Assignment 3 – Report
Name: Charlie Marcolin, s3668496
I declare that in submitting all work for this assessment I have read, understood and agree to the content and expectations of the assessment declaration – https://www.rmit.edu.au/students/support-and-facilities/student-support/equitable-learning-services
Making Media blog links
Week 9 – Instagram photo
Week 9 – Instagram video
Week 10 – Instagram photo
Week 10 – Instagram video
Week 11 – Instagram photo
Week 11 – Instagram video
Report
How do the affordances of Instagram affect the way photos and videos are authored, published and distributed in the network?
Title of report: Instagram through a different lens.
Introduction:
The following report is an overview of the affordances of Instagram and the ways in which these affordances affect the ways photos and videos are authored, published and distributed in the network. Using my own personal experience, which was gained by creating media content over three weeks, this report explores the benefits and limitations of one of the world’s most well-known applications.
Background
On October 6, 2010, an application was launched to the public, featuring only one photo of a stray dog (Evans 2018, para. 3). Almost nine years later, this same application has over one billion worldwide accounts that are active every single month (Instagram 2019), and as of January 6, 2019, more than 50 billion photos have been uploaded to it (Omincore 2019). This application is the social media giant that we all know as Instagram.
Once not much more than a personal photo sharing app, this single platform medium is now used in thousands of different ways to suit thousands of different purposes. Whilst Instagram’s affordances, i.e. the properties which define the app’s possible uses, are ultimately finite and there are ways to work around its ‘intentional constraints’ (Manovich 2016, p. 12), the app provides users with the ability to create, edit and share photos and videos using the one native space. Essentially, Instagram affords a seamless and user-friendly media creation experience, whilst also affording the connectivity and participation which is expected of any social media app.
Evidence
Since week one of this course, we have explored the ways in which the affordances of Instagram affect the way photos and videos are authored, published and distributed in the network. More specifically, throughout weeks nine to eleven, we were able to experience these affordances first-hand as we made our own media content using only the Instagram app.
Authoring: In the context of the course prompt, authoring can be defined as the process of creating and editing a photo or video, using the existing ready-made software of Instagram.
Manovich (2016, p. 12) states that ‘instead of being concerned with hundreds of different cameras and pieces of professional equipment and endless possible editing operations,’ Instagram allows us to use one app with a ‘limited number of controls and filters and one type of camera’ that takes photos and videos using a square format. Whilst this does cause the application to be viewed as the ‘most pure visual medium’ (Manovich 2016, p. 12), as I wrote in my week 9 blog post, it is also quite constricting.
I have had a personal Instagram account since 2011 yet it was not until we were given this assignment that I ever used the actual Instagram app to take a photo, instead always opting for my iPhone’s built-in camera. Therefore, when I tried to take my first photo using the app, I found that I was not that happy with how the image turned out as I usually prefer a much wider angle. To Instagram’s defence, I do appreciate that when posting an image from your iPhone’s camera library, you are able to expand the image so that it is not just in the square format.
Furthermore, obviously, when I originally downloaded the app, there weren’t a lot of other editing apps so I did most of my editing using Instagram’s pre-made filters. Whilst this is perhaps more user-friendly and allows for quick and easy editing, it is quite limiting as there are only a few adjustments which you are able to make and in my opinion, most of the filters are too harsh and make photos and videos appear less realistic. Moreover, when I went to edit my first video in week 9 I was surprised to find that the only options for editing videos were the pre-made filters.
Publishing: In the context of the course prompt, publishing can be defined as the process of disseminating the photo or video, e.g. writing a caption, adding hashtags and then posting the photo onto Instagram.
The key thing I noticed when publishing my images and videos was how the use of hashtags garnered a lot more likes and views, even though I had little to no followers, suggesting that my content was being viewed and engaged with a large volume of users.
Whilst I usually would never hashtag my personal images, the likes and views which I received from the hashtags signified to me that Instagram really does afford social connection and that the app thrives off user interaction and engagement.
Distributing: In the context of the course prompt, distributing can be defined as the process of sharing a photo or video with an even larger audience than merely just users on Instagram.
Jenkins (2006, p. 243) wrote that there has been a ‘move from medium-specific content towards content that flows across multiple media channels, toward the increased interdependence of communication systems, toward multiple ways of accessing media content.’
This is extremely evident through the Instagram app, which affords the sharing of images and videos to other social media applications such as Facebook, Tumblr and Twitter.
Something interesting which I did notice was that the sharing features work to bring people to the Instagram app, rather than directing them to any of the other apps. For example, I am easily able to share my video to Twitter, however, once I do this, I am not redirected to the Twitter app. Then, when I look at my Twitter to see how the video is shared, it appears as a link which then directs me back to Instagram, thus bringing more traffic to Instagram’s app or website.
Evaluation:
There is no doubt that Instagram has completely changed networked photography and videography. However, whilst I do believe the affordances of Instagram once would have had a greater effect on the ways in which photos and videos were authored, published and distributed, I think their impact is much less significant in 2019. As I mentioned previously, there are ways to work around its ‘intentional constraints’ (Manovich 2016, p. 12) however, I believe that this is beneficial as it does allow the application to be used more broadly and appeal to more people.
Conclusion:
Ultimately, by authoring, publishing and distributing photos and videos for my blog posts using only the Instagram app, I have realised that I much prefer taking photos and/or videos using my iPhone camera and then editing them on a third-party photo app, such as VSCO, before then uploading them to Instagram.
If I were to complete this project again, I would definitely put a bit more effort into each of my posts and really explore all of Instagram’s capabilities, rather than focusing more on its limitations.
References:
Business Instagram 2019, Instagram Business, Instagram, viewed 27 May 2019, <https://business.instagram.com/>.
Evans, G 2018, Instagram: The dog that launched a social media giant, BBC, viewed 27 May 2019, <https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-45640386>.
Jenkins, H 2006, Convergence culture: Where old and new media collide, New York University Press, New York, NY
Manovich, L 2016, Instagram and Contemporary Image, University of San Diego, USA.
Omnicore 2019, Instagram by the Numbers: Stats, Demographics & Fun Facts, Omincore, viewed 27 May 2019, <https://www.omnicoreagency.com/instagram-statistics/>.