Blog Post #2- The Power of a 'Like'

‘People, technologies, and institutions all have the power to influence the development of subsequent technologies’, and through the use of Baym’s theoretical perspective on the social shaping of technology, I will be focusing my post on how society has been able to strategically create and shape a world, that holds a particular value towards certain characteristics found on social media platforms (Baym, N. K. 2016, p. 52). The issue with creating and maintaining a value system around the different functions on the given platforms, is the anxiety that is brought along with trying to uphold what these values suggest.
            Instagram is a social media application that is widely popular among the Generation X age groups. Katherine Pommerening is a Generation X, as she is in the eighth grade, and is at the point in her life where she is trying to figure out who she is. One thing that individuals tend to do at this age, is turn towards social media in order to figure out who they are, and where they fit in with society. This ideology that most eighth graders have, has brought up a great deal of concern, as the societal meaning behind Instagram and what it means to be ‘liked’, is a crucial part in identity formation at this age. Society has transformed Instagram into this platform that creates a great deal of emphasis around its feature of the like button, and how the more likes you get on a picture, the more you are actually liked outside the virtual world. This ideology has greatly impacted youth everywhere, fundamentally creating anxiety around posting a picture, and trying to obtain the most amount of likes, in order to feel self-satisfied and complete as a whole. We can see the anxiety build up in this article, when Katherine states that she has only a limited amount of photos on her Instagram, because the ones that do not get the most amount of likes, get deleted. This statement fundamentally resonated with me as it suggested the pressure that society fundamentally has put on its youth, in order to feel like they fit into society. This is one of the particular reasons I chose this theoretical perspective, as it was simply because I found it easy to relate too, and visually see myself absorbed in how many likes I get on my Instagram picture, in order to feel better about myself.


Baym, N. K. (2016). Making new Media Make Sense. In Personal Connections in the Digital Age- Digital Media and the Society Series (2nd ed., pp. 25-56).

Comments

  1. Rachel GuerreiroOctober 2, 2018 at 8:37 PM

    I really enjoyed reading your post especially on your view about the concern of Instagram and identify formation. When reading your post further I questioned how and when getting likes on Instagram became a crucial part of identity. Instagram socially shapes us but how did this come to be and how is it so crucial to our being today. Often we are subject to this idea of being liked on Instagram without even realizing it. I sometimes feel that technology just took over because trying to remember life without technology is often difficult to remember especially for younger generations. How do we protect future generations from the anxieties of social media and having to fit in online? Perhaps we should limit social media at a young age in order to establish the future generations identities in the real world first before having them face the issues and anxieties of the online world.

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  2. Madison KaiserOctober 3, 2018 at 12:29 PM

    Just like you, I believe the social construction of technology perspective is most accurate in explaining the obsession Katherine has with her phone. As I was reading your post, I found many similarities between your opinion regarding Instagram and what I included in my post. Instagram has become a platform for validation where a like has become a symbol of popularity and power. Katherine spends the majority of her time on social media sites like Instagram and the idea of the "like" became central to her anxieties of this new media. I can relate to this as my sister is around the same age as Katherine and I can already see the effects social media is having on her life as well as the relationships she has with her friends.

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  3. UnknownOctober 4, 2018 at 9:20 AM

    Hi Clare,

    I really enjoyed your post as it outlines Baym’s social construction of technology perspective in a clear way. I agree with you that social construction of technology is a really powerful view when thinking about how social media has developed and how our usages of it have grown. Your point regarding how the anxiety surrounding social media stems from the value or worth we place onto characteristics of the platform such as likes is very strong. Your examples of Katherine deleting and forming her pictures in search of the perfect post to maximize likes is a clear example of that anxiety that comes along with society putting value and importance on the like system. You’re right when you say how easy the perspective is easy to relate too, as I often find myself absorbed into how many likes a post gets. Ridiculous as it sounds, even when I tried to step away from social media, i found myself craving the validation that likes gave as there's few alternatives that society gives the same importance too. Great Job overall!

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  4. UnknownOctober 7, 2018 at 12:23 PM

    Hi Clare,

    I really liked your post. I completely agree with you on how posting pictures to social media is a source of great anxiety for many youth. I don't believe, however, that society has strategically created this world. Sure companies like instagram do research on how to get people to use their products through taking advantage of social anxieties, however, the people already had these social anxieties or at least had the basis of them. To say that this development was strategic gives way to much credit to these social media corporations in my opinion. While still following the social construction of technology framework, I argue that it was more the people's already existing desire to be liked and compare themselves to others that popularized these social medias rather than some societal plan.

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