Assignment One Revised Part 2
Content
Jennifer Trang
UWRT 1103-021
Observation Notes: Instagram
Figured World: A large group/community with rules and customs.
The figured world I chose to do my observations on is my home feed on the Instagram
app. Instagram is a mobile photo-sharing and video-sharing social networking app
created in 2010. The purpose of Instagram is to share photos or videos with your
followers or everyone else (if your profile isn’t on private). It gives people an opportunity
to express themselves freely through a single image. Users of this figured world enjoy
sharing photos that are mainly about their daily lives, pets, vacations, photography, and
many more. The most important type of communication is through commenting on other
people’s photos. Another type of communication is through their recently created direct
messaging system where a user sends a picture to 1-15 users and write a message along
with it and those users can reply to it, if they wanted. There aren’t a set of rules that are
listed on Instagram. If there were any type of rules stated on Instagram, it would most
likely be found in the “Terms of Services” that you must agree to when signing up for an
account, even though no one really pays attention to it, and the fact that you must be 13
years or older in order to use the service. Usually, the rules are mainly unspoken and
every user are expected to be responsible when using the app. For example, direct
messaging a nudity picture of yourself, or someone else, to a user is unflattering and
disrespectful. Even though it’s not a stated rule, it’s understood among everyone that it’s
unnecessary. Everyone on Instagram, including users who are a part of this figured world,
have the right to post any picture they like. However, they have to be responsible with
what they upload on Instagram. Pictures that have offensive or explicit content should not
be shown on Instagram or any social networking websites. As for behavior, there really
isn’t any specific type of behaviors that users must behave like when going on this
figured world or Instagram, in general. On the app, the only way behavior is shown is
through comments or direct message. Users can freely behave the way they want.
Literacy Practices: A practice of manners or communications within a figured world.
Comments: When users post their pictures online, their followers or anyone, that is
allowed to view a user’s profile, can post any type of comment on the picture by clicking
the button that says “comment”. Even though Instagram allows users to type as much as
they want without a 140 characters limit, comments are usually short and simple (for
example, “I love this!” or “Cute”). Most times, people would normally just type an emoji
as their comment. For example, users would use an emoji that’s smiling with hearts as its
eyes.
Likes: A box-shaped button below the picture, next to the comment button with a shape
of a heart located inside. Instagram users would press this button whenever they see a
picture they like. Also, another way to like the photo is double tapping the picture and a
heart will appear, showing that you “liked” the photo. Even though this literacy practice
isn’t verbal, it’s considered a nonverbal communication. By “liking” a person’s photo, it
sends a notification to that person, telling them that someone has seen the photo and liked
it.
Artifact(s): Objects, ideas, and emotions that are important/shared in a figured world.
Pictures: The most important artifact in the figured world. Instagram is an app where
users upload pictures and share them to everyone. Pictures are usually either selfies,
photography shots, etc. The significance of pictures is that it serves as the main purpose
of the app and without it, there would be no Instagram.
Hashtags: A search tool for Instagram. Hashtags have played a significant role in today’s
social networking. It can be found on Twitter, Facebook, or the media. Not only is it a
search tool, but it helps users connect with other users on the social networking website
or app. On Instagram, hashtags are used to categorize photos and make them searchable
on the app. For example, if a user posts a picture of flowers and add to their caption
“#flowers”, the picture will show up on that specific tag when someone searches it up.
Users can also click on the hashtag in the caption and it will directly take them to that
specific tag.
Filters/Editing Features: When uploading pictures on Instagram, users are given an option
to edit their photos before sharing them. Instagram comes with a variety of photographiclooking filters (Amaro, Mayfair, Rise, etc.) that users can apply to their images. Also,
there is a tool that allows users to adjust the brightness, contrast, or saturation, sharpen
the image, add highlights or shadows, or apply a luxurious effect to the photos. It helps
the users give their pictures a more photographic look.
Videos: Videos were added to the Instagram app in June 2013 in a way to compete with
the video-sharing app, Vine. It allows users to share a video that lasts up to 15 seconds. In
order to record the video, the user must hold down the red circle button and it will record
until you let go of the red button.
Actor(s): A person who performs the expectations and practices of a specific figured world.
On Instagram, there are a numerous amount of users who uses the app on a daily basis.
Actors are usually identified by their usernames. The actors that are a part of this figured
world are those who show up on my home feed. In other words, the actors are users that I
follow on Instagram. For example, “actors” that appear on my home feed are mostly
friends and classmates who attended the same high school as I did. Other actors are either
photographers, who like to showcase their photography, celebrities, who posts photos to
give their fans a look on their lives, or businesses that post pictures to advertise products.
They all perform the expectations and practices of this figured world by posting and
sharing their pictures to their followers.
Examples:
@carolinatopshots: Carolina Top Shots is a small photography business created by Brian
Mayhew in 2012. He specializes in mainly senior photo shoots but also takes pictures of
sporting event, family photo shoots. He rose to popularity in 2013 when more seniors,
who graduated in 2013, began asking him for senior photo shoots. He has over 8000
followers on Instagram and has his own website. In 2014, he won Best Photographer of
Gaston County by the Gaston Gazette newspaper.
@bryannaaaxo: User bryannaaaxo, Bryanna Colon, is a high school graduate who was
from New York and currently lives in Gastonia. She enjoys taking pictures of scenery
and activities she does throughout the day. On her Instagram, most of her pictures are
with her having fun with her friends, scenery photography, or food. Her Instagram is a
way to show her life through pictures.
Communities of Practices: A smaller group who shares the same ideas, goals, knowledge, etc in
the figured world.
On Instagram, there are endless amounts of communities. There are communities who
have users that like to showcase their photography, post pictures of them partying or
clubbing, advertise products with unique photos, or mainly sharing what goes on in their
lives. Even though there are different communities, they all share a common goal of
showing their followers what’s going on in their daily lives through a single image.
Examples of Communities of Practice:
“Photographers”: Those who are a part of this group are photography lovers who enjoy
showcasing their skills to their followers. The types of pictures that they like to post are
usually a field of flowers, landscapes, day or night skies, historic landmarks, and many
more. Before sharing their photos, they would edit their photo by using apps like
VSCOcam or Afterlight to give their photos a more attractive look since their editing
features are more above and beyond than Instagram’s. They share a goal of showcasing
their eye-catching photos to their followers while discovering new photo editing skills to
improve on their photos.
“Carolina Top Shots Senior Spokesmodels”: Those who are a part of this group usually
like to post their pictures from their photo shoot that were taken by a photographer named
Brian Mayhew, owner of Carolina Top Shots. He specializes in senior photo shoots, sport
events, modeling, and more. Those who are a part of this group all share the same role as
a spokesmodel. They share a goal of helping advertise Brian’s photography to their
followers by showcasing his photos on their profiles. This group consists of mainly
seniors, including previous seniors, who attend schools that are in the surrounding
counties of NC and SC, most are usually from Gastonia, NC.
Practices of the Community: Shared ways to achieve many tasks in a community.
Posting pictures: Instagram is a photo-sharing app so the only practice of the community
of this figured world is posting pictures. It doesn’t really matter what kind of pictures
(e.g. selfie) you’re uploading. As long as the user is posting the photo and sharing it to
everyone and their followers, they are following the practices that are a part of the
community.
Domain: Something that a community shares together as a group.
A domain that is shared within this figured world is the idea of freely posting any type of
pictures they like/want. Every user wants to be able to post anything they like and
expressing themselves without the judgment of other users. The picture can be either
foolish, hilarious, or amazing-looking. The user has a right to post whatever picture they
like, despite the disapproval that may be among some users. For example, a user could
post a picture of themselves doing drugs and it may not be pleasing to another user.
*Note: Observations took place on certain days and times. After pictures are taken 1 or more
hours ago, it will only show as “1 hr” or “2 hrs” on the user’s post and doesn’t include minutes.
For example, if a picture was taken 1 hour and 15 minutes ago, it will only show as “1 hr”.
*Note: I was able to receive permission to screenshot some of the photos.
Observations One:
*Note: Observations took place on my Instagram feed on Saturday September 13, 2014 at 9 p.m.,
starting with the last picture posted 1 hour ago.
1 hr (1 hr ago) – User and photographer “carolinatopshots” posts a picture from his fun evening
teen photo shoot. The picture is taken most likely before nighttime and the teen modeling in this
photo is standing in a lake. His caption says “Fun evening teen photo shoot with Emma.
Schedule your shoot by calling or texting me”.
1 hr (1 hr ago) – User “avamac99” wishes happy birthday to her friend by posting a picture of
them together. In the picture, both girls are in a dressing room wearing their costumes in the
musical, Footloose. She writes in her caption, “Happy Birthday to the fabulous Anna Hertel!!
I’m so glad that I met you this past year and that we’ve become good friends during Footloose. I
hope you have the most amazing 15th! Love ya lots #Liquida”.
50 mins (50 mins ago) – User “mar_velez” shares a photo that has two McDonalds’ coffee cups.
Both coffee cups must have a lot of cream and sugar in it as shown by the numerous amounts of
used cream cups and sugar packs. It can be assumed that she is having a “coffee date” with a
friend or she had two cups of coffee for herself. Her caption says “Ladies and gentlemen,
McDonalds coffee”.
44 mins (44 mins ago) – “samsungmobileusa” post a sponsored photo taken with a Galaxy Note
4 phone, which can be viewed by everyone who uses Instagram. The picture contains a box filled
with macaroons in different shades of colors (purple, yellow, pink, brown, etc.). The purpose of
this picture is to advertise the Galaxy Note 4 phone and show everyone the amazing quality
pictures it can take. Their caption says “The last colors of summer, captured by @AmyLombard
with optical zoom on the #GalaxyNote4”.
38 mins (38 mins ago) – “goodinthehood” posts a throwback photo of her laying in a field of
autumn leaves. She is wearing a plaid, button up shirt and her hair is spread out, just like what
you can see on a typical fall photo. The purpose of her posting this photo is to welcome the falllike weather since autumn is close by. Her caption says “In honor of the amazing fall-like
weather coming in”.
31 mins (31 mins ago) – User “bryannaaaxo” posts a picture of her lunch from the Sprouts Café
and Cellar. Her lunch shows a 4-slice small pizza with a Blue Sky natural soda. There is another
plate of food next to hers so it is assumed that she had lunch with a friend. Her caption reads
“lunch with bae”.
23 mins (23 mins ago) – User “klaneh” posts a selfie of herself in her car. By reading her
caption and looking at the picture, it shows that she has gotten her nose pierced. Her caption says
“Built up the nerve to change it! I love how tiny it is now”.
18 mins (18 mins ago) – “hivickytee”, who is my cousin, shares a photo of her daughter, Azehla.
Her daughter is wearing a pink dress with polka dots and a bow wrapped around the center. She
is also wearing black flip flops with her outfit. It seems like she’s attending an event. She writes
in her caption, “My #azehla girl”.
9 mins (9 mins ago) – User “rimalternanni” posts a picture of herself standing on top of the
mountains. She is wearing a white shirt with a short-sleeved grey cardigan and capris. The
mountains are located in Syria and “is hands down one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever
been to”, as stated in her caption.
Observation Two:
*Note: Observations took place on my Instagram feed on Tuesday September 16, 2014 at 6:00
p.m starting with the last picture posted 2 hours ago.
2 hrs (2 hrs ago) – User “mrlztx” posts a picture of her and her boyfriend, user cguh_3, holding
a caramel frappuccino and a chocolate and strawberry cake pops from Starbucks. The picture
was taken in a car and only shows their hands holding their treats. Her caption says “With bae.
No filter needed”.
1 hr (1 hour ago) – User “s_galeano14” shares a #TransformationTuesday photo of her son. The
picture is in a photo collage form where it shows her son before as a three days old newborn to
now, a four months old baby. She writes in her caption, “#transformationtuesday 3 days old to 4
months old <3 I am not sorry for all the pictures I have. He’s just too perfect, I can’t help it”.
1 hr (1 hour ago) – User and photographer “carolinatopshots” posts a picture from a photo shoot
he did recently. The model in this picture is a student from a high school located in Rock Hill,
NC. The caption reads “Another sneak peek from a shoot this weekend with Madison from
Northwestern High School in Rock Hill”.
56 mins (56 mins ago) – “carolinatopshots” posts a photo collage of a middle softball games
from various schools. All pictures in the collage shows one player, in an action shot, either
catching the ball, running, or preparing to catch. The user writes in his caption, “Some middle
school softball the other day”.
47 mins (47 mins ago) – User “kiabuentipo” shares to her followers her photography skills by
uploading a picture of the sky. The left side of the sky is blue while the right side is a dark blue
color. You can also see a shade of orange in the sky behind the trees. The sky in the picture tells
her followers that the day is about to turn into evening. The caption says “excuse me while I kiss
the sky”.
33 mins (33 mins ago) – “carolinatopshots” uploads an action shot taken from the Carolina’s
Panthers game this past Sunday. It shows one of the players from the Panthers team catching the
ball from their opponent. The caption says “One of my favorite pictures I took from the game
Sunday”.
22 mins (22 mins ago) – User “christineethach” posts a selfie of herself. She is wearing a white,
lace shirt and has a smirk-like smile on her face. In her caption, instead of using words or letters,
she uses an emoji of a Hawaiian-type flower.
14 mins (14 mins ago) – User “mlj1996” participates in #TwinTuesday by posting a photo of her
with her twin sister. In the picture, they are wearing a Phi Beta Chi t-shirt and are holding a pink,
with white polka dots, picture-like frame that has the words “Fall in Love with Phi Beta Chi”.
Her caption says “#twintuesday with my favorite sister ever, even though I now how 100 more
you’ll still be my fav #PΒΦforalifetime”.
2 mins (2 mins ago) – User “gracestroupe_” posts a throwback picture of her most likely during
the summer. In the picture, it shows her with a friend at a beach-like setting with palm trees, a
beach house, and a pond in the background. Her caption says “Tb to the best week of my life”.
Observation Three:
*Note: Observations took place on my Instagram feed on Wednesday September 17, 2014 at
9:40 p.m, starting with the last picture posted 3 hours ago.
3 hrs (3 hrs ago) – “Madison_mar10” posts a picture of her with her boyfriend at the Mellow
Mushroom Ballantyne in Charlotte, NC. From her caption, it is assumed that she and her
boyfriend are out for her birthday dinner since today is her birthday. Her caption says “Birthday
dinner, I’m legal”.
2 hrs (2 hrs ago) – Photographer “carolinatopshots” posts a photo collage from a volleyball
game that took place this evening. All pictures are action shots with players either serving the
ball, making a forearm pass, or performing a jump set. Caption says “Some volleyball action
between Cherryville and Bessemer City. Hate they didn’t out our better, the lighting there is not
very good haha”.
2 hrs (2 hrs ago) – User “cardona222” posts a pre-game selfie of himself before playing soccer
against Clemson. His red Under Armour uniform shows that he is part of the Gardner-Webb
Bulldogs soccer team. His caption reads “Soccer game tonight at Clemson, lets go bulldogs”.
1 hr (1 hr ago) – User “haleyetaylor” posts a selfie of her and her boyfriend after she is surprised
with a date night in downtown Charlotte. The picture was created with the PicCollage app where
she placed her photo on top of a light green background. Her caption says “Surprise date night
downtown. So blessed”.
41 mins (41 mins ago) – “carolinatopshots” advertises his photography by posting a picture of
Abbee from her senior photo shoot. Abbee is wearing a blue, red, and black dress, sitting on a
rock by a pool in her backyard. Caption says “Be like Abbee and schedule your senior photo
shoot…lots of fun and great photos for an excellent price!”
30 mins (30 mins ago) – “rachelbpressley” posts a VSCOcam edited photo of her sitting on a
hammock by her residence hall in Appalachian State University. It appears that she is relaxing
and reading a book titled “Visions of America”. Her caption says “take a breath & let the rest
come easy ~ #appstate #eno #liveauthentic #vscocam”.
27 mins ago (27 mins ago) – “imagegalleryphotography” showcases a photo of a sleeping baby
from a recent photo shoot. The baby is sleeping on a light pink blanket, wearing pink and white
rabbit ears. Their caption says “Newborns are the cutest! #ImageGallery”.
Interview:
*Note: The person I interviewed is Instagram user “bryannaaaxo”, who is a close friend of
mine. I chose her for this interview because she’s just like me, a person who enjoys photography.
She uses Instagram like any other person, to share their life to followers. In the past, she was
moderately active on Instagram but now that she’s focused on work, she limits her time of using
social media. I believe getting her responses helped contributed to this observation notes
because getting a point of view of an Instagram user gives readers an insight of what it’s like
using the app and such. Interview questions were sent to her on Friday September 12, 2014 and I
received her responses on Sunday September 14, 2014.
*Note: The extended answers were received on Friday September 26, 2014.
1. Describe the types of pictures you like to post on Instagram.
@bryannaaaxo: I like posting pictures of scenery and any activities I did throughout the day. It
lets my followers (mostly friends) see what my interests are and what my daily life is like. I
mostly like taking scenery pictures because it’s more fun to take pictures of rather than the usual
pictures with friends. Also, it gives me a good excuse to use the After Light app to edit the
picture. Some examples of pictures I post are a picture of waves at a beach with me and my
friends in it, the skyline of New York City, food and drinks, and selfies.
2. List and explain the filter(s) you think are the best when editing pictures.
@bryannaaaxo: My favorite filter is Valencia. I just think it’s pretty and not as intense as the
other filters. Valencia gives pictures a warm temperature feeling to it. Even though most of my
pictures are edited on an app called After Light, I sometimes only use Valencia if I upload a
picture that hasn’t been edited yet. Other filters that I think are okay are Sierra, Rise, and
Walden.
3. Tell me how Instagram has connected you to the rest of the world.
@bryannaaaxo: Instagram makes me feel like I’m a lot closer to the people I follow than I
actually am. It also makes me feel like I know more about a person’s life than I actually do. You
can see what a person is really like and what their interests is, which may be something that a
person doesn’t like to show outside to the world.
4. Tell me about how Instagram has impacted you since you started using the app.
@bryannaaaxo: It makes me feel like I have to take pictures whenever I do something
interesting. Whether I’m on a trip, a football game, or spirit week at school, I take the
opportunity to take pictures and create memories. I also feel lonely when I see people doing
things together and I wasn’t invited. It makes me feel left out of all the activities that I could’ve
been involved in. I also get upset when I don’t get enough likes on my pictures.
5. If the app was no longer available, tell me the positive and negative effects you think will
happen, if any.
@bryannaaaxo: The positive effect(s) is that you won’t feel lonely or jealous of people and you
can do fun things without worrying about taking cute pictures to show off to everyone. Another
positive effect is that you can spend time doing other positive activities rather than spending so
much time on an app. The negative effect(s) is feeling less connected to your friends and the rest
of the world. Another negative effect would be less creativity because Instagram allows you to
be creative with your pictures.
UWRT 1103-021
Observation Notes: Instagram
Figured World: A large group/community with rules and customs.
The figured world I chose to do my observations on is my home feed on the Instagram
app. Instagram is a mobile photo-sharing and video-sharing social networking app
created in 2010. The purpose of Instagram is to share photos or videos with your
followers or everyone else (if your profile isn’t on private). It gives people an opportunity
to express themselves freely through a single image. Users of this figured world enjoy
sharing photos that are mainly about their daily lives, pets, vacations, photography, and
many more. The most important type of communication is through commenting on other
people’s photos. Another type of communication is through their recently created direct
messaging system where a user sends a picture to 1-15 users and write a message along
with it and those users can reply to it, if they wanted. There aren’t a set of rules that are
listed on Instagram. If there were any type of rules stated on Instagram, it would most
likely be found in the “Terms of Services” that you must agree to when signing up for an
account, even though no one really pays attention to it, and the fact that you must be 13
years or older in order to use the service. Usually, the rules are mainly unspoken and
every user are expected to be responsible when using the app. For example, direct
messaging a nudity picture of yourself, or someone else, to a user is unflattering and
disrespectful. Even though it’s not a stated rule, it’s understood among everyone that it’s
unnecessary. Everyone on Instagram, including users who are a part of this figured world,
have the right to post any picture they like. However, they have to be responsible with
what they upload on Instagram. Pictures that have offensive or explicit content should not
be shown on Instagram or any social networking websites. As for behavior, there really
isn’t any specific type of behaviors that users must behave like when going on this
figured world or Instagram, in general. On the app, the only way behavior is shown is
through comments or direct message. Users can freely behave the way they want.
Literacy Practices: A practice of manners or communications within a figured world.
Comments: When users post their pictures online, their followers or anyone, that is
allowed to view a user’s profile, can post any type of comment on the picture by clicking
the button that says “comment”. Even though Instagram allows users to type as much as
they want without a 140 characters limit, comments are usually short and simple (for
example, “I love this!” or “Cute”). Most times, people would normally just type an emoji
as their comment. For example, users would use an emoji that’s smiling with hearts as its
eyes.
Likes: A box-shaped button below the picture, next to the comment button with a shape
of a heart located inside. Instagram users would press this button whenever they see a
picture they like. Also, another way to like the photo is double tapping the picture and a
heart will appear, showing that you “liked” the photo. Even though this literacy practice
isn’t verbal, it’s considered a nonverbal communication. By “liking” a person’s photo, it
sends a notification to that person, telling them that someone has seen the photo and liked
it.
Artifact(s): Objects, ideas, and emotions that are important/shared in a figured world.
Pictures: The most important artifact in the figured world. Instagram is an app where
users upload pictures and share them to everyone. Pictures are usually either selfies,
photography shots, etc. The significance of pictures is that it serves as the main purpose
of the app and without it, there would be no Instagram.
Hashtags: A search tool for Instagram. Hashtags have played a significant role in today’s
social networking. It can be found on Twitter, Facebook, or the media. Not only is it a
search tool, but it helps users connect with other users on the social networking website
or app. On Instagram, hashtags are used to categorize photos and make them searchable
on the app. For example, if a user posts a picture of flowers and add to their caption
“#flowers”, the picture will show up on that specific tag when someone searches it up.
Users can also click on the hashtag in the caption and it will directly take them to that
specific tag.
Filters/Editing Features: When uploading pictures on Instagram, users are given an option
to edit their photos before sharing them. Instagram comes with a variety of photographiclooking filters (Amaro, Mayfair, Rise, etc.) that users can apply to their images. Also,
there is a tool that allows users to adjust the brightness, contrast, or saturation, sharpen
the image, add highlights or shadows, or apply a luxurious effect to the photos. It helps
the users give their pictures a more photographic look.
Videos: Videos were added to the Instagram app in June 2013 in a way to compete with
the video-sharing app, Vine. It allows users to share a video that lasts up to 15 seconds. In
order to record the video, the user must hold down the red circle button and it will record
until you let go of the red button.
Actor(s): A person who performs the expectations and practices of a specific figured world.
On Instagram, there are a numerous amount of users who uses the app on a daily basis.
Actors are usually identified by their usernames. The actors that are a part of this figured
world are those who show up on my home feed. In other words, the actors are users that I
follow on Instagram. For example, “actors” that appear on my home feed are mostly
friends and classmates who attended the same high school as I did. Other actors are either
photographers, who like to showcase their photography, celebrities, who posts photos to
give their fans a look on their lives, or businesses that post pictures to advertise products.
They all perform the expectations and practices of this figured world by posting and
sharing their pictures to their followers.
Examples:
@carolinatopshots: Carolina Top Shots is a small photography business created by Brian
Mayhew in 2012. He specializes in mainly senior photo shoots but also takes pictures of
sporting event, family photo shoots. He rose to popularity in 2013 when more seniors,
who graduated in 2013, began asking him for senior photo shoots. He has over 8000
followers on Instagram and has his own website. In 2014, he won Best Photographer of
Gaston County by the Gaston Gazette newspaper.
@bryannaaaxo: User bryannaaaxo, Bryanna Colon, is a high school graduate who was
from New York and currently lives in Gastonia. She enjoys taking pictures of scenery
and activities she does throughout the day. On her Instagram, most of her pictures are
with her having fun with her friends, scenery photography, or food. Her Instagram is a
way to show her life through pictures.
Communities of Practices: A smaller group who shares the same ideas, goals, knowledge, etc in
the figured world.
On Instagram, there are endless amounts of communities. There are communities who
have users that like to showcase their photography, post pictures of them partying or
clubbing, advertise products with unique photos, or mainly sharing what goes on in their
lives. Even though there are different communities, they all share a common goal of
showing their followers what’s going on in their daily lives through a single image.
Examples of Communities of Practice:
“Photographers”: Those who are a part of this group are photography lovers who enjoy
showcasing their skills to their followers. The types of pictures that they like to post are
usually a field of flowers, landscapes, day or night skies, historic landmarks, and many
more. Before sharing their photos, they would edit their photo by using apps like
VSCOcam or Afterlight to give their photos a more attractive look since their editing
features are more above and beyond than Instagram’s. They share a goal of showcasing
their eye-catching photos to their followers while discovering new photo editing skills to
improve on their photos.
“Carolina Top Shots Senior Spokesmodels”: Those who are a part of this group usually
like to post their pictures from their photo shoot that were taken by a photographer named
Brian Mayhew, owner of Carolina Top Shots. He specializes in senior photo shoots, sport
events, modeling, and more. Those who are a part of this group all share the same role as
a spokesmodel. They share a goal of helping advertise Brian’s photography to their
followers by showcasing his photos on their profiles. This group consists of mainly
seniors, including previous seniors, who attend schools that are in the surrounding
counties of NC and SC, most are usually from Gastonia, NC.
Practices of the Community: Shared ways to achieve many tasks in a community.
Posting pictures: Instagram is a photo-sharing app so the only practice of the community
of this figured world is posting pictures. It doesn’t really matter what kind of pictures
(e.g. selfie) you’re uploading. As long as the user is posting the photo and sharing it to
everyone and their followers, they are following the practices that are a part of the
community.
Domain: Something that a community shares together as a group.
A domain that is shared within this figured world is the idea of freely posting any type of
pictures they like/want. Every user wants to be able to post anything they like and
expressing themselves without the judgment of other users. The picture can be either
foolish, hilarious, or amazing-looking. The user has a right to post whatever picture they
like, despite the disapproval that may be among some users. For example, a user could
post a picture of themselves doing drugs and it may not be pleasing to another user.
*Note: Observations took place on certain days and times. After pictures are taken 1 or more
hours ago, it will only show as “1 hr” or “2 hrs” on the user’s post and doesn’t include minutes.
For example, if a picture was taken 1 hour and 15 minutes ago, it will only show as “1 hr”.
*Note: I was able to receive permission to screenshot some of the photos.
Observations One:
*Note: Observations took place on my Instagram feed on Saturday September 13, 2014 at 9 p.m.,
starting with the last picture posted 1 hour ago.
1 hr (1 hr ago) – User and photographer “carolinatopshots” posts a picture from his fun evening
teen photo shoot. The picture is taken most likely before nighttime and the teen modeling in this
photo is standing in a lake. His caption says “Fun evening teen photo shoot with Emma.
Schedule your shoot by calling or texting me”.
1 hr (1 hr ago) – User “avamac99” wishes happy birthday to her friend by posting a picture of
them together. In the picture, both girls are in a dressing room wearing their costumes in the
musical, Footloose. She writes in her caption, “Happy Birthday to the fabulous Anna Hertel!!
I’m so glad that I met you this past year and that we’ve become good friends during Footloose. I
hope you have the most amazing 15th! Love ya lots #Liquida”.
50 mins (50 mins ago) – User “mar_velez” shares a photo that has two McDonalds’ coffee cups.
Both coffee cups must have a lot of cream and sugar in it as shown by the numerous amounts of
used cream cups and sugar packs. It can be assumed that she is having a “coffee date” with a
friend or she had two cups of coffee for herself. Her caption says “Ladies and gentlemen,
McDonalds coffee”.
44 mins (44 mins ago) – “samsungmobileusa” post a sponsored photo taken with a Galaxy Note
4 phone, which can be viewed by everyone who uses Instagram. The picture contains a box filled
with macaroons in different shades of colors (purple, yellow, pink, brown, etc.). The purpose of
this picture is to advertise the Galaxy Note 4 phone and show everyone the amazing quality
pictures it can take. Their caption says “The last colors of summer, captured by @AmyLombard
with optical zoom on the #GalaxyNote4”.
38 mins (38 mins ago) – “goodinthehood” posts a throwback photo of her laying in a field of
autumn leaves. She is wearing a plaid, button up shirt and her hair is spread out, just like what
you can see on a typical fall photo. The purpose of her posting this photo is to welcome the falllike weather since autumn is close by. Her caption says “In honor of the amazing fall-like
weather coming in”.
31 mins (31 mins ago) – User “bryannaaaxo” posts a picture of her lunch from the Sprouts Café
and Cellar. Her lunch shows a 4-slice small pizza with a Blue Sky natural soda. There is another
plate of food next to hers so it is assumed that she had lunch with a friend. Her caption reads
“lunch with bae”.
23 mins (23 mins ago) – User “klaneh” posts a selfie of herself in her car. By reading her
caption and looking at the picture, it shows that she has gotten her nose pierced. Her caption says
“Built up the nerve to change it! I love how tiny it is now”.
18 mins (18 mins ago) – “hivickytee”, who is my cousin, shares a photo of her daughter, Azehla.
Her daughter is wearing a pink dress with polka dots and a bow wrapped around the center. She
is also wearing black flip flops with her outfit. It seems like she’s attending an event. She writes
in her caption, “My #azehla girl”.
9 mins (9 mins ago) – User “rimalternanni” posts a picture of herself standing on top of the
mountains. She is wearing a white shirt with a short-sleeved grey cardigan and capris. The
mountains are located in Syria and “is hands down one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever
been to”, as stated in her caption.
Observation Two:
*Note: Observations took place on my Instagram feed on Tuesday September 16, 2014 at 6:00
p.m starting with the last picture posted 2 hours ago.
2 hrs (2 hrs ago) – User “mrlztx” posts a picture of her and her boyfriend, user cguh_3, holding
a caramel frappuccino and a chocolate and strawberry cake pops from Starbucks. The picture
was taken in a car and only shows their hands holding their treats. Her caption says “With bae.
No filter needed”.
1 hr (1 hour ago) – User “s_galeano14” shares a #TransformationTuesday photo of her son. The
picture is in a photo collage form where it shows her son before as a three days old newborn to
now, a four months old baby. She writes in her caption, “#transformationtuesday 3 days old to 4
months old <3 I am not sorry for all the pictures I have. He’s just too perfect, I can’t help it”.
1 hr (1 hour ago) – User and photographer “carolinatopshots” posts a picture from a photo shoot
he did recently. The model in this picture is a student from a high school located in Rock Hill,
NC. The caption reads “Another sneak peek from a shoot this weekend with Madison from
Northwestern High School in Rock Hill”.
56 mins (56 mins ago) – “carolinatopshots” posts a photo collage of a middle softball games
from various schools. All pictures in the collage shows one player, in an action shot, either
catching the ball, running, or preparing to catch. The user writes in his caption, “Some middle
school softball the other day”.
47 mins (47 mins ago) – User “kiabuentipo” shares to her followers her photography skills by
uploading a picture of the sky. The left side of the sky is blue while the right side is a dark blue
color. You can also see a shade of orange in the sky behind the trees. The sky in the picture tells
her followers that the day is about to turn into evening. The caption says “excuse me while I kiss
the sky”.
33 mins (33 mins ago) – “carolinatopshots” uploads an action shot taken from the Carolina’s
Panthers game this past Sunday. It shows one of the players from the Panthers team catching the
ball from their opponent. The caption says “One of my favorite pictures I took from the game
Sunday”.
22 mins (22 mins ago) – User “christineethach” posts a selfie of herself. She is wearing a white,
lace shirt and has a smirk-like smile on her face. In her caption, instead of using words or letters,
she uses an emoji of a Hawaiian-type flower.
14 mins (14 mins ago) – User “mlj1996” participates in #TwinTuesday by posting a photo of her
with her twin sister. In the picture, they are wearing a Phi Beta Chi t-shirt and are holding a pink,
with white polka dots, picture-like frame that has the words “Fall in Love with Phi Beta Chi”.
Her caption says “#twintuesday with my favorite sister ever, even though I now how 100 more
you’ll still be my fav #PΒΦforalifetime”.
2 mins (2 mins ago) – User “gracestroupe_” posts a throwback picture of her most likely during
the summer. In the picture, it shows her with a friend at a beach-like setting with palm trees, a
beach house, and a pond in the background. Her caption says “Tb to the best week of my life”.
Observation Three:
*Note: Observations took place on my Instagram feed on Wednesday September 17, 2014 at
9:40 p.m, starting with the last picture posted 3 hours ago.
3 hrs (3 hrs ago) – “Madison_mar10” posts a picture of her with her boyfriend at the Mellow
Mushroom Ballantyne in Charlotte, NC. From her caption, it is assumed that she and her
boyfriend are out for her birthday dinner since today is her birthday. Her caption says “Birthday
dinner, I’m legal”.
2 hrs (2 hrs ago) – Photographer “carolinatopshots” posts a photo collage from a volleyball
game that took place this evening. All pictures are action shots with players either serving the
ball, making a forearm pass, or performing a jump set. Caption says “Some volleyball action
between Cherryville and Bessemer City. Hate they didn’t out our better, the lighting there is not
very good haha”.
2 hrs (2 hrs ago) – User “cardona222” posts a pre-game selfie of himself before playing soccer
against Clemson. His red Under Armour uniform shows that he is part of the Gardner-Webb
Bulldogs soccer team. His caption reads “Soccer game tonight at Clemson, lets go bulldogs”.
1 hr (1 hr ago) – User “haleyetaylor” posts a selfie of her and her boyfriend after she is surprised
with a date night in downtown Charlotte. The picture was created with the PicCollage app where
she placed her photo on top of a light green background. Her caption says “Surprise date night
downtown. So blessed”.
41 mins (41 mins ago) – “carolinatopshots” advertises his photography by posting a picture of
Abbee from her senior photo shoot. Abbee is wearing a blue, red, and black dress, sitting on a
rock by a pool in her backyard. Caption says “Be like Abbee and schedule your senior photo
shoot…lots of fun and great photos for an excellent price!”
30 mins (30 mins ago) – “rachelbpressley” posts a VSCOcam edited photo of her sitting on a
hammock by her residence hall in Appalachian State University. It appears that she is relaxing
and reading a book titled “Visions of America”. Her caption says “take a breath & let the rest
come easy ~ #appstate #eno #liveauthentic #vscocam”.
27 mins ago (27 mins ago) – “imagegalleryphotography” showcases a photo of a sleeping baby
from a recent photo shoot. The baby is sleeping on a light pink blanket, wearing pink and white
rabbit ears. Their caption says “Newborns are the cutest! #ImageGallery”.
Interview:
*Note: The person I interviewed is Instagram user “bryannaaaxo”, who is a close friend of
mine. I chose her for this interview because she’s just like me, a person who enjoys photography.
She uses Instagram like any other person, to share their life to followers. In the past, she was
moderately active on Instagram but now that she’s focused on work, she limits her time of using
social media. I believe getting her responses helped contributed to this observation notes
because getting a point of view of an Instagram user gives readers an insight of what it’s like
using the app and such. Interview questions were sent to her on Friday September 12, 2014 and I
received her responses on Sunday September 14, 2014.
*Note: The extended answers were received on Friday September 26, 2014.
1. Describe the types of pictures you like to post on Instagram.
@bryannaaaxo: I like posting pictures of scenery and any activities I did throughout the day. It
lets my followers (mostly friends) see what my interests are and what my daily life is like. I
mostly like taking scenery pictures because it’s more fun to take pictures of rather than the usual
pictures with friends. Also, it gives me a good excuse to use the After Light app to edit the
picture. Some examples of pictures I post are a picture of waves at a beach with me and my
friends in it, the skyline of New York City, food and drinks, and selfies.
2. List and explain the filter(s) you think are the best when editing pictures.
@bryannaaaxo: My favorite filter is Valencia. I just think it’s pretty and not as intense as the
other filters. Valencia gives pictures a warm temperature feeling to it. Even though most of my
pictures are edited on an app called After Light, I sometimes only use Valencia if I upload a
picture that hasn’t been edited yet. Other filters that I think are okay are Sierra, Rise, and
Walden.
3. Tell me how Instagram has connected you to the rest of the world.
@bryannaaaxo: Instagram makes me feel like I’m a lot closer to the people I follow than I
actually am. It also makes me feel like I know more about a person’s life than I actually do. You
can see what a person is really like and what their interests is, which may be something that a
person doesn’t like to show outside to the world.
4. Tell me about how Instagram has impacted you since you started using the app.
@bryannaaaxo: It makes me feel like I have to take pictures whenever I do something
interesting. Whether I’m on a trip, a football game, or spirit week at school, I take the
opportunity to take pictures and create memories. I also feel lonely when I see people doing
things together and I wasn’t invited. It makes me feel left out of all the activities that I could’ve
been involved in. I also get upset when I don’t get enough likes on my pictures.
5. If the app was no longer available, tell me the positive and negative effects you think will
happen, if any.
@bryannaaaxo: The positive effect(s) is that you won’t feel lonely or jealous of people and you
can do fun things without worrying about taking cute pictures to show off to everyone. Another
positive effect is that you can spend time doing other positive activities rather than spending so
much time on an app. The negative effect(s) is feeling less connected to your friends and the rest
of the world. Another negative effect would be less creativity because Instagram allows you to
be creative with your pictures.
