Today’s information society has become reliant on consumer production. The concurrent emergence of advanced mobile technology and media networks that use consumer content are defining a new type of media ecosystem- social media.
Taking the “Instagram” iPhone app as a case study, I spent my final four months at Cambridge researching the motivations for photo-sharing on a mobile platform. The research required a month of using the app everyday, a close ethnography of a London Instagram meet-up, and 25 open-response surveys. It was quite exhausting, especially in such a narrow research time frame! But the reward is a set of invaluable data which challenges popular critiques of social media (i.e. Instagram users were not lazy about their production, but obsessed with details in crafting their images) and presents a vivid portrait of contemporary social media users.
I have prepared a 5 page executive summary that is available for download directly below. The full document is at the bottom of the page.
Consumer Production in Social Media Networks: Executive Summary
The full 80 page dissertation:
Consumer Production in Social Media Networks: A Case Study of the “Instagram” iPhone App
8 Comments
Zachary,
Just wanted to say nice work and tremendous insights! This was well constructed and I appreciate you sharing this with the world at-large.
cp
looking forward to sitting down and reading this. Somebody puts that much effort into it, I’ve got to know more!
Zachary -
I have not yet had the opportunity to read your dissertation, but want to thank you for choosing this topic to deconstruct. To say that Instagram has changed my life is profoundly understated, and I am a firm believer that Instagram will have a much greater effect on the world than Twitter. Even more fascinating was a recent commercial of a major CPG, where the subjects strictly communicated via mobile photos. InstagramNYC will embrace you with open arms anytime you make it to NYC.
Great insight, will read this fully for sure.
Thanks Christopher! So happy you found it useful!
Enjoy it! Let me know what you make of it.
Stephen – Happy you found the topic ideal. Instagram is an incredible application and community. I look forward to hearing what you make of the research.
Thanks Lee!
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[...] Then I wrote an 80-page dissertation and turned it in. [...]
[...] analyzing how Instagram has become the phenomenon it has become. Master’s candidate Zachary McCune spent over 4 months examining the behavior of those that use the app (observation), conducting [...]