Instagram reimagined : a study on imagined communities and instagram

• Main Author: Teo, Aloysius
• Other Authors: Sam Han
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2016
• Subjects: DRNTU::Social sciences::Sociology::Communities, classes and races; DRNTU::Social sciences::Mass media::Media studies; DRNTU::Social sciences::Sociology::Social behavior
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/66157
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Since its birth in 2010, Instagram has grown into a global phenomenon. From tagging and following, to liking and commenting, Instagram is changing the way individuals interact with one another. By extending Benedict Anderson’s (1983) conceptualisation of ‘Imagined Communities’, this paper attempts to investigate the extent to which the vernacular of Instagram fosters imagined communities among lifestyle-fashion users of Instagram. First, the vernacular of Instagram is outlined to provide a good understanding of how particular features within the platform work. Next, users’ experiences and activities on Instagram were gathered through a series of interviews, uncovering meanings and perspectives from the respondents. These responses are discussed alongside the three key characteristics of imagined communities, namely ‘homogenous empty time,’ ‘creole,’ and ‘decentralisation’.