A

DEEPER LOOK
INTO INSTAGRAM
University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Comment [KK1]: Ashlyns Comments: For assignment 2,

I will be responding to the four required sections of the
paper, and I have divided up my feedback to address
each of these areas. I have also incorporated a short
"checklist" to help me respond to every student's
paper more quickly. Please let me know if anything is
unclear or if you have any questions.
Sections of the Paper:
Background
This is a very strong introduction overall; the first
two paragraphs flow very well.
Where you loose momentum is the third
paragraph. You hook the readers initially, explain
background on Instagram, then there's a quick
proposal for what you want to research--but no
connection to the second paragraph. You need to
add something like "Because of the ever-increasing
use of social media sites like Instagram, it is
necessary to start monitoring and questioning how
and why we are using these sites so
much. Teenagers, specifically, are finding
themselves more and more attached to their
phones, never being able to truly disconnect. With
these thoughts in mind...." then pick up with the first
sentence of your "proposal."
Literature Review

Kaylor, Kristen Jo
Ashlyn Walden | UWRT 1104

Lit review section NEEDS to be immediately after

the intro. This way, readers gain more background
information that helps inform why you do what you
do in the ETC. It traces the conversation on your
topic so far, provides you some credibility etc., so
move this section to after intro.
Combine the following two paragraphs into one
"According to a massive survey, one in three teens said
they like social media. Meaning that it is a habit instead of
a luxury. Instagram and other social media devices are not
something todays youth loves to do but instead
something that they feel as if they have to do. Two of
three students said they are multi-tasking while doing
homework. Teenagers spend up to nine hours a day using
technology and it is shaping their lives" and "The
excessive time spent online makes teens way more
susceptib"
Move the last paragraph " Social Media, particularly
Instagram, is part of the new life style that young adults
are now living. The use of Instagram has turned into a
habit. I scroll through Instagram when I am bored shows
that Instagram is an afterthought. (Carswell) Are young
adults in this generation programmed to check social
media?" to the beginning of your entering the
conversation, and combine it with what you already
have. This paragraph seems to fit better at the
beginning of the ETC because it functions as a
transition between the lit review and ETC.

Introduction:
Instead of working on this paper as I should be right now, I am scrolling through
Instagram. Its 11AM on a Monday and as I scroll I can already see 20 posts just this morning.
Although these posts vary, at least half of the post are naming someone as their man crush
Monday (#mcm.) This shows that even early on Monday mornings, people are posting photos as
they wake up, has this become a habit? As a user of Instagram, I view between one and two
hundred photos daily. I am bias on the topic of Instagram because I am a very active user. I
spend around an hour a day scrolling through other peoples posts. I would say, on average, I
post a photo every three days. This will affect my study because I the interviews and results may
not shock me as much as it would someone who isnt an active user. Also, it would be very hard
for me to stay off of Instagram for a month, as I am asking the interviewees to do. One of my
main reasons for choosing Instagram is because I want to know why I spend so much of my time
on it. This project and my raw data observations really opened my eyes to the amount of time
and effort that my generation puts into social media, particularly Instagram.
Instagram, a photo sharing app, began taking over the realm of social media on October
6th, 2010 and had more than one million users by December 12, 2010. Instagram was co-founded
by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, two Stanford University graduates. The user gets to chose
between a public and a private profile. Private meaning that only their followers can see and
interact with their posts. Public meaning that any user can see and interact with their posts. A
persons followers can like or comment on posts as they please. In December of 2013 a new
feature was added, Instagram Direct, which lets users privately message others. Eleven months
after Instagram launched, it reached ten million users. Today, it has over four hundred million
users. This goes to show how quickly Instagram grew into one of the most used social

Comment [KK2]: Ashlyns Comments Continued:

Entering the Conversation
FANTASTIC WORK on this section! This was one
of the best study designs that I have read in my
classes this term. Great work!
How are you going to "code" the data? Just a brief
couple of sentences explaining how you will code
the data will suffice.
Conclusion
Well developed conclusion that addressed all of the
required prompts seamlessly. You worked hard on
this project, and it has tied together nicely.
Overall, this project is a great model of what a real
research paper looks like.
Checklist:
The paper incorporate reputable sources: Yes.
The citation style used for this paper appeared to
be: MLA.
The citation style was correct: Yes.
The paper included a works cited page: Yes.
Grammatical issues? Some, but not enough to
interfere with reading.

networking sites in the world. Over forty billion photos have been shared since Instagram has
been launched and eighty million photos are posted daily.
This paper considers why teenagers spend hours upon hours posting (captioned) photos
from their lives to share with their followers. More specifically, I want to explore: Why has this
app become so popular among the younger generations so quickly, what are the positive and
negative impacts of social media on young users, and has Instagram become a habit rather than
an interest? I am going to conduct a study to answer all of these questions.

Entering the Conversation:

After taking a deeper look into Instagram, many of our questions are left unanswered.
Does Instagram have an impact on the way people view themselves? Is Instagram a source of
social media that is used for fun, or is it a habit (take a photo, post it on Instagram)? Now that
we have seen some of the impacts of Instagram through the introduction, I will be developing a
study to answer why users are so attracted to an app on their phone.
This study will be comprised of two interviews and a challenge to not use Instagram; this
way we will see the broad view and we can find out about not only those who use Instagram
daily, but also about those who have accounts but do not use it as often. There will be six
different interview groups consisting of five people in each group, for a total of 30 participants.
The groups will be separated by those who post on Instagram daily, weekly, and monthly (or
less). These groups will range in age (13-60), amount of followers (0-2000) they have, and be
grouped according to males and females. I chose the age range because the minimum age is 13 to
be a user of Instagram and not many people over the age of 60 are users. I chose the amount of

followers to be 0-2000 because 0 is the minimum amount of followers and the average user does
not have over 2000 followers. The reasoning behind the separate groups for men and women are:
women are more susceptible to bullying, women are more likely to be affected by their amount
of likes and followers, and simply so we can compare the two genders. The participants will be
separated into groups of five, but each person will be interviewed separately so that their answers
will not be swayed by their group members answers. During the first interview each person will
be asked a series of ten questions listed below.
1. Do you like Instagram, why or why not?
2. Have you ever been bullied on Instagram (i.e. a mean or degrading comment on one of
your posts)? If so, how were you affected by what was said and do you think that if you
would have seen that person in public that they would have said it to your face or do you
think that they would only say it behind the protection of their screen?
3. How often do you post a photo on Instagram and how much time, on average, do you
spend looking at other peoples photos?
4. When do you use Instagram and is there a specific amount of time of day that you have
designated to spending scrolling through and/or posting on Instagram?
5. What would you say your average amount of likes is and how would you feel if this
number was cut in half on the next photo that you posted?
6. When you receive more likes than you normally get, how does this make you feel?
7. Would you say Instagram helps to boost your self-esteem?
8. Off the top of your head, do you know the most likes you have gotten on something that
you have posted?

9. Do you take photos with the intent of posting them on Instagram? If so, why? If not, do
you post them on another source of social media (i.e. Twitter, Facebook, etc.)?
10. Out of ten separate occasions that photos are taken at, how many of those would you say
you would post on your Instagram?
I will audio record the interviews during the process. After the interviews are over I will
transcribe the data. Then I will code the data to find common answers to make reviewing the data
easier.
After the first set of interviews are finished, the interviewer will challenge the interviewees to
not use Instagram for a month. I will check in with each interviewee weekly to make sure each
person is sticking to the challenge. Since there is no real way to monitor whether or not each
person is scrolling on Instagram, this will be based mostly on trusting that the Interviewees will
not cheat on this challenge. If they cannot make it the entire month without looking at the app,
we hope that they will let us know. After a month has passed, they will come back in for a
second interview. This time there will be five new questions.
The new set of questions will be as follows:
1. Were you able to stay off Instagram for a month?
2. If you did get on Instagram, was it as fulfilling as you hoped it would be?
3. If you got on Instagram, how many times did you get online in the past month?
4. If you did not use Instagram for a month, did you miss it? If so, what did you miss about
it?
5. Did you find yourself wanting to get on Instagram often? If so, what did you do instead?

6. Will you go back to using Instagram as much as you did before this study was conducted,
why or why not?
7. If you answered yes to does Instagram help boost your self-esteem, how did it make
you feel to not have that boost for a month? Did you find another way to boost your
confidence level?
8. Did you take less photos in the last month, or did you take the same amount and not post
them?
Just like the first interview, I will audio record the interviews during the process. After the
interviews are over I will transcribe the data. Then I will code the data to find common answers
to make reviewing the data easier.
After collecting these two sets of data from the thirty interviewees, we will have a better idea
of why people use Instagram, if it is something they are programmed to do, and how it affects
ones mindset. We will have a better idea as to whether Instagram really is shaping todays
youth. The mens answers will be compared to the womens answers to see if one gender is more
affected by the use of Instagram. Is looking at Instagram a habit and can it be broken simply by
the realization of this habit? This study will help to answer many of the worlds unanswered
questions about Instagram.

Literature Review:
When Instagram started, it was an instant hit with people everywhere. It quickly became
popular and in its first year running it was named Apples App of the year. It drew people not
only because of the photo aspect of it, but also because of the social aspect. (Sullivan, Lines 8-

16) Every source of media has positive and negative sides. The majority of teenagers use media
every day, and they acquire many things through just looking at their screens. Image and beauty
standards are created through media and it can sometimes glorify negative behavior, but media
can help teenagers develop social skills (Mokeyane, 1-3). A woman, Alina saw a photo that she
took in 2008 and her first thought was to post it on Instagram. Times are so different now than
they were then because of social media. Before social media people took photos for no reason.
Now it seems like every time someone takes a photo, they do so with the intent to post it on
Instagram to share with all of their followers (Selyukh, Lines 10-12).
Some of the less explored aspects are the photo categories, the types of users, and their
audience (followers). It was discovered that there are eight categories of photos including:
friends, food, captioned photos (embedded text), pet, activity, selfie, and fashion. It was also
discovered that there are five different types of Instagram users which include: one who posts
almost all self-portraits, one who post mostly photos with embedded text, one who posts slightly
more photos of food, they also post in other categories, one who post about their friends as much
as they post about themselves, and one other. These categories correspond with a persons
entropy level (Hu, 3). When asked about Instagram, many teens reply that it is a way to show
yourself. People post photos about their lives and add a caption to them. Grace says: I
Instagram everything. (Graham Lines 10-11). Do teenagers like social media that much?
According to a massive survey, one in three teens said they like social media. Meaning
that it is a habit instead of a luxury. Instagram and other social media devices are not something
todays youth loves to do but instead something that they feel as if they have to do. Two of
three students said they are multi-tasking while doing homework. Teenagers spend up to nine
hours a day using technology and it is shaping their lives (Steyer, Lines 1-15).

The excessive time spent online makes teens way more susceptible to bullying. Bullying
has moved from in person to online and how it was increased dramatically. 95% of teenagers are
online in America and are susceptible to cyberbullying. Many cyber bullies do not even consider
the possibility of being caught because adults are ignoring it. Instagram is one of the places these
researchers mention as a place where cyberbullying often occurs (Hinduja, 3-5).
Social Media can be positive too. Tweens and teens engaging in social media are not just
posting a photo and calling it a day. They are interacting with each other, developing their
socialization and communication skills. Their artistic sides are being challenging and coming out
through taking the photos that they post. Social media can also help ones self-image (OKeefe,
Lines 1-10). The selfie is a new genre of art and photography. Selfies are widespread across
social media today. The point of a selfie is to be taken and seen quickly on social media. Almost
everyone you know has taken a selfie. This is one thing that we do now that could classify this
nation as a narcissistic one (Saltz, 2). Likes and followers have come prominent and relevant in
ones every day life, especially for young females. Likes have a way of making people feel better
about themselves. Nancy interviewed girls for two and a half years, she interviewed over 200
girls to get a good idea of what she was going to write her book about. Nancy states: "I think a
lot of people are not aware of how the atmosphere has really changed in social situations ... in
terms of how the girls are treated and how the boys behave," (Sales, Lines 14-15).
Social Media, particularly Instagram, is part of the new life style that young adults are
now living. The use of Instagram has turned into a habit. I scroll through Instagram when I am
bored shows that Instagram is an afterthought. (Carswell) Are young adults in this generation
programmed to check social media?

Conclusion:
Going into this project, I knew I wanted to research the time spent on Instagram. I
transformed that into three focus questions: 1) Why has this app become so popular among the
younger generations so quickly? 2) What are the positive and negative impacts of social media
on young users? And 3) Has Instagram become a habit rather than an interest? The results of the
study I designed will show the users of Instagram why we spend so much time on this app. It
may cut down the time people spend on the app if the results came back and said that it is
negatively effecting the minds its users. The people who are spending so much of their free-time
on Instagram are the future of America. The way these young people are learning to
communicate online could shape the future. Since Instagram is such a vital part of every day, it is
setting the tone for the way we live.
Research on this topic is important because if the results come back and say that spending
said amount of time on Instagram has negative effects then maybe people would start to consider
reducing the amount of time they spend on the app. Results such as a decreased memory span,
decreased communication skills, being more susceptible to cyber-bullying, etc. could lead users
to make a change. This study is important because right now there are few published studies
showing any type of impacts coming from time spent on social media and the realization of this
could open eyes of users around the world. This could be the beginning of many studies on if
time spent online could have the negative impacts listed above.
Now that we know its impacts on the users, we can go even further and study if it has
different impacts on different age groups. Since an overwhelming majority of Instagram users
still have developing brains, is it effecting them differently than it is effecting everyone else who

uses Instagram? We can also research if the different age groups are using Instagram at different
rates (i.e. do the younger age groups spend more of their free-time on social media than the older
age groups and why?) To do this we can interview different age groups and study those results.
My study was just the beginning, and from here it can go in many different directions.
Works Cited:
Carswell, Brooke Ashley. "Instagram." Interview by Kristen Jo Kaylor. Feb. 2016.
Graham, Trey. "Teens Find The Right Tools For Their Social-Media Jobs." NPR. NPR, 17 June
2013. Web. 14 Mar. 2016.
Hinduja, Sameer, and Justin W. Patchin. "Cyberbullying Prevention and Response."
Cyberbullying: Identification, Prevention, & Response (2014): n. pag. Cyberbullying:
Identification, Prevention, & Response. Oct. 2014. Web. 09 Feb. 2016.
Hu, Yuheng, Lydia Manikonda, and Subbarao Kambhampati. What We Instagram: A First
Analysis of Instagram Photo Content and User Types (n.d.): n. pag. What We Instagram:
A First Analysis of Instagram Photo Content and User Types. Web. 09 Feb. 2016.
Mokeyane, K. Nola. "Media's Positive and Negative Influence on Teenagers." Everyday LifeGlobal Post (2015): 1-3. Mayfield Schools. Mayfield Schools, 16 Mar. 2015. Web. 13
Mar. 2016.
O'Keeffe, Gwenn Schurgin, and Kathleen Clarke-Pearson. "The Impact of Social Media on
Children, Adolescents, and Families." The Impact of Social Media on Children,
Adolescents, and Families. Council on Communications and Media, Apr. 2011. Web.
13 Mar. 2016.

Sales, Nancy Jo. "Teen Girls And Social Media: A Story Of 'Secret Lives' And Misogyny." NPR.
NPR, 29 Feb. 2016. Web. 13 Mar. 2016.
Saltz, Jerry. "Art at Arms Length: A History of the Selfie." Art at Arms Length: A History of
the Selfie (2014): n. pag. 26 Jan. 2014. Web. 09 Feb. 2016.
Selyukh, Alina. "This Thanksgiving, Struggling To Skip The Instagram Obsession." NPR. NPR,
26 Nov. 2016. Web. 13 Mar. 2016.
Steyer, Jim. "Survey Finds Teens Spend Wealth Of Time With Screens." NPR. NPR, 09 Nov.
2015. Web. 13 Mar. 2016.
Sullivan, Becky. "Instagram's Winning Recipe: Images And Social Media." NPR. NPR, 25 Dec.
2011. Web. 13 Mar. 2016.