The system embodied through social media is definitely one rooted in branding. Social media is an open ended platform for people to post any kind of content mostly without any boundaries which gives people incentive to be creative and personalize their account. Some people use their account for publicity and others for their talent and others simply for a collection of interests or just things they like and some may include all of these. One thing for sure is that social media is a very carefully curated ground: no one just posts arbitrarily, posts are selected and deliberate. This system can maybe be called brand strategy. And everyone who chooses to create a social media account does so knowing that it will be a public platform (at least for those accepted to see the account) for people to directly judge them and instantly create an image of them.
One strategy I personally use is consulting my friends before I post an Instagram and gauge off of their feedback. And this is not an extraordinary practice. I have gotten asked to critique a photo or a caption from my friends for their accounts too. Many of my friends actually even ask me to help them come up with a creative caption for their photos. And sometimes, if they can’t come up with a creative caption, they won’t even post the photo at all.
I personally try not to reveal everything about myself through my social media because I honestly really care about my image and am honestly scared about what other people will think of me. I personally always try to portray the best of myself and in my life and because of this I think a lot before posting anything. I only have about 30 posts on my Instagram too. I post photos of art and quotes that I like and maybe of my travels so that people can get a holistic image of the pluralities in my character and not simply an image from my face-value. From photos of art and quotes, I hope to establish an impression of intelligence and open-mindedness. I know that when I see quotes on another account, I think of them to be a deeper and introspective person.
Being the star characters of our own accounts, we always want to be the protagonists and therefore will always post good things most of the time. We do this so people can like us. After all, we are all looking for love and acceptance.
INPUT: Part 1: Using the questionnaire below as a guide follow the steps of formal analysis on an classmate’s selection of Social Media Photos
Observation and Description: (What do you see? where?)
- List the literal objects in the image (person, people, background, etc.). At this point make no assumptions from your observations, simply list the facts. MTR-Gits boxes, Indian grocery store, grocery cart, Jenga game, Indian food plate, champagne-looking drink, bagels, snow, acrylics, Portugal landscape, smiling people, architecture, illustration, flowers
- What do you notice first when you look at the image(s)? Why? When I first look at the images, I notice a certain vibrancy. This might be due to the fact that Anshu is smiling in all of the photos of her and her colorscheme of her photos are quite colorful.
- What kinds of colors do you see? How would you describe them? Pink, green, blue, yellow, grey, black. Most of the photographs of her are pretty vibrant and noisy. the photos of landscapes are a bit more grey and dark. The “How to Identify People” photo has a white background. The “Grow a pair” flowers photo is a black background with cold pink flowers.
- In the figure(s): Describe gesture, posture, facial expression. One parallel in all of the photos of Anshu are that she is smiling and she is doing so with her teeth showing in most. In one photo, she uses both of her hands to draw attention to her food. In another, she is using her hands to touch a can of food in a grocery store. In the photo of her playing Jenga, she is squatting to carefully remove a Jenga block while smiling. In two more selfies, she is holding up food to the camera. Another photo is of her back to the camera looking off into a landscape.
- What sort of fashions, clothes, hairstyles, fabrics, etc. do you see? How would you describe them? Describe the items of clothing, color, texture, and fit; are there tears or other marks on the clothing? Are they new or old? Labels? Describe the shoes and any other accessories. Anshu is wearing her natural hair in all of the photos, though in some she has a half ponytail and she is wearing glasses in all of them as well. I see her wearing black in 4 of the 7 photos of her and she is pretty covered with little skin showing. In the photo of her in the grocery store, she is wearing patterened pants with her shirt tucked in and a crossbody bag which looks very stylish. In the photo of her playing Jenga, she is wearing basic jeans shorts and a basic patterned t-shirt. I don’t see any tears in any clothes and they overall look like they fit well on her and are comfortable.
- Is there a sense of inertia or movement? In the photo of her playing Jenga, it is almost making me anxious to see if the structure will fall down or not after she pulls the piece. In the grocery photo, I see her walking down the aisle and scanning around to see what else catches her eye. The way she is looking at her food in the third photo, I feel like her mouth would have been very busy after that photo was taken.
- What time of day/night is it and where are they? How can we tell? In the Snapchat photo of her with Amal, I can tell it is daytime because I recognize that street near Stuyvesant Town and there is sunlight. In both photos of landscapes, it looks like it is dawn, because the skies seem very dull and gray like night is about to fall. In the photo of her with the food plate, the lighting looks very dull and there is no sunlight so it could be at a fancy restaurant with dim lights.
Analyze/Categorize: (What can you assume is a meaningful sign of a specific identity/personality? How then can you generalize/categorize the relationships you see?)
Mentally separate the parts or elements, thinking in terms of the choices the person has made in self presentation and what they may reflect: textures, shapes/forms, light/dark or bright/dull colors, labels, and sensory qualities. Make certain to map your analysis to show how your observations lead to certain categorizations. Suggested questions to help with analysis:
- How has the person used clothing, make-up and hair in the photo (see above)? Her hair is worn natural rather than straightened or curled or worn as a stylish hair do. She is wearing glasses rather than contact lens in all the photos of her. She is wearing black rather than any other color or even white in most of the photos. She is wearing very minimal to no makeup at all in most of the photos. She might be wearing a bright pink lipstick in one photo, but that seems to be the only makeup product she is wearing.
- What sort of effect do these have on the image? Theses stylistic choices make the photos look very effortless and easy. The fact that Anshu has not done too much to decorate herself also translates in her photos as they do not look highly filtered either.
- What is in background within the image? What does this reveal? There are backgrounds of Portugal landscapes, grocery stores, restaurants, New York street, and a communal space. This reveals that Anshu has many activities she participates in and has many different interests such as paiting, socializing and especially food.
- What role does fashion and artifice play in the image(s)? Anshu uses some artifice by choosing to smile in all of the photos as opposed to being candid or making another facial expression. This could be a strategy to portraying her as very spirited and optimistic. Her fashion style seems to be very comfortable and thus could play a role in communicating how “chill” and laid back her personality is.
- What is the role of light/shadow in the photo? The photos in which I see more shadows seem more serious to me like the ones of the landscapes and the one with the two flowers. There is definitely a darker tonality in the photo with the flowers and it could pertain to the message of the post. The post seems to play off of reinventing a cliché phrase and giving it a new meaning which I thought was very creative. The absence of light here could be to maybe draw in attention to see the photo closer and really think about it. In the photos of the landscapes, there is an absence of light, which could honestly just be because that was the time of day the photo was taken and there just was not any sunlight then.
- Does feel like a staged photograph? Which parts are staged? Which feel natural? How can you tell? All of her photos seem staged to me: even though she isn’t always directly looking at the camera in some of the photos, she is still smiling while engaging in some activity or which indicates that she is aware that a photo is being taken of her. It’s almost as if she wants the photos to be candid, but they can’t be because she is smiling really big. It could also pass off as candid if maybe she was smiling with her mouth slightly open or her head tilted back as if in laughter but her smile is consistent in all of the photos which indicate a sense of staged.
- Are there specific choices made as to designer labels? What does this reflect about the community the individual belongs or aspires to? What could it reflect about their socio-economic background? I do not see any brands or labels in her clothes but I see labels around the food cans in the first photo in the grocery store. She also explicitly states the brand of MTR-Gits in her caption and how it made her so happy to see that. This indicates that she could be South Asian, specifically Indian, as this brand makes instant Indian food. Another brand is Acrylic in the photo of the painting. This indicates that she can afford to buy a quality, high-end paint for her craft. It indicates to me that she is well off financially as she can afford these things.
- Also think about what else may be revealed intentionally or not intentionally through gesture/posture/expression or interpersonal relationships (proximity, gesture, pose). In the photo of her with a group of people, most of the people are making hand signs or gestures to pose for the photo whereas Anshu has her eyes closed and her hands to her side but she is still smiling. This could indicate that she may be reserved in social settings. This group fo people is standing pretty close proximity, almost touching, so she seems like she is integrated pretty well, but she may not always reveal herself to everyone.
- Now think about the photos together as a narrative. The person has chosen to bring these particular photos together as a reflection of their identity / sense of self. What doe the images have in common? Where do they differ? The biggest commonality is her smile in all of the photos. They make her seem like a very optimistic, cheery and spirited individual. The photos differ in the color schemes of the photos that do not include her in them. While all the photos with her in them seem very vibrant and colorful, the photos that don’t include her face seem more cold and dull. This indicates to me that she is a deeper person with interesting views and ideas. Her choice to bring this particular combination of photos could mean that she wanted me to think that there is more to her personality than just being a cheery, high spirited individual from just knowing her at the surface level.
Interpretation/Synthesis: (How do you put the signs together into a system? Who is this person? What is their relationship to others? How do they want to be seen? What is emergent/emerging in their identity or sense of self?)
Now is the moment when you can begin to think about the meaning/system/strategy embodied in the various elements described above when combined together. This is also a moment to recognize your point of view – for example, do you feel you have things in common which make you more or less interested in what you see in the photos? You do not need to answer this specifically – but simply consider: How does this performance of self make you feel about your own self and why?
- What can you assume about the person’s statement of self in this photo/series of photos? Anshu seems very comfortable in her own skin and always tries to stay happy and motivated. She is also an activist and wants to help spread awareness on the issues she cares about. She wants to explore and seek more experiences in life as she keeps posting throwbacks from her trip to Portugal. This could also indicate that she practices showing gratitude and this has a direct relationship with happiness.
- Who are the other people/objects depicted and what are the relationships between? She has friends in 3 of her photos and they seem to be smiling and having fun. There is also a common theme of food and her showing her love for the food.
- What do you think it means? Since there aren’t a lot of people in her photos, it could mean that she chooses her friends wisely and maybe she does not have a lot of friends, but a few quality friends. The theme of food tells me that she doesn’t care too much for diet or fitness and lives life to the fullest.
- What does it mean to you? I have a lot of respect for Anshu because she chooses quality over quantity when it comes to making friends and I subscribe to this as well. It means to me that she herself is a very valuable, and loyal rare friend and I would love to be friends with her.
- How does this relate to you and your life? Seeing the images of Indian food make me really happy because I myself am also Indian but I also, like Anshu, did not grow up in India. And it makes me really happy and proud to see that another Indian who grew up in another country embraces her roots and culture so much.
- What feelings do you have when looking at these images? Where do you locate these feeling as coming from? I have a feeling of admiration and a sense of pride. I also feel like I can relate to Anshu as I too smile in all of my photos and don’t have too many friends, but rather a few quality friends. She is also pretty liberal and cares about people. I think these feelings are just rooted in the reflection of myself because I can subscribe to a lot of things she believes in.
- What is the overall visual effect or mood of the image(s)? The overall mood is pretty vibrant and colorful and enthusiastic and the captions are very funny. It just makes me want to be friends with her.
- Do you think there are things in the photos that represent other things-symbols? The object of the Jenga game struck me as a symbol of stress relief. In her caption, she also explicitly states that she is trying to “balance” her life as it was finals weak for her. Posting that photo could be her way of dealing with the stress and maybe reminding herself by looking at the light at the end of the tunnel during finals weak.
- Why do you think that the person chose to project themselves in this manner and made these kinds of artistic decisions? I think Anshu, like me, always wants to highlight the best in herself and in her life. She shares with her audience the good happy moments. She also uses a lot of humor in her captions and this could be a strategy to show that she is a very easy-going and laid back person. Howver, maybe, like me, she is afraid that if she reveals too much about herself like the lows in her life, she will get criticism.
- Based on your analysis above, what goals and ambitions does this person seem to have from their participation in an online community? One goal of hers is to do well academically, as one of her captions referred to finals week and another related to exam grading which shows that she really cares about her grades. Her painting in one photo was also really good and I could see how talented she was. She is also well-travelled which makes me think she is open-minded and maybe wants to travel more. This makes me think that she is really ambitious and wants to do the best in whatever she endeavors.
- Online profiles can often be geared more towards on part of our social/professional circle, than to its entirety. What kind of an effect do you think the profile could have on others? Potential friends? Family? Employers? I think Anshu’s target audience is her friends as the posts and captions she shares seem like interests and activites she would like to share with her friends. I think from her online presence, they would get an impression that she is a very friendly and easy-going person. Her photos relating to social issues could affect her friends in that they too could be prompted to show their support and post for these social causes and find inspiration from these posts. I think her smile impacts potential friends in that they may want to seek out her friendship. Her family could be pretty content with her profile, as coming from an Indian family, they could be a bit conservative and she isn’t doing anything that would be deemed inappropriate. Her profile could effect employers depending on the company’s beliefs. If the company was based in New York, it is most likely pretty liberal and thus employers would be pleased to see the activism and creativity in her profile. I think her profile gives a really good impression as it shows her talent, creativity, passion and caring towards her grades.
