Instagram: More than Just Pictures. Do you think I look good? Should I post it on Instagram? What if I don t get enough

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1 XXX 1 XXX Professor Darrel Elmore ENC November 2015 Instagram: More than Just Pictures Do you think I look good? Should I post it on Instagram? What if I don t get enough likes? Is my caption too boring? All of these are common Instagram teen user s terminology. Crazily enough, about 300 million people are on this so called Instagram- the photo-sharing and video-sharing app. The app has had a striking impact on the change people go through in their lives. Over the last couple of years, Instagram has been growing and becoming more popular. The wide range of accounts one could find makes it easy for everyone to find just what they need. The many accounts can include: food, exercise, fashion, beauty, news, and many more. Although Instagram has its flaws, overall it is a great tool to use for self empowerment and self esteem. Women especially have found themselves trapped in the world of looking good and feeling good. One of the first questions I asked in my survey was: Do you workout to look good or feel good? 33.33% responded to look good and 53.33% responded to feel good. When it comes to eating right and exercising they may not always know the right thing to eat or right exercise to do. Personal trainers and gyms cost a lot of money and for some people it is hard to keep up with their jobs, school, kids, and keep eating well and exercising. Instagram has a whole community filled with different nutritionists, trainers, and chefs who can make your life just a bit easier. These people post pictures with detailed comments on recipes that are easy to make or certain exercise with detailed explanation on how to do it. Amanda Bisk is an Instagram user

2 XXX 2 who posts both exercise tips and healthy food recipes. When I began my interest in studying nutrition I began to research many tips on food and exercise. I came across many websites and some Instagram accounts, but one of my favorite accounts is Amanda Bisk s. She provides daily information on exercise tips like how to do a squat correctly. Remember technique is key for every squat you do (no matter what type). Good technique will ensure you work your muscles evenly, build even tone in your legs, and avoid any injury (Bisk). It s more about convenience rather than how effective she can be. Like Amanda there are thousands of users that can be your personal trainers and help you cook healthy meals. Humans are constantly growing and changing. People are always seeking for more and trying to figure out who they are or who they want to be. From ages eleven-to-eighteen according to psychologist Erik Erikson, are the prime ages when one is figuring out who they are. What I mean by this is being comfortable with what you look like and not being ashamed about what you have been through. The tough part about being happy with yourself is the constant judging from the outside world. As much as you try to avoid it and get rid of, deep down we all know its there. Everyone has their own issues they are dealing with and some more than others. According to State of Obesity, 39.4% of the United States is obese. There is research that proves that this number will only keep going up. Many factors contribute to why people are becoming obese or overweight. Like obesity, people also suffer from eating disorders and anorexia. Instagram has helped millions of people deal with these problems they face and help them recover quicker than psychologists and nutritionists. Mostly girls have created accounts where they post photos of them going through their recovery and showing how they are living a healthy lifestyle. They also tell stories that go along with pictures. Kremer s account is devoted to her recovery, and her feed is filled with colorful photos of carefully prepared meals and

3 XXX 3 occasional treats, as well as pictures of herself as she s progressed through and beyond her eating disorder (Mirhashem, ED). Not only will you recover quicker, you will also build strong bonds with people. I have met some of the people I d consider my best friends through this account, says Malia Budd. Malia Budd is a college student who always felt that she wasn t good enough. She was never the prettiest, tallest, or skinniest, so she began to go through anorexia. As scary as it was for her, her family was even more worried. Malia was suggested one of the best psychologist and nutritionists in her home town. After a few sessions, Malia was suggested to create an account that will help her down the lane of recovery. Slowly but surely, Malia did as she was told and found herself on a quick and unexpansive road to recovery. She got support from so many people who were going through the same thing and she learned that she shouldn t ever put herself in that much danger again. (Mirhashem) Out of the 15 people I surveyed, 13 use Instagram daily and they all use it for different purposes. The first question I asked was do you think Instagram has changed the way you eat?

4 XXX 4 Second question I posed was do you ever had a major food craving after seeing a food post? After that I asked if they thought that Instagram was a cause for food disorders, obesity, or/and anorexia. I then asked why do you post a picture on Instagram? To see how many likes you get.

5 XXX 5 Have you ever stopped yourself from eating after seeing a picture on Instagram (pic of a model)? The last question I posed was: Are you constantly looking in the mirror comparing your body with others wishing you had a different body? After doing my research and after doing this survey, I can say I was shocked with some of the responses. I thought people would have answered completely different things. I concluded that the majority are satisfied with themselves and do things for themselves and not others. They see the positives in using Instagram as a tool to keep them happy and don t let the app bring them down. Some people say that Instagram fosters a fake life causing people to constantly feel depressed and create constant competition within one another. A photo can very powerfully provoke immediate social comparison, and that can trigger feelings of inferiority. You don t envy a news story (Kransnova). It s said that one spends more time creating or desiring the cool

6 XXX 6 life rather than living it. Its as if your phone needs to be on camera mode all day so people don t miss out on what you are going through. Before, people used to enjoy every minute of their life and wouldn t care what people did. They were happy with who they were and what they did. Although this is all true, the endless benefits that Instagram offers makes up for this. One is able to control this part of themselves. Not everyone has to be involved in this constant competition to showoff what they do. People Need this tool to help themselves and help others feel better about themselves not worse. People also complain that social media has created eating disorders and cyber bullying. Although research proves all this to be true what s more important than taking away all of these things is educating people to think differently. Popular personal trainer Kayla Itsines who uses Instagram to her advantage has stated: Spending as much time as I do on social media, I frequently see the negative effects of low-self esteem and bad body image. Bad body image is an unfortunate by-product of today s social savvy society that a lot of girl s experience. We are surrounded by media promoting the idea of perfection and have even grown up with our friends and family constantly talking about looking better and wanting to lose weight. Is it really Instagram that causes all of this? NO! It s society and what is has become because Instagram has more positive things to offer than negative. For starters people have to stop comparing themselves to other people. Everyone is unique and special, one can not compare themselves to others, because one will never be anyone but themselves. Instagram s co founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger had the idea to create an app that could be as successful as Facebook and create a world wide community through pictures

7 XXX 7 only. Although Instagram has its flaws, overall it is a great tool to use for self empowerment and self esteem. While eating disorders and cyberbullying are issues related to the use of Instagram, I believe that Instagram is as powerful as any trainer or psychologist. It s a tool that can help you find yourself, get advice, and meet people from all around the world. First off it s a free app that anyone with a smart phone or device can obtain. Its not a necessity for life, so if you don t have a smart device it wont kill you. Regardless of what people think about technology and it taking over the world it is clear that Instagram has its good qualities to it. It is a positive app helping the worldly community by exploiting their app to showcase different things within the self-help community. It s many users have created a community for people. Causing the world wide positive effect on friendships and trust with people all around the world. That s why Instagram shouldn t scare people away, but should make them feel welcome and comfortable when first installing the app.

8 XXX 8 Work Cited "About Us." Instagram. Web. 19 Oct Bisk, Amanda. "My Squat Secrets to Great Legs and THAT Booty ;)." RSS. Web. 18 Nov. kkkk2015. "Erik Erikson Psychosocial Stages Simply Psychology." Erik Erikson Psychosocial Stages Simply Psychology. Web. 18 Nov "How Instagram Is Transforming Professional Cooking." Wired.com. Conde Nast Digital. Web. 18 Nov "Instagram Hits 300 Million Monthly Users To Surpass Twitter, Keeps It Real With Verified Badges." TechCrunch. Web. 16 Nov Itsines, Kayla. "4 Steps To Better Body Image." Kayla Itsines. Web. 17 Nov Mirhashem, Molly. "Overcoming an Eating Disorder With Instagram." The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, 1 Apr Web. 16 Nov "Obesity Rates & Trends." : The State of Obesity. Web. 30 Nov