Instagram: An aesthetic society

With over one billion monthly users, Instagram is the second most used social media networking app after Facebook (Clement).

As a digital producer, I have been interested in how influencers, brands, news media, artists, and others use the app. I see Instagram as a platform that allows users to show their personalities through their feed. In other words, share their aesthetics by incorporating some elements of design.

Lev Manovich notes that the concept of aesthetics has a unique relation to media studies.

“I can’t think of another concept that is so central to the modern culture industries and yet also to the creation of media by individuals – such as the tens of millions of people worldwide today who use digital tools to make aesthetically refined photos for posting on Instagram, or the hundreds of millions that have the means to purchase beautiful designer clothes and home décor items.”

In his book, Instagram and Contemporary Image, Manovich suggests that Instagramers can be thought of as knowledge workers in a knowledge society (the term knowledge workers comes from Peter Drucker, who wrote- “the most valuable asset of a 21st-century institution, whether business or non-business, will be its knowledge workers and their productivity”).

He proposes the terms- aesthetic workers and aesthetic society, with a similar reference as that of Drucker, where aesthetic society refers to a society of aesthetically sophisticated consumer goods and services. He adds that in such a society, “production and presentation of beautiful images, experiences, styles, and user interaction designs is central for its economic and social functioning.”

Instagram as an aesthetic society becomes a space for, and values- space designers, user experience designers, architects, photographers, models, stylists, and other design and media professionals, as well as individuals who are skilled in using Instagram. He also defines “using” Instagram as “creating successful content, promoting this content, communicating with followers, and achieving desired goals.”

Manovich uses the term Instagramism to draw a distinction between the aesthetic of Instagram designed photos and the aesthetic of normal photography. He adds that focus on mood and atmosphere rather than representation or communication of emotions, is a key aspect of Instagramism.

I think it is important to remember that contemporary Instagramism is changing. In an article titled “The Instagram Aesthetic Is Over,” the author explains how young influencers are rejecting the idea of a curated feed over a “a messier and more unfiltered vibe” (Lorenz).

The author also notes the rising popularity of the idea of “Instagram vs Reality,” content tailored to promote authenticity over perfection.

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References

• Clement, J. “Distribution of Instagram users worldwide as of October 2020, by age group.” Statista, 2020, https://www.statista.com/statistics/325587/instagram-global-age-group/. Accessed 20 November 2020.

• Clement, J. “Most popular mobile social networking apps in the United States as of September 2019, by monthly users.” Statista, 2020, https://www.statista.com/statistics/248074/most-popular-us-social-networking-apps-ranked-by-audience/. Accessed 21 November 2020.

• Lev Manovich. Aesthetics, "Formalism," and Media Studies, in Laurie Ouellette and Jonathan Gray, eds., Keywords in Media Studies (New York: NYU Press)

• Drucker, P. (1959). The Landmarks of Tomorrow. New York: Harper and Row. Google. (2016, November 22). Search results. Retrieved from http://www.google.com/?gws_rd=cr&ei=h78zWPPgDMvbvATu9ImADQ#ne wwindow=1&q=%22Instagram+aesthetic%22

• Lorenz, Taylor. “The Instagram Aesthetic Is Over.” The Atlantic, 2019, https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2019/04/influencers-are-abandoning-instagram-look/587803/. Accessed 23 November 2020.