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Instagram’s @browngirlgang: feminist research ethics, digital diaspora, and intimate publics

Instagram’s @browngirlgang: feminist research ethics, digital diaspora, and intimate publics

In recent years, public Instagram pages have become spaces to express, contest, and create shared gendered ethnic identities. Utilizing @browngirlgang as a case study, this blog explores the implications of theorizing such spaces as intimate publics while functioning as...
The Academic Value of Bottom-up Knowledge Produced by Marginalized Groups: The Relevance of Instagram Infographics for Ethical Terminology Frameworks

The Academic Value of Bottom-up Knowledge Produced by Marginalized Groups: The Relevance of Instagram Infographics for Ethical Terminology Frameworks

Rosemary Clark-Parson and Jessa Lingel explain that when studying online alterity, it is important to critically reflect on the power politics behind the terminology researchers use to describe the groups they study. Instagram infographics a relevant source for researchers...
Feminist Movements in the Age of Social Media: Crossing the Thin Line Between Authentic and Performative Activism

Feminist Movements in the Age of Social Media: Crossing the Thin Line Between Authentic and Performative Activism

By Irem Ergul, Emma Fuchsová, Alexandra Hagedorn 1. Introduction Activism is conventionally seen as a form of public protest, that is a rally, public meeting or a march (Anderson and Herr 20). In this day and age, however, activism...
Ceci n’est pas une Influencer;  the rise of ‘Virtual Influencers’ a fad or the future of online interaction?

Ceci n’est pas une Influencer; the rise of ‘Virtual Influencers’ a fad or the future of online interaction?

Not everything we see on the internet exists outside of our computers and in 2019 we’re not that easily fooled anymore, or so we think… Instagram influencer Lil Miquela truly seems like any other influencer these days; she has...
“Checkout on Instagram”: Chance or risk for e-commerce businesses?

“Checkout on Instagram”: Chance or risk for e-commerce businesses?

Ever since Facebook purchased Instagram in 2012, the platform has not only grown from ten million active users to over one billion, but has also introduced a number of new features. Instagram Stories, live streams, television and shopping –...
Human Programmability and Happiness

Human Programmability and Happiness

Perception pushing art from Dries Verhoeven talks about pharmaceuticals and makes us question our humanity.
Amicus Instagram, sed magis amica veritas?

Amicus Instagram, sed magis amica veritas?

Last November, Instagram introduced a new functionality to its app, the “close friends” list (Constine). This feature was a years-late response to the rise of finstas, aka “fake instas”, private alternative accounts intended for a smaller audience than the...
From Cable TV to IGTV: The media might indeed be the message.

From Cable TV to IGTV: The media might indeed be the message.

Abstract –  Instagram’s new application, IGTV brings about a change in how we consume media. Will it act as a replacement for platforms such as YouTube, Vimeo or Snapchat sending them out of business? IGTV also raises questions about...
Latinx, Brujx, Commodification and Community

Latinx, Brujx, Commodification and Community

Multimedia content creator and writer Johanna Ferreira writes in Hiplatina, about the fact that young Latin people (herself included), are increasingly distancing themselves from organized religion and instead turning to spirituality. Most Latin American households have some sort of...
Don’t ask my name, just scan!

Don’t ask my name, just scan!

Say, you met a new group of people who are bon vivant just like you, and you spent a nice evening with them. Before you meet each other again next time, you wanna exchange your social media accounts to...
Is IGTV set to tilt our perception of online videos from horizontal to vertical?

Is IGTV set to tilt our perception of online videos from horizontal to vertical?

IGTV is a new feature within the main Instagram app, as well as a new standalone app of its own, dedicated to the sharing of long-form vertical videos. What does this mean for online video-sharing platforms, like YouTube? Are...
Mediating Veganism: A look at vegan self-presentation on Instagram

Mediating Veganism: A look at vegan self-presentation on Instagram

Veganism is an alternative food diet and lifestyle that aims to exclude, as far as possible any exploitation and cruelty to animals for food, clothing, or other by-products (The Vegan Society). A cursory search on Google Trends reveals that...
Instagram bots in the debate of free labor

Instagram bots in the debate of free labor

In the recent years there has been a growing trend of Instagram bots creating accounts, liking content and posting comments on Instagram. For a cheap price, these bots are offered as a service, by sites such as Gramista to...
AI Algorithm as Personal Style Tracker

AI Algorithm as Personal Style Tracker

Design specifically with a GAN, to overcome fast-fashion and overconsumption What will happen when designers can exactly produce what consumers want and need? The generative adversarial network (GAN) founded by online shopping company Amazon can actually do this by...
#CopyPaste – The battle between Instagram and Snapchat

#CopyPaste – The battle between Instagram and Snapchat

There is a battle going on between Instagram and Snapchat.. but who is on the winning hand?   A-team Instagram is a mobile phone photo-sharing, video-sharing and social network service. It enables users to take pictures and videos and...
FemInstagram: can Instagram help fight sexism?

FemInstagram: can Instagram help fight sexism?

Lena Dunham, Feminista Jones, Anna Gensler, Rupi Kaur are only a few of the many social media activists, involved in the debate on feminist issues, but all of them report having been victims of cyber-bullying in one way or another. Besides...