Social medial platform enables individuals to access, create and interact with a broader range of information. Despite the fact that social media is embraced by all individuals, teens engagement in social media is relatively high as opposed to individuals of other ages. Several researchers have conducted different studies to understand teens’ involvement in social media. The ethnographic studies have found out that teens spend a lot of time socializing and interacting with their friends through social media and they have also found out that teens prefer social media as the principal channel to learn new and useful things, to share their everyday life and to establish social empowerment. Individuals shift to new social media platforms that they prefer to meet their first changing needs. Individuals express themselves freely and share their own stories online. More teens share their stories and express themselves in social media platforms such as Instagram than adult individuals. The previous results have also found that more women spend a lot of their time interacting in Instagram than men of the same age ( Jensen, 2013).
Although several studies have illustrated many perspectives concerning how teens perceive and use social media as opposed to other age groups, very few studies have been able in a position to determine the truth behind the allegation using large datasets ( Jang, Han, Shih and Lee, 2015). Additionally is is a great challenge to the researchers because few social media sites reveal or collect information regarding the age of their users. The main objective of the research paper is to determine the popularity of Instagram among individuals of all ages in the United States of America. The researcher therefore will make use of monkey survey to solicit information from people across all cultures to determine the popularity of Instagram as opposed to other social networks that are available in the United States of America ( Stevens, Dunaev, Malven, Bleakley and Hull, 2016).
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Social media networks have redefined communication and the concept of globalization with the majority of people around the world being on the platform. The social networks such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and others provide a platform for people to communicate in various forms from images, audio, videos and messages, (Daraiseh, Gahtani, Joudi, Qahtani, 2013). The increasing popularity of the networks is attributable to the immediate and socially involving process that the platforms provide. An element of conformity and gaining a sense of identity explains why most people enjoy being on the platform. However, Instagram in as much as has numerous advantages poses a challenge concerning a multitude of issues such as identity theft especially of celebrities, cyber bullying, and changing the dynamics of mainstream media ( Schaffer, 2013). Instagram since its’ founding in 2010, over the course of the years, has a significant level of popularity. It is a photo sharing application worth one billion US dollars. It reaches about three hundred million users. Moreover, Instagram makes direct reference to an immediate culture from the word ‘insta’ with the design enabling individuals to share photos and videos instantly. While the term ‘gram’ representing a collection ( Manikonda, Hu and Kambhampati, 2014).
Instagram Access is primarily through a mobile application that is available in the different operating systems for mobile phones. With the increase in availability of internet and smart-phones it is easy for one to have an account ( Manikonda, Hu, and Kambhampati, 2014). One of the features that encourage its use is the provision for signing in with your Facebook account. This provides an opportunity for users to view and share photos with their friends and family. Others open the account with aim of promoting their businesses by displaying and sharing their products. The platform has attracted millions of users because it’s easy to operate and it is free to advertise. Instagram user creates a profile where they can upload photos at the same time garner a following ( Vivienne and Burgess, 2013). One of the ways to capitalize on the application is through the use of filters to improve one’s physical appearance and therefore enhance their likeability. The more the likes and positive comments one gets the more fulfilled they are with their identity and presence within the platform. Users have the power to design the accounts into what they want them to be with Instagram having different accounts form lifestyle accounts to product review ones. The increasing popularity has roots to the growth of pop culture and presenting a certain image on social media ( Tiggemann and Zaccardo, 2015).
One of the chief open issues regarding Instagram arises due to the challenges in understanding the user base. The aim of the research is to understand instagram users, categorize them by the way they feel when they interact with other individuals with Instagram accounts, determine what motivates them and final illustrate what discourages them from using this important social media platform.
Research Question
What is the significance of Instagram to users, what are the benefits that they derive when interacting with other individuals through Instagram, How often do individuals use Instagram, what are the challenges they face when using Instagram and how does the challenges influence their lives?
Popularity of Instagram
An attention oriented economy as explained by Marwick (2015), centers on individuals striving to get approval and acceptance from others. The notion of celebrities and social media is to some extent inseparable as celebrities rely on social networking platforms to enhance their celebrity image and gain a wider fan base. However, this poses a challenge, as celebrities have to contend with identity theft through the existence of multiple accounts. Another disadvantage with the popularity is that it has strengthened the attention economy driving individuals from discovering their true selves to picking up other identities that model the celebrities’ identity. A number of psychological theories help explain this phenomenon to provide understanding of why it is people model their Instagram accounts after famous ones with some of them including the social comparison theory, parasocial interaction, and social learning theory. The focus of this study looks at how the social comparison theory and parasocial interaction account for the increase in idolizing Instagram popularity.
Social Cognitive Theory
Bandura, (1997) in his social cognitive theory, explains how people acquire and maintain certain behavioral patterns. Bandura further explains that the social cognitive theory explains the fact that individuals do not simply respond to environmental influences but they actively seek and interpret information from the environment. Individuals operate as the catalysts of their motivation, behavior, and development. The idea of self-presentation as we know it today has changed with individuals seeking to model others to create and enhance their identities. Individuals identify a model they perceive as favorable then model their behavior though their posting habits to become similar to them. For instance, Kim Kardashian and her daughter North break the internet by sharing their photos together representing ideals of motherhood.
Other celebrities such as Krissy Tegan follow suit by providing a sneak preview into the lives of their family. With both celebrities having a wide phenomenon, their fans emulate their behavior by picking up their fashion attributes and taking them as their own. The phenomenon equally explains the need to keep up with the various hash tags that come up as they encourage conformity with trending topics or activities within the platform. They also communicate ideal self-goals projected by others. For example, an individual may post a photo with the spouse bearing the hash tag relationship goals, which is among the popular ones. Onlookers examine the photo and the taglines associated then develop a desire to have such goals in their relationships.
Social Comparison Theory
The social comparison theory developed by Leon Festinger in 1954 hypothesizes that humans possess a fundamental desire to draw a comparison with others in a bid to fulfill their affiliation needs. The theory asserts that one’s feeling of self-worth and identity builds on drawing comparison with others. In this sense, individuals use what they see around them to create an identity for themselves. This is common with adolescents as explained by Ward (2016) who struggle to accept their identity. With Instagram having a qualitative way of providing a rating of popularity through the number of followers and likes one gets, most individuals set up their accounts to model a particular celebrity to enhance their identity. The existing ratio helps gauge the popularity of an individual with those with many followers gaining a popularity status.
Festinger provides an elaborate discussion of how there needs to be an existing system of comparison of which to gauge oneself with. The ratio is apparent in various popular accounts such as those of Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, Kim Kardashian and many others. In the past, young people inclined to opinions and trends through consulting peers, (Kong, 2015). The major mode of communication was face to face or through phone calls. The predominance of social networking sites provides a platform through which young people get to share around the world without barriers to information sharing or access. Today most trends center on celebrity gossip, fashion preferences and promotion of fitness through healthy lifestyles.
The system of comparison posited through the Instagram ration system is more common with celebrities. For instance, Kim Kardashian has eighty-four million followers whereas she only follows one hundred and six people. The disparity in the numbers serves to reveal the popularity and mass following she has around the world. In typing out her name on Instagram, various other users bearing her name pop up such as Kim Kardashian Army which is an account created by a fan who idolizes her. The account is not just limited to Kim Kardashian but also other celebrities such as Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, and many others.
The social comparison deeply embeds in how we communicate through social networks such as Instagram. The instantaneous appeal of the platform encourages a form of addiction such that users continually log on to the application, to evaluate the photos and videos that have likes and comments. The desire stems from a need for affiliation with individuals hoping that the comments give them a sense of validation and approval. The need to keep up with pop culture is another motivational factor, (Wright 2015).
It is safe to argue that individuals who idolize the popular accounts have a poor perception of their identity projecting a lifestyle and identity that is not their own. The sense of competition among Instagram followers draws from the theory. According to Gardner & Katie (2013), social networks encourage individuals to struggle to maintain multiple identities one being for the people they are, outside social media and another within social media. The identities most people create on Instagram, conveys a desirable image with millenials wanting to appear cool and aware. Through the existence of popular accounts, individuals’ perceive that by modeling the said accounts they can achieve the same level of popularity. Individuals then carefully design an identity, and other users compare themselves to these crafted identities not having an idea that it is a projected image.
The cycle of comparison carries on, encouraging more and more individuals to model popular accounts or engage in identity theft especially of celebrities. The warranting principle as explained by Wright (2015) has links to the social comparison theory as it centers on the idea that judgment from other sources of information carries more influence than self-judgment. In a bid to appear more favorable than others, individuals engage in the active process of photo editing and including hash tags to attract a mass following. With the platform opening up, opportunities for dating such as through direct messages, the warranting principle takes full effect with the user valuing feedback provide by the followers. This poses a great challenge with the increase in cyber bullying where individuals referred to strolls, bearing anonymous identities post negative comments on a user’s picture to devalue their sense of self-worth. Despite celebrities providing a baseline for attracting a wide fan base, some struggle with cyber bullying to the extent of having managers and consultancy firms manage their accounts to avoid the negative effects of the bullying.
An example of an individual who has capitalized on celebrity status to gain a following on Instagram is Leana Good ridge, (Marwick, 2015). She is a close friend to Rihanna who has a mass following on Instagram. In the course of their friendship, Leana constantly posts photos with Rihanna while on concerts growing her popularity on the platform. This has roots to parasocial interaction a phenomenon that helps explain why individuals idolize famous Instagram accounts. The idea of parasocial interaction dates back to Donald Horton and Richard Wohl. It references how followers form an association to the celebrity such that an illusion of a real friendship exists whereas there is none. In such case, the follower becomes too preoccupied with the celebrity’s lifestyle to the extent of picking up the lifestyle as his or her own. Lee, Lee, Mon & Suny (2015) highlight important motives associated with Instagram use such as social expression interaction and the growth of pop culture.
The idolization of individuals is encouraging a popularization of micro-celebrity practice, (Marwick 2015). Individuals frame their statues behind their photos to encourage an image that others emulate. This explains why varied accounts have different preferences with some users designing their accounts to feature food, others only lifestyle and others fitness and many other preferences. The use of Instagram in this sense provides onlookers with a glimpse into their life that fits a projected identity. The identity in most instances is not the ideal one but is simply a representation of it. The images have popularized many to them gaining a form of celebrity status such as the West Brooks.
The West Brooks as sisters who are popular on Instagram through their following got a reality television show on BET network to provide their followers with a glimpse into their lives. With such examples in place individuals often assume that if they were to follow the same steps, they would achieve the same level of celebrity status. Celebrities in most instances owe their success to their fans, so they feel a need to give a glimpse of their lives to retain the following. Through the parasocial phenomenon, followers gain a false sense of affiliation while at the same time modeling their lives to bear similarity to the celebrities’ lifestyle. The cycle of modeling continues with individuals lacking the ability to represent them in the Platform for who they are.
Implication of Instagram to Mass Communication
Social media has played a major role in changing mainstream media today through the framing, shaping and priming processes it reveals. For example, when celebrities involve themselves in meaningful causes and tag other individuals to be part of it the movement grows and others can participate meaningfully in it. In this sense, social media plays a role in mobilizing individuals towards change. According to Kong (2015), the popularity of Instagram gives users the platform to reveal what becomes news. The social movement Black Lives Matter uses social media to advance its ideology.
One of the photos depicting willful surrender of an Africa-American to Police helps communicate the prevailing message of ending police brutality. Through such photos, it is possible to frame racial inequality as an apparent issue in society priming us as individuals to reconsider the notions we have on racial prejudice. However, Instagram, as it only promotes such positive change at a minimum level as the focus, is primarily on individuals. The implication is that society is shifting towards a narcissist oriented approach with the platform providing an avenue where people share on the places they have been, their fashion statements ( Fahmy, 2014). As celebrities begin to redefine how it is we use the platform, individuals model their approach and effect the changes.
The medium of news delivery is changing. In some instances during emergency users may take short videos of what is happening to post them on the platform before it becomes part of the mainstream media. In this sense, social media has empowered individuals to become journalists, entrepreneurs’ models and specializes in lifestyle. Another component that has affected mass media is the rise of digital manipulation. Through Instagram, individuals take up celebrity accounts as their own and through the photo editing feature edit photos in a way that make them appear flawless.
The use of Instagram has equally changed language dynamics, which necessitates the need for constant updating of the urban dictionary. Language dynamics are changing to encompass statements such as ‘selfie game strong,' #Woman Crush Wednesday or Man Crush Monday. The words have framed most individuals’ perception towards conformity as with each day having a tagline, and most individual join the movement. The celebrities fan base gets strength from individuals using celebrity photos as part of the tag lines to convey their preferences in physical attractiveness and likability. The notion of the taglines is a norm such that it is apparent in any users account. The extent of language has broadened as a form of marketing strategy with various companies using Instagram accounts to market their products. For example, Carlos Bakery, a well-known establishment through its popularity on television, uses Instagram to advertise some of its cakes. By using the existing wide base of individuals in the network, the products reach a global scale. Companies equally use celebrities through their account to advertise the products in question.
The idea of being part of pop culture and the growth of pop media is another catalyst that is fueling the orientation towards Instagram as a platform. From terms such as intraframe, adolescents look to Instagram to gain popularity for their lifestyle from accounts on hair care to skin care to food and fitness. The wave has taken root so much so that celebrity Kim Kardashian capitalized on the selfie culture to write her selfie book. The idea of having the necessary skills to take the best selfie seems apparent through an increase in blogs and posts providing individuals with such information. As explained by Kong (2015), the growth of technology and innovation of social networking sites pose several issues to reconsider such as the increase in cyber, failing relationships because of cheating, and an increase in self-centeredness. Mass communication in itself carries the potential to change society with the media often termed as the fourth estate having the power to influence and shape public policy and opinion.
Methodology
A content analysis was conducted using monkey survey on Instagra. The techinique was adopted by the researcher because the objective of the thesis was to determine the positive and negative influence of Instagram to users. 26 respondents were selected for the study, where the researcher sent them the monkey survey with questionnaires to fill online. 20 female and 6 individuals aged between 17-35 years were selected for the study. 81% of the respondents were Caucasian while 19% comprised of non Caucasian. The research question was answered by the researcher by interpreting the respondents’ feedback in the monkey survey tool. Historically female individuals have been known to be users of social media than men and this is why the researcher used more women as opposed to men. The researcher was biased in his study as it is not clear in the current time whether the gap is still the same or it has been reduced with time.
Analysis
The monkey survey tool analyzed the data automatically after being filled by the respondents. The information was then represented in the form of bar graphs which illustrated the number of individuals who strongly agreed, somewhat agreed, neither agreed nor disagreed, somewhat disagreed, strongly disagreed. The bar graphs were then represented on a scale of between 1-5 with 1 standing for strongly agreed while five strongly disagreed.
Result and Discussion
11% of the respondents strongly agreed that they are frequent users of Instagram, 4% somewhat agreed, 27% neither agreed nor disagreed, 16% somewhat disagreed while the majority 42% strongly disagreed that they are frequent Instagram users.
Q1 I am a frequent Instagram user.
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The current people, especially the young ones are normally finding and adapting new ways of interacting with friends in an online platform. 15 percent agreed that they frequently use Instagram, 27 % were not sure on whether they visited Instagram frequently while the remaining population rarely visited Instagram on frequent basis. Despite the fact that a great percentage of individuals rarely visited Instagram on the frequent basis, there has been an increase in the number of Instagram users all over the world from the time it was incepted until the current time.
When asked on whether they use Instagram to express themselves, 30.77% strongly agreed, 26.92% somewhat agreed, 11.54% neither agreed nor disagreed, 15.38% somewhat disagreed while 15.38% strongly disagreed.
Q2 I use Instagram to express myself.
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From the above results, it is evident clear that most individuals use Instagram to express themselves. This explains why Instagram is a popular site used by millions of individuals all over the world. Currently, it is reported that there are more than 200 million Instagram users all over the world and the number is projected to increase as time goes by. Instagram allows users to express themselves through the shared photos at any time at their own convenience. This also illustrates as to why there are many selfies pictures posted in Instagram as opposed to other social media site such as Facebook, Twitter and others.
When asked on whether they use Instagram to learn the lives of other individuals, 11.54% of the respondents strongly agreed that they use Instagram to learn the lives of other individuals. 19.23% of the respondents somewhat agreed that they use Instagram to learn about the lives of other individuals, 26.92% neither agreed nor disagreed that they use Instagram for learning the lives of other individuals, 26.92% somewhat disagreed that they use Instagram to learn about the lives of other individuals and finally, 15.38% strongly disagreed that they use Instagram to learn about the lives of other individuals.
Majority of Instagram users use the platform to investigate the lives of the celebrities whom they follow, while others use Instagram to interact with new friends and the existing ones. From the respondents, we can learn that Instagram is a social media platform used by many individuals to learn more things about life through following the posts of prominent people.
When asked whether they are inspired by Instagram, 19.23% strongly agreed that they are inspired, 15.38% somewhat agreed, 15.38% neither agreed nor disagreed, 26.92% somewhat disagreed and finally 23.08% strongly disagreed that they are inspired by other Instagram accounts.
Some posts by different users are imperative as they can inspire individuals who have the ambition of moving far in life. However, other posts portray the self-interest of individuals who are only interested in posting about their personal lives rather than helping those that are discouraged in life to find the reason to work hard in life. Despite the fact that Instagram has few users as opposed to Facebook and Twitter, most of the users are inspired when other account holders appreciate their photos. They get inspired day by day and this is the reason why Instagram has more than 20 billion photos shared by the users. The number is more likely to increase as technology advances all over the world especially in third world countries where they have challenges with their internets.
26.92% of the respondents strongly agreed that Instagram make the feel connected with other individuals all over the world, 3.85% somewhat agreed, 50% neither agreed nor disagreed, 3.85 somewhat disagreed and lastly 15.38% of the respondents strongly disagreed that Instagram help them to interact with other individuals. According to the results above, Instagram is usually a new platform that enables users to communicate by sharing their updates. You can easily follow individuals that you know and those that are known so long as you have the interest of connecting with them. Additionally, Instagram enables its users to instantaneously capture share what they go through in life using a series of photos and videos. This is an indication that photos and videos have become principal social media currencies used by users to communicate with other individuals who interest in them.
Q7 Instagram makes me feel disconnected
to other people.
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50% of the respondents strongly agree that Instagram make them feel disconnected with other individuals in the society, 15.38% somewhat agree, 26.92% neither agree nor disagree, 3.85% somewhat disagree and lastly 3.85% strongly disagree. The results indicate that many individuals spend a lot of their valuable time interacting with others in Instagram and neglects others who require them. Additionally, majority of teens who are in school, tend to ignore their studies as they concentrate a lot in Instagramming with other friends hence leading to poor college performance. Many families also have been negatively influenced as parents spent a lot of their time interacting with individuals who are less important to them. In most cases, some couples have ended up terminating their marriages when the situation becomes unbearable or when they suspect their spouses ( Hosseinmardi, Mattson, Rafiq, Han, Lv and Mishra, 2015).
The analysis indicates that there is a high demand for Instagram users as they have the feeling that the platform is important due to the fact that it helps to inspire individuals when they interact with others of the high profile such as celebrities. To explore the reason behind increased number of Instagram users, the researcher found out that Instagram allows the users to easily capture the picture and post it in their account where they then receive positive comments from their followers which inspire them in life (Lee, Lee, Moon and & Sung, 2015). The comments that one gets from the followers also depends on their moods and the caption of the post. Ugly scenes are more likely to receive negative remarks as compared to attractive scenes of the photo. The results indicate that Instagram users are more likely to post issues related to their lives and usually focus their topics on self-expression which sometimes is not pleasant to the followers who are not interested in following the lives of other individuals ( Lindahl and Öhlund, 2013).
Also, most of the Instagram users tend to manipulate their pictures in order to receive more likes and this is the reason as to why most of the respondents were against the issue that social media changes their lives with inspiring posts. The reason as why many users want many likes on their posts is because likes has turned up to be a self-validation tool which the Instagram users utilize to measure their self-worth. Instagram is become a very powerful tool that is used to connect individuals worldwide with their friends and relatives. Instagram as one form of social media is widely used by people as a broadcasting platform which helps in modifying messages that were often spread through the use of traditional media sources such as televisions, radio and print media. There is great evidence contained in the results that illustrate that Instagram is rapidly changing how individuals interact with each other as most of the people are now in the position to receive information as it appears in the first instance. Many individuals are forced to integrate Instagram along with other forms of social media into their communication strategies with the objective of changing communication behavior of other individuals in the society by ensuring transparency, openness and responsiveness ( Rao and Shalini, 2013).
Although there is a high interest in Instagram as a social media platform, the studies evaluating the impact of Instagram in the society is still in developing stage. Despite the fact that Instagram has helped improving awareness and literacy levels in the American society, it has also led to establishment of negative behavior among young individuals. For instance nude pictures posted by a certain user on Instagram can negatively influence the behavior of young individuals who have effectively developed in life. Young individuals are also likely to model their Instagram account to much the accounts of famous individuals without determining whether the fame will negatively influence their behavior or not.
Most of the school-going children have been forced to drop out of school due to their unwanting performance which has been influenced by social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook and twitter ( Reddy, 2014). The only way to control this is through restricting their access to social media platform until they attain the age where they can be in a position to think rationally and be able to identify what is good and what is right for them. The self-esteem of Instagram users is affected by what people think of them for instance, the research indicated that a higher percentage of 35% strongly agree that they are influenced with what people think of them. When individuals think of them in a negatively way, they are stigmatized which in the long run tends to influence their lives in a negative way. Despite the fact that Instagram is beneficial to the users as it enables them to interact with individuals who inspire their lives by encouraging them.
However, Instagram does not give immunity to the users because they face a lot of challenges that negatively influences their behavior. Some individuals are lured into sex especially young ones where they tend to be abused by their predators ( Li, Yang, Lv, Han and Mishra, 2014). Online popularity is important in person implying that one cannot wait for other individuals to make him or her popular. What you post determines how the other Instagram account owners will perceive about you. The results indicate that 70% of the respondents strongly agreed that on line popularity depends on individuals’ effort. The notion of celebrities and social media is to some extent inseparable as celebrities rely on social networking platforms to enhance their celebrity image and gain a wider fan base. However, this poses a challenge, as celebrities have to contend with identity theft through the existence of multiple accounts. Another disadvantage with the popularity is that it has strengthened the attention economy driving individuals from discovering their true selves to picking up other identities that model the celebrities’ identity. Additionally, most of the users use Instagram to weigh their popularity a situation that has led to increased number of users joining Instagram to show their prowess to other account owners. For instance, the results indicates that 76.9% strongly agree that they use Instagram to measure their popularity, 15.4% somewhat agree, 3.5% neither agree nor disagree and finally, 3.8% somewhat disagree. The fact that not respondent strongly disagreed is an illustration that most of the Instagram users seek popularity rather than interacting with their friends and relatives who are in distant places from them. Through Instagram, individuals take up celebrity accounts as their own and through the photo editing feature edit photos in a way that make them appear flawless ( Sheldon and Bryant, 2016).
The use of Instagram has equally changed language dynamics, which necessitates the need for constant updating of the urban dictionary.
Q35 Famous Instagram accounts influence me to change my daily routine.
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The medium of news delivery is changing. In some instances during emergency users may take short videos of what is happening to post them on the platform before it becomes part of the mainstream media. In this sense, social media has empowered individuals to become journalists, entrepreneurs’ models and specializes in lifestyle. The growth of technology and innovation of social networking sites pose several issues to reconsider such as the increase in cyber, failing relationships because of cheating, and an increase in self-centeredness.
Conclusion
Social media is a double-edged sword having the capacity to inspire great change at the same time cause harm. It is for these reasons that individuals need to get to the point of accepting themselves for who they are and avoid imitating the famous based on their dressing styles. While it is not bad to model the various famous accounts, it is important for individuals not to deviate from their identity, therefore, people are called upon to have strong values and upon them-selves and avoid to be suede. Through theoretical frameworks such as those of Festinger and Bandura, we can gain insight on some of the reasons why people idolize others on Instagram. With the need to compare ourselves with others fueling the change in our identities, it is important for individuals to consider having an accurate reality of their lives within and outside the social media platforms.
Many individuals are already using Instagram to reach on their friends and relatives all over the world. Instagram has reduced the distance between one location and the other even the two locations are thousands and thousands of miles away from each other. The results of the study indicate that many users of Instagram want to be popular and famous like the celebrities they follow. Additionally, a positive compliment may inspire an individual while a negative comment by another user may torment an individual. This is because most of the respondents agreed that the likes they receive when thy post a certain picture or video interest them while dislikes discourages them in the long run.
Instagram and other social media platforms are beneficial to all individuals that are involved in the interaction process because they are able to discuss certain things that help build each other’s life. Traditionally, female individuals receive more likes as opposed to men and therefore the likes they receive can make them more popular as opposed to men who receive less likes. Popularity of an individual depends on how that individual carries himself in the social media and not through the likes they receive from their followers. It is possible that some users like everything even they are not appealing and therefore it will be wrong to state that those who receive more likes are popular than those who receive less or those who don’t receive at all.
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