AUTHENTICITY OF INSTAGRAM AND ADVERTISEMENTS Danielle Darden Com

AUTHENTICITY OF INSTAGRAM AND ADVERTISEMENTS Danielle Darden Com 482

ABSTRACT • • Instagram has been growing as an online community for five years. It started off as a way to connect and it’s slowly turned into a free platform for advertisement. • An Instagram account profile acceptance of authenticity is based heavily on the audiences' perception on the person and how they portray themselves. The ratio of followers and likes, to the accounts followed; can be used to determine profile authenticity. • I became interested in the topic while studying Computer Mediated Communication, and realizing how social media has shaped our culture. • Our generation has been infatuated with filters, followers, trends, and acceptance. In this study I researched how certain accounts lose authenticity by certain social media characteristics.

RESEARCH QUESTION How does the amount of likes and followers affect the authenticity of an Instagram account?

• These questions are based on Instagram accounts focusing on female profiles in their late teens early twenties. SURVEY QUESTIONS • Does the number of followers and likes on an account effect the user’s authenticity? • If an Instagram account user is always tagging/promoting brands in their posts, does that effect their authenticity? • Can you tell if a post is staged on Instagram? • Do you notice when account users stage/manipulate their photos to advertise products? • Do you follow or unfollow accounts based on their followers to following ratio/likes? • Are you more intrigued to follow an account when their pictures are more “staged”?

HYPOTHESIS • The number of likes and followers on Instagram affect our perceptions of authenticity in a negative way.

TARGETED AUDIENCE • Young women ages 18 -23 • Social Media Savvy • Location: West Coast

RESEARCH DATA • 120 participants • 75% Female • 25% Male • Ages 18 -23 • Conducted a follow up survey for young women on Instagram • 80 Female participants • Wanted to see how staged accounts affected their views on accounts, posts, and lifestyle choices.

RESEARCH DATA • The amount of followers has a high impact on Instagram authenticity. • Participants 18 -23 have a 90% chance of dictating if a photo has been staged • 62% of the participants do not like when photos are staged. They feel that it's forced advertising. These uses have negative feelings about social media accounts that have staged photos and a large following on Instagram. • 38% of the participants don't mind if the photos are staged, as long as its done in a creative way. (Creative as in, native advertising) the participants agreed that Instagram accounts with high followers are mainly used for inspiration and the new way of personal advertisement, which has a positive perception on social media accounts that have a large following. l

CONCLUSION • The amount of followers has a high impact on Instagram authenticity. • Participants 18 -23 have a 90% chance of dictating if a photo has been staged • 62% of the Participants s do not like when photos are staged, while the 38% don't mind if the photos are staged, as long as its done in a creative way. (Creative as in, native advertising) • 80% of the participants agreed that Instagram accounts with high followers are mainly used for inspiration and the new way of personal advertisement.

CONCLUSION • 60% Young women are more effected by staged profile accounts. They are also more skeptical on accounts that have high followers • These accounts make them second guess their authenticity, become more skeptic on the photos and stories being told on the account. • They have negative feelings on staged accounts that might effect their perception mainly on body image and lifestyle choices. • 40% of young women don't mind that photos are staged. They know the account uses brands to advertise. • These women don't mind because they follow the accounts for inspiration. They acknowledged the account was made to promote and manipulate their targeted audience. • They use the account for creative, fashion, and lifestyle inspiration.

LITERATURE REVIEW • • What is authenticity in advertisement? • • Consequences of media and Internet use for offline and online network capital and well-being. • • Social Network Profiles as Taste Performances. • • A theoretical model of intentional social action in online social networks • • How social media ruins audience perception • • How Millennials And Instagram Are Changing Advertising • • Cultural differences in perceptions of trust may be minimal or non-existent to be perceived as non authentic. • • How are users’ experiences of production, sharing, and interaction with the media they create mediated by the interfaces of particular social media platforms? • • The Most Authentic Girl On Instagram Is Made Of Plastic • • When Authenticity and advertisement collide on social media