Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.22572/mi.29.1.4
Instagram: A Contribution to Sociological Research of Youth Activities on Social Networks
Marija Lončar
orcid.org/0000-0002-4929-3073
; Sveučilište u Splitu, Filozofski fakultet
Zorana Šuljug Vučica
orcid.org/0000-0003-4969-3859
; Sveučilište u Splitu, Filozofski fakultet
Larisa Hržić
orcid.org/0000-0002-4851-1809
; Sveučilište u Splitu, Filozofski fakultet
Abstract
As one of the most prominent social media platforms, Instagram has been present in society for a whole decade now. Since the very emergence of social media, Instagram has been one of the high growing networks, which speaks to its importance and influence. As such, it brings about changes in society on numerous levels. Although it was created for the purpose of sharing photos and videos for the fun of it, being a social network, Instagram also provides opportunities for communication and interaction among users, thus opening a space for exploring various (social) aspects of this platform. The objective of the research was to examine the experiences of young Instagram
users from Split, since there has been little research in Croatia on this topic. Having specific research objectives in mind, the authors studied the activity of young people on Instagram and the differences in the communicational-interactional aspects of Instagram with regard to gender. The research was conducted in 2019, within the area of Split and its surroundings, on a convenience sample of 566
respondents. The results of the research have shown that most young people from Split have an Instagram profile. Usually these profiles are set to private, thus it is not surprising that interaction and communication mostly occurs between the user and their friends, family and acquaintances. Regarding the means of communication, young people usually post their own content and/or like and comment on other user’s posts. Although most young people from Split are active participants in this virtual reality, the analysis has noted certain differences according to gender, with women posting and reacting to other people’s posts (via likes and comments) more frequently. At the same time, women are more likely to take their time choosing a perfect background and adjust the pose before taking the photo, as well as edit the photo using filters, which indicates that they pay more attention to the impression they leave on Instagram.
Keywords
social media; social network; Instagram; communicational-interactional aspects; sociological research; survey; youth
Hrčak ID:
304802
URI
Publication date:
19.6.2023.
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