Instagram: rewriting the rules for social media use, the role of selfies, and the importance of likes

Abstract

Instagram is a powerful form of social media. While it can be entertaining and engaging there may be consequences for users. The purpose of this phenomenological research was to explore the uses and gratifications of Instagram, the role of photo sharing, and Instagram’s impact on users. The findings from this study provide great insight into Instagram uses and gratifications, as the results contrast current literature. Uses and gratifications theory was used as a lens through which to view the research, which consisted of qualitative interviews (N = 25). Respondents noted that their activity on Instagram is passive, as their primary use of Instagram was to keep current on the day-to-day lives of others, not to post images. Respondents indicated that posting images on Instagram is done on an occasional basis, but only when events or activities happened that they deemed were interesting. Respondents also indicated that that they do not post pictures of themselves (selfies), instead they use Instagram as an “online scrapbook” to remember the things they have done and enjoyable times they experienced. Respondents reported likes do not play a role in their frequency or use of Instagram. Implications related to Instagram’s impact on users are discussed.

Keywords:

• Instagram
• likes
• photo sharing
• selfie
• social media
• uses and gratification

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to guidelines of the Institutional Review Board of King’s College, Wilkes-Barre, PA.