To broaden my understanding on Institutions, I decided to do more readings and dive deeper into the different kinds of institutions. From this weeks lectorial I gathered that there are different kinds of institutions that govern what we watch, the way we act, our morals, values etc. While my group and I have decided to focus on Cinema as an institution, I was intrigued by society as an institution.

The article is referenced down below with a brief annotation by me.

De Ridder, S 2015, ‘Are digital media institutions shaping youth’s intimate stories? Strategies and tactics in the social networking site Netlog’, New Media & Society, vol. 17, no. 3, pp. 356-374.

The article investigates how social media institutes create social identities that in turn reveal taboo aspects of gender, relationships and sexuality. The demographic being adolescents who actively use social networking sites, De Ridder looks at how the personal stories shared on social networking sites (SNS) has an impact on an interactive audience, who share, like and comment. The author aims to reflect on how institutions shape the intimate stories of young people (De Ridder, 2015). De Ridder is also curious as to how everyday lives are shaped by social and cultural movements or trends that are seen though social media. The ‘status quo’ and ‘apolitical design’ is mentioned in relation to social norms that are dictated through social media institutions. While social media institutions give us the opportunity to explore a social media identity, the freedom to be who you are is constrained by social norms. De Ridder points out that ‘they use tools that stabilise identities, offering pre-defined options e.g. the male/female categories, relationship status, etc.’ Todays youth are trapped to believe that social media institutions is a platform they can freely express themselves and have their own identities, but according to the article that freedom is taken from everyone who has to create a profile in order to navigate the site. The ‘strict identity management’, according to De Ridder does not only apply to social media institutions but is also used by commercial and government institutions.

This article provided a negative outlook on how institutions use popular culture and social media to marginalise certain groups of people. While we believe that we are given freedom on the online realm, we are narrowed down to an online profile that is controlled and standardised by social media institutions.  

While the so called ‘strict identity management’ may seem like a harsh reality, our social media selves can never be our true selves. I myself have many social media accounts but the closest I have gotten to my ‘true self’ is on facebook and thats only because I use my first name and a small part of my last name. I share no personal information, and on other platforms like instagram and tumblr, it is rare to find a picture of myself. So we may just be another user on a social media platform but thats a given with how small and encompassed digital technology has made our world. With digital technology comes a very new and different set of problems, like online trolls, cyber bullying, identity theft. The important thing is to be a smart user and understanding that our social media selves are different to our real selves, afterall we live in the real world, not a virtual one!