If it’s not online, did it really happen? This is a common sentiment these days and an almost unconscious dimension of expressing our identity. Our Persona is both an interface and a network assemblage that we relish on our social platforms as we curate how we are perceived and can control what is omitted. Thankfully this egoic yet irrefutable requisite of our world wasn’t readily available until I was in my twenties and in its conception, I thought it would just be an internet phase.
Our personal echo chambers have morphed in their functionality beyond simply posting cute hiking ‘selfies‘ to which I’m guilty of populating my Gram with. This boastful world also offers introspection, an opportunity for connection and offers us a tool to unpack our emotions. “Platform vernacular” (Gibbs, Meese, Arnold, Nansen, & Carter, 2014) is a term we use to explore and analyze genres of social media communication, and in particular visual communication on photo-sharing services (Meese Et. Al, 2015) such as Instagram which is my main line of transmission.
I have never been one to post pics of my brunch or daily affirmations from the Vedic Scriptures, rather for me this platform allows for a ream of other affordances. It’s my go to directory, RIP yellow pages, for finding a new tattoo artist or discovering new hiking trails. It’s become an invaluable tool for locating local artisans, supporting small business and seeking out my virtual tribe that often manifests into connection IRL. Gillespie (2014) notes that in algorithmic culture (remember the days prior to this?) users orient themselves towards the algorithm of the hashtag—habituating to its structuring force, yet also creatively engaging with its operation not just as functional sorting mechanism but as rhetorical device, or as way to generate likes or followers (Meese Et al, 2015). The humble hashtag is our mode of transportation as we maneuver the platform to suit us and define ourselves.
Instagram’s “like economy” (Gerlitz & Helmond, 2013) now has the option of being muted which is a relieving affordance for my head space as it becomes a neo marker of how we perceive value which can be quite unravelling. I ponder often as to how to respond to others in this imagined space in a genuine fashion as the vernacular around posting evolves. I do not like the destruction of forests or the treatment of refugees but inherently to feed my algorithm and stand in solidarity with issues of importance to me, I must press the heart icon. Thus that little symbol now stands as an icon indicative of a gamut of emotions.
Instagrams structure speaks to me, as it allows me to translate my passions of hiking, nature and good vibes in its native tongue, the loaded photo. It also serves a time stamped diary that I can reflect upon in moments of isolation claustrophobia, such as now. Does it possess a narcissistic undertone of self reflection, absolutely, but it’s an ongoing form of communication with myself and somehow my method for flagging my existence in this world. ‘The authentic and the inauthentic, the legitimate and the illegitimate, the pure and the impure’ (Licona 2005: 106) certainly encapsulates my shameless naked hiking selfies as I secretly convey to the digital that we should love our bodies and the earth we inhabit.
- Moore,C L (2015) ‘An approach to online fan persona’
- Pennington R, ‘Social media as third spaces? Exploring Muslim identity and connection in Tumblr’
- Meese, J, Gibbs, M, Carter, M, Arnold, M, Namsen, B, Kohn, T (2015) ‘Selfies at funerals, mourning and prescencing on social media platforms.
Jane BAMBI Drew 
Leave a comment