What's real and what's fake on Instagram?
I spend too much time scrolling through the endless chasm of pretty Instagram pictures. Most days, I will look at Instagram multiple times during the day to see what my friends and anyone I follow has posted. I mostly go to Instagram so that I can see what my friends have been up to. But, I also inevitably see a ridiculous number of advertisements in the process.
When I am exceptionally bored, I will go to the explore tab of the app which shows me what it thinks I want to see. I am inevitably bombarded by flawless pictures of celebrities who look impossibly perfect. Many posts are directed to sell a product even though they may not seem like it. For example, a while ago, a large number of celebrities were posting pictures in their Calvin Klein underwear with the hashtag #mycalvins. The pictures seemed casual, as if the celebrities had taken them themselves. The posts were obviously sponsored but somehow they managed to become viral and bring in huge amounts of business for Calvin Klein. I think the fact that the posts were not as polished as a blatant advertising campaign led people to believe that they were seeing a real side of these celebrities. But, in reality, most everything posted by celebrities on Instagram is carefully constructed to create an image or is a sponsored advertisement.
This can be seen especially in celebrities that gained their popularity through Instagram. One example is the model Alexis Ren. Everything she posts advertises the idea that she has a perfect life. She always seems to be traveling all over the world and doing glamorous photo shoots. She loves to showcase her "perfect" body, with her insanely skinny body that somehow manages to come across as healthy because she is also very toned. She will occasionally showcase brands in her posts as well. When I see posts from her or other posts similar to hers, I find myself a little bit jealous of her figure and her life. But then I realize that her pictures are not actually candid and that the persona that she puts out there is also probably fake.
I wish that we could recognize that a perfect Instagram profile does not equate to a perfect life. I believe that mindset is damaging to anyone who uses the internet. It can make the user feel inadequate and insanely jealous of those that have that "perfect life" or "perfect body."
When I am exceptionally bored, I will go to the explore tab of the app which shows me what it thinks I want to see. I am inevitably bombarded by flawless pictures of celebrities who look impossibly perfect. Many posts are directed to sell a product even though they may not seem like it. For example, a while ago, a large number of celebrities were posting pictures in their Calvin Klein underwear with the hashtag #mycalvins. The pictures seemed casual, as if the celebrities had taken them themselves. The posts were obviously sponsored but somehow they managed to become viral and bring in huge amounts of business for Calvin Klein. I think the fact that the posts were not as polished as a blatant advertising campaign led people to believe that they were seeing a real side of these celebrities. But, in reality, most everything posted by celebrities on Instagram is carefully constructed to create an image or is a sponsored advertisement.
This can be seen especially in celebrities that gained their popularity through Instagram. One example is the model Alexis Ren. Everything she posts advertises the idea that she has a perfect life. She always seems to be traveling all over the world and doing glamorous photo shoots. She loves to showcase her "perfect" body, with her insanely skinny body that somehow manages to come across as healthy because she is also very toned. She will occasionally showcase brands in her posts as well. When I see posts from her or other posts similar to hers, I find myself a little bit jealous of her figure and her life. But then I realize that her pictures are not actually candid and that the persona that she puts out there is also probably fake.
I wish that we could recognize that a perfect Instagram profile does not equate to a perfect life. I believe that mindset is damaging to anyone who uses the internet. It can make the user feel inadequate and insanely jealous of those that have that "perfect life" or "perfect body."
i totally agree with you on this. I constantly see famous people advertising different brands and products, I think people really want to be like the ideal celebrity and have the perfect life and body. By buying products they use people may have a sense of affiliation, like they can have their idols perfect life. But like you said even though someone looks really good in photos or just has a way with amazing people through social media, shouldn't mean that they are gods or goddesses living a perfect life.
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