Social media platforms have grown in popularity over the past few years, and have become a place where people can not only express themselves, but for business purposes as well, serving as a marketing tool. Something fairly new to Instagram is the “Try Instagram Business Tools” option. This option allows each user to turn their platform into a business or brand. It opens up options for the users such as adding their email to their profile, viewing analytics on their posts, and adding a title under their name of “what they are.” An example of this would be, on a professional athlete’s Instagram page under their name and username it will state “Athlete,” and they are categorized as an athlete on Instagram. Instagram profiles are going from a place to post pictures to profiles becoming a business. Evolving into such a diverse world, social media offers it all. You can log into your social media platform and go to any category that you are passionate about. There is news, dating sites, cooking, fitness, fashion, beauty, cars, and much more. So who are the people behind these pages? That is what I am diving in to learn about, and to see what makes them so unique and what exactly it is that drives people to their pages. I want to find out if it is all worth it in the end for them, and if these bloggers/influencers feel pressured to portray a certain persona in order to be “popular.” Are they able to express who they really are?
Three Unique Points
- Social Media is Evolving. Social media has become more than just a place where one goes on to stay in touch with an old friend or a long distance cousin. Social media has become a place where people learn, engage, meet new people, learn new things, share their passions, and a place for news gathering as well. Social media has become a diverse world of its own.
- Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover. Social media has created a world where people feel pressured to look and be a certain way, when in reality, most of the times those people they are trying to be like are not portraying their real lives.
- The Power of a Hashtag. Hash-tagging has become a form of categorizing a post into a “folder” of related posts. It has become a marketing tool, and a place to engage with others who share similar interests.
Social Media is Evolving
In a TEDx Talks video by Clay Shirky titled, “How Social Media can Make History,” he emphasizes the power behind social media. He uses examples of breaking news being first put out into the world through Twitter posts, and he also talks about how the media can bring people together. “Media is increasingly less just a source of information, and it is increasingly more a site of coordination, because groups that see or hear or watch or listen to something can now gather around and talk to each other as well,” Shirky said. Social media now has the power of bringing people together. Groups are formed though similar interests and passions. An example of this is, for my story package I am specifically focusing on San Diego based bloggers/influencers. That category has formed a group of their own. They find each other through a simple hashtag that brings them all together to meet, that hashtag is, #SanDiegoBasedBlogger. https://www.ted.com/talks/clay_shirky_how_cellphones_twitter_facebook_can_make_history#t-272609 (TED@State, June 2009).
Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover
In a TEDx Talks video published in 2018 by Thomas Curran titled, “Our Dangerous Obsession with Perfectionism is Getting Worse,” he talks about those who portray themselves as being “perfect,” or living the “perfect life” are the ones who are the most dissatisfied. Social media really allows people to think one is living the perfect life, but a picture or a caption does not define who they really are. Through my project I want to get on deeper level with these bloggers/influencers and ask them if they ever find themselves doing something just for Instagram. There are the profiles that “keep it real,” or stay natural, but a lot of the times viewers don’t really know the truth behind these people’s “perfect” lives. “What does it say about us and our society that there is a kind of celebration in perfection? We tend to hold perfectionism up as an insignia of worth. The emblem of the successful. Yet, in my time studying perfectionism, I’ve see limited evidence that perfectionists are more successful. Quite the contrary — they feel discontented and dissatisfied amid a lingering sense that they’re never quite perfect enough,” Curran said. https://www.ted.com/talks/thomas_curran_our_dangerous_quest_to_perfect_ourselves#t-87160
Tweets
On Twitter page @SDBloggers, their bio states, “San Diego Bloggers meet periodically to network, learn, mix & mingle.” This outlet was formed as a place for San Diego based bloggers to come together to engage and collaborate. They recently retweeted a post “4 of the Best San Diego Fashion Bloggers: SD Fashion Tips, Top Active Wear & More,” by @lajollamom. What makes those four the best? They are using this platform to inform and engage through their posts. With this current shift in social media, @lostremote on Twitter tweeted, “The NYTimes’ @lheron explains how their social media strategy is evolving,” with an attached link to the tweet. A freelance social media manager named Beth Kirk (@sociallyoxford) talks about social media marketing tactics in a Twitter post. “Want to know the 8 major trends for #socialmedia in 2019 as predicted by @socialmediatoday? Take a look at this infographic,” with article linked.
Social media is far more complex than a lot of people may think. With so much to offer, this platform is only going to grow from here. A simple category like #fashion creates a circle of engagement and collaboration between not only individuals using social media for fun, but for businesses as well. Diving deep into this topic, I am dedicated to learn all that goes on behind the social media world. Do these bloggers/influencers change who they really are to attract viewers and gain followers? Do these businesses really gain clientele through their social media marketing? Is the social media “world” a real one, or is it just #fakenews?
