The article “13, Right Now”, written by Jessica Contrera, is
a very interesting read and I feel as if many people can relate to the
storyline and the ways in which smartphones and social media make us feel. The article discusses the everyday life of a
13 year old girl named Katherine Pommerening.
It begins by explaining the morning routine of Katherine. She ensures she has checked all of her social
media accounts, more than once. This is
because all of her friends are on social media and this is the platform that
they use to connect to one another. Within
today’s society, it is very rare to meet someone within our age group and
younger that doesn’t have at least one form of social media. Having social media is an expectation within
our society. This expectation has led to
anxiety about the interactivity that comes with social media and the digital
age. This anxiety comes about through
many ways, one being the constant need to stay connected and to appear connected
throughout the world of social media.
Social Shaping can be described as “a mix of
affordances, the capabilities configurations of technological
qualities enable—and the unexpected and emergent ways that people
make use these of those affordances" (51, Baym). Social Shaping is apparent throughout
Katherine’s use of social media, in particular, Instagram. It is evident, that for Katherine, Instagram
is a place where people want to feel accepted.
She seems to be very particular with her Instagram postings and claims
she deletes a lot of her pictures if they do not get as many likes as she
intended. Because of this, it has
induced anxiety over her as she may feel that her peers will not accept her.
I feel that Social Shaping is apparent within my life in the
aspect of Instagram as well. I do feel
anxiety if my post does not get as many likes as I first intended or if I do
not keep up with Instagram consistently enough that I may miss a friend’s
post. I believe that this Instagram
related anxiety is very common, and I have had conversations with friends about
this and similar topics, and many feel the same way as well.
I found it interesting your idea on how it is an expectation now that you have to have access to every social media site. I didn't have Instagram for the longest time and it was almost as if my friends judged me for it, and eventually forced me into getting it. I believe thats an anxiety in and of itself that leads to FOMO, when other people have a social media site that you don't, which is entices to you to get it more. Just as well, I can relate to the social anxieties that arise within websites like Instagram. Since Instagram has become so common and mainstream, and everyone has it, people have become more caught up in likes, what time to post a photo, the right filter, etc. The idea of just posting a photo now has sparked more anxieties for teenagers, because of societies expectations of how it should be represented in the media.
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