 64-years old. Why wouldn’t Facebook snatch up the site for more gain?
Marketing opportunities for social media have a wide reach. The Pew Research Center reported that 74% of Facebook users visit the site daily with about half who visit several times a day. Likewise, 76% of Instagram users visit the site daily, and 60% visit it several times a day. There are plenty of studies that show how social media is designed to capture our fullest attention. With all our eyes locked onto our screens, we pass by ads and sponsors all the time, sometimes ones that influence us to click the link and other times just as a means of brand suggestions.
Social media has been a means of promoting ourselves, even before the term “influencers” was coined. We want our social media account to reflect our best angles, and if not the best side, then a side we want to share with the public. For many, that’s their professional career, their personal ambitions, their photo collection, their traveling experiences, and the list goes on. What we share reflects something about us, namely our “good” things like our wealth, power, job, relationship status, etc. To be short, it’s called “branding.” We brand ourselves based on the outlook we want others to perceive.
Branding is something we consider when we think of products, and it’s the same for Instagram users. There’s a certain “look” to Instagram that requires the user to download third party editing apps, upgrading to the latest phone camera and endorsing what appears to be high end products (sometimes without compensation; check out the #sponsorme in the explore page). When users rise in following count, the sponsors start rolling in with offers. “Endorse our product, and we’ll pay you.” For a teeanger in high school, a college student or someone first stepping into the professional career, this can become an alluring temptation for such financially vulnerable communities.
Instagram has become yet another capitalist business opportunity. At the start of the Internet, it felt like social media took on a more authentic presence. There wasn’t a pressure to exist in the norms of branding and online popularity. Now that pressure is only rising as mental health takes a plunge for users. Instagram has taken an initiative to hide the number of “likes” on any given post because of the increasing number of users who are negatively affected by social media. What more harm could be done if we throw money into the scheme? Will social media “success” be defined through financial gain instead of number of likes?
As branding and business take precedence on our social media platforms, the users must reflect on how we’re affected. Many don’t see it as a growing issue, but in my experience with Facebook and how its grown beyond its depth in business dealings, Instagram doesn’t seem marked for a path of what I consider success. Will Instagram soon devolve in yet another business venture for the executives and CEOs? Will Instagram become a grotesque representation of our own narcissism that changes to value wealth and status above all else? Seems that way. Take a closer look next time you find yourself scrolling.
