Instagram’s Function in Participatory Culture and Fandoms
You are probably a fan of at least something sports, music artists or bands, shows, a brand, a person, a dog, anything. Fan originates from the Latin word “fanaticus,” meaning “of or belonging to the temple, a temple servant, a devotee.”(1) Fan culture is an idea explored in depth by Henry Jenkins, an American media scholar and professor of Communications at the University of Southern California. Fandoms or fan culture describes groups built around a shared enjoyment of popular culture. As Jenkins writes, fandoms are a form of participatory culture, which is a culture that consists of 1, “relatively low barriers to artistic expression and civic engagement. 2, strong support for creating and sharing one’s creations with others. 3, some type of informal mentorship in which the most experienced members pass along their knowledge to novices. 4, members who believe their contributions matter. 5, members who feel some degree of social connection with one another and care about other members’ opinions about their contributions.”(2)
The web’s new consumer participation culture is dependent on the consumer. The consumer in the participatory culture also functions as a producer and a consumer of the content. On the web, we can produce and influence large communities through the production of our content. As this new consumer participatory culture grows online, media industries choose to participate in the growing consumer culture or disregard and copyright growing consumer culture. Jenkins defines these two stances as the prohibitionists and the collaborationists. The prohibitionist stance, held mainly by dominant old media companies, is a group of most main-stream media, in which direct lawsuits at illegal downloading and fan websites. The collaborationist stance, where companies see fans as an essential asset to producing new content and helps consumers further their goal through the industry’s promotion. Instagram is a social media platform in which recently, through new administration, has become part of the prohibitionist stance in the new consumer participatory culture. (2)
On October 6, 2010, by Kevin Systrom as an American photo and video sharing network. Instagram was bought by Mark Zuckerberg, founder, and owner of Facebook, in 2012 for $1 billion, when Instagram had just 30 million users. (3) Now in 2020, Instagram has over 1 billion users and is valued at $100 billion. (4) Ever since this acquisition, there have been some significant fundamental changes within the Instagram app and institution, and in 2018 Systrom ultimately left Instagram because of “growing tensions with Mark Zuckerberg.”(5) One of the transitions that Facebook bought Instagram in 2013 was that Instagram, like Facebook, could now utilize and promote ads on the application.
Some of the most significant changes that have taken place on Instagram is the algorithm change, adopting “Facebook’s infrastructure to grow more than twice as quickly as it would have on its own,” as Mark Zuckerberg said. Systron organized the algorithm on Instagram initially, so your newsfeed would resemble the most recent posts from all those you follow. In 2016 when the most significant algorithmic change took place on Instagram. The new algorithm implemented in 2016 put the ‘best’ posts first — that is, determined to be the most relevant or most attractive for a user. In May of 2016, Instagram created additional business tools that allow Instagram’s 200 million advertisers to see more post insights, including reach, demographics, and impressions. (6) In 2020 Instagram has implemented countless new updates to the application, creating a shopping and reel tab, implementing a messaging app, and creating a post function.
These new features are directly beneficial to a group of people, some small businesses, and institutions. Instagram has received feedback from some of the app’s biggest consumers, continuing to benefit institutions over the people who initially used Instagram. For example, now that the Instagram post feature is located in the upper right-hand corner and replacing it with the button for a ‘shopping’ tab. This reflects a switch in behavioral logic, making a shopping tab more accessible than the creative aspect of Instagram. Consumers will tap on the application out of sheer habit creating interactivity for the businesses and institutions paying to promote themselves on Instagram. The neglect of allowing consumers to participate, produce, and distribute cultural goods shows how Instagram, since bought by Mark Zuckerberg in 2012, shifted this company to a prohibitionist stance in digital participatory culture, acknowledging traditional institutions’ wants, rather than appealing to the public and consumer culture.
It is a far reach to say that all Instagram users are a part of an Instagram fandom, but the most frequent users are. For example, I (21) have been using this platform to be creative and connect with peers, family, and friends since we were in middle school, nearly a decade. This platform is something meaningful for a lot of individuals who feel similarly to me. While we are not traditional fans of the application, it has functioned as a digital culture for many. Instagram’s new updates have left many feeling ‘left out’ regarding hearing the needs of the consumers on the other end.
1. Shulman, Michael. “Superfans: A Love Story.” The New Yorker, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/09/16/superfans-a-love-story.
2. Grinnell College Subcultures and Sociology. “Fandom and Participatory Culture.” Grinnell College, https://haenfler.sites.grinnell.edu/subcultural-theory-and-theorists/fandom-and-participatory-culture/.
3. Chaykowski, Kathleen. “Mark Zuckerberg Gains $1.7 Billion After Instagram Announces New ‘TV’ App, 1 Billion Users.” Forbes, https://www.inc.com/dakota-shane/why-mark-zuckerberg-is-invested-in-instagram-and-so-should-you.html.
4. Seth, Shobhit. “Without Facebook, Instagram Valued at $100 Billion.” Investopedia, https://www.investopedia.com/news/without-facebook-instagram-valued-100-billion/.
5. Spitznagel, Eric. “How Mark Zuckerberg pillaged Instagram, and forced Kevin Systrom to quit.” New York Post, https://nypost.com/2020/04/18/how-mark-zuckerberg-pillaged-instagram-and-forced-its-co-founder-to-quit/.
6. Power Digital. “Instagram Algorithm Change History.” Power, https://powerdigitalmarketing.com/blog/instagram-algorithm-change-history/#gref.
