#mamanblogeuse and #mamablogger_de. A cross-country comparison on the concept of mothers and motherhood on Instagram

ABSTRACT

In social networks such as Instagram, many mothers present themselves together with their children („sharenting“). The present study investigates how this (self-) presentation takes place and which visual messages play a role in it. Using visual analysis, we compared pictures of German- and French-language Instagram posts. It turns out that both national contexts are dominated by images that can be interpreted as visualizations of intensive motherhood. The visual analysis brings out the intimate connection between the mothers and their children, and at the same time a professional understanding of motherhood. Despite different national traditions and frameworks of motherhood in France and Germany, there are great similarities in the visual representation of mothers on Instagram. This finding suggests that the growing use of social media may be accompanied by an internationalization of social and visual norms.

KEYWORDS:

• Social media
• Instagram
• family
• motherhood
• visual analysis

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Helen Knauf

Helen Knauf is Professor for education and socialization in childhood at University of Applied Sciences and Arts Bielefeld. She has worked on the representation of children on Instagrm and the use of social media by early childhood education centres.

Annamareike Schramme

Annamareike Schramme has a Master's degree in Gender Studies and has focussed in particular on family blogs. She worked as a research assistant at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Bielefeld.