Social Networking Sites and False Popularity
Social networking sites have immensely redefined the manner in which people perceive popularity in the society. A majority of social media users have resorted to some unethical practices to help them attract a large number of followers or comments on the various status updates which they make on social media pages. In the contemporary society, a majority of analysts and society members argue that the likes, comments or followers that individuals have on social networking site, such as Instagram, is an indication of their popularity. Instagram is a social networking site which allows users to post their pictures, share status updates or comment on the posts that others make. An extensive examination of the strategies that a majority of Instagram users apply to give their updates prominence indicates that fame attained on the previously mentioned social media page is false. Therefore, it is vital that analysts identify alternative approaches to gauging people's fame in the society.
Instagram and Popularity Through Likes, Shares and Follows
Social media has become one of the most used strategies for advocating the issues that affect people in the society, and a majority of organizations have used the social networking sites to market their commodities. In the contemporary society, a majority of community members, especially the teens and celebrities have resorted to using social networking sites as Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn among others to propagate their course in society. Instagram is a social networking site through which users post their photos, or share their opinions concerning a given issue to people in various parts of the world. On Instagram people depend on the likes and comments on individuals' posts as a way of evaluating the number of people who saw a given status. The likes, comments, shares or followers that individuals have on Instagram are not accurate approaches to determining their popularity.
The False Popularity on Instagram
One of the ways in which Instagram creates a false popularity entails the payments which some people use to get the likes and comments from their followers. In some cases, individuals who seek popularity through Instagram create various types of rewards such as paying the people who like their posts or reply to their status updates thereby creating an impression that their accounts' activities attract various personalities who use the social networking sites (Confessore, Dance, Harris & Hansen, 2018). However, the payments which people who seek popularity often fails because the followers often withdraw after some time. Although paying an individual to like or comment one's status update is not an offence, it effectively serves to indicate that a person has falsely attained fame because, in the absence of material rewards, a majority of Instagram users will not respond to the particular updates on Instagram.
Instagram also creates a false popularity when people rely on the likes and comments on individuals' status updates because an individual can create a myriad of false accounts through which they market their real page. Notably, Instagram does not have strict policies through which administrators can evaluate if an account is genuine; therefore, some individuals resort to opening various pages and register the accounts using different names which they use to like or comments on the posts they make on their real accounts thereby creating an impression that they are famous (Zatat, 2017). The use of false accounts to like or comment on a status update on Instagram is an effective strategy for marketing one's popularity because a person can effectively manipulate comments or posts. Apart from creation of false accounts, some people, as a way of acquiring popularity through Instagram, have engaged in actions such as linking celebrities with their activities to help them draw substantial attention.
Limitations of Using Instagram to Measure Popularity
People use Instagram as a way of defining their popularity by focusing on the likes, shares or comments that they receive within a particular period, an approach that is incorrect and unfair. The reliance on Instagram as a method of evaluating fame on an individual is not appropriate because the number of people who are on the previously mentioned social media are few hence its use as a medium of determining popularity is considerably biased and does not provide accurate data concerning an individual's popularity in an entire society or a nation. Moreover, the use of Instagram as a strategy for examining individual's popularity is not appropriate because it leads to the omission of other social networking platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn which can also provide essential data concerning a person's fame. Consequently, as a way of accurately evaluating a person's popularity, it is vital that analysts focus on all social media sites. Although Instagram has a large number of users, relying on it as a means to generate data concerning a person's popularity because some people are not using it, and instead rely on the other social media websites.
Instagram as a way of determining a person's popularity is also not accurate because the majority of people do not use it to share their activities. For instance, some people have accounts on Instagram but resort to undertake their actions without relying on social media hence compromising their appearance as famous individuals. Besides, some followers, on Instagram, do not react to the posts that others make thus significantly reducing the ability of analysts to determine the number of personalities who have interests concerning status updates that Instagram users make through their pages or accounts. However, despite the absence of reactions from some followers, Instagram is an essential avenue for determining a person's activeness on social media, which increases with an improvement in responses that users get from their followers. Therefore, through the number of followers and shares that an individual gets on Instagram, analysts can deduce that a person is popular among a particular group in a community.
The False Popularity on Instagram: Tricks and Deception
The use of Instagram also enables users to create false popularity since it offers an opportunity through which people can make their posts prominent by sharing their status updates on popular pages that have a large number of subscribers. Studies that scholars have conducted indicate that sharing a person's updates on a particular popular page on Instagram leads to an enhanced response (through likes or comments) from subscribers on the given page thus creating a false impression that the person who made the post is famous (Confessore, Dance, Harris & Hansen, 2018). The sharing of status updates on notorious pages provides a false impression of celebrity because it leads to undeservedly numerous responses from a group's members.
Instagram users have resorted to creating accounts using attractive images or names of prominent personalities thus manage to attract responses (likes or comments) from followers who are not aware of the trickery (Hosie, 2017). The use of other people's names or images to help attract many followers, likes or comments on Instagram is unethical and immensely contributes to the deterioration of the fame of people whom the imposters have stolen their identity. On the contrary, sharing an Instagram user's status update on a given popular page (on Instagram) is not offensive; however, it creates a deceitful impression that a person is well-known on Instagram while in reality, it is the page on which the user has shared posts which are famous thus contribute to false popularity.
Conclusion
As previously discussed in this essay, people deceitfully use Instagram to portray their popularity through likes, followers or comments they receive at a given time on a specific status update. However, an extensive analysis of the previously mentioned social networking site indicates that it has some features that help in depicting fame that an individual has because it entails users from various regions. The presence of Instagram services in various regions of the world provides opportunities for marketing their brands or activities thus making them well-known among the social media users (Confessore, Dance, Harris & Hansen, 2018). A large number of followers from different parts of the world help in the evaluation of a person's popularity in a given field. Besides, Instagram creates avenues through which people can acquire popularity since it enables users to customize their status updates thus attracting a large number of viewers at a given time. However, the customization of an individual's post on Instagram leads to improper use of social media to enable one to become famous. For instance, some people resort to posting pornographic images or hate speech to become famous.
To conclude, the likes, comments, shares, or followers that individuals have on Instagram are not accurate approaches to determining their popularity. As evident in this essay, some people resort to bribing other Instagram users to respond or share their status on Instagram to help them become famous thus an indication that their popularity is false. Also, Instagram is not an appropriate method for determining individuals' popularity because there are other social networking sites which analysts should also focus on while evaluating people's fame. The fame that some people have on Instagram results from trickeries such as the use of celebrities' images or names. As discussed in this essay that Instagram usage leads to false popularity, some features such as its ability to make an individual's post appear worldwide among the users immensely help individuals to become popular; however, some people are renowned for unethical practices. In a nutshell, popularity through the likes, comments or followers on Instagram is false.
References
Confessore, N., Dance, G., Harris, R., " Hansen, M. (2018, Jan.). “Everyone wants to be popular online; some even pay for it.” New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/01/27/technology/social-media-bots.html
Hosie, R. (2017, Jun. 6). “are You Following a Fake Instagram Star?” The Independent. Retrieved from https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/fake-instagram-star-following- social-media-spam-followers-influencer-a7751696.html
Zatat, M. (2017, Aug. 11). “Social Media Experiment Reveals How Easy It Is to Create Fake Instagram Accounts and Make Money from Them.” The Independent. Retrieved from https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/social-media-experiment- fake-instagram-accounts-make-money-influencer-star-blogger-mediakix-a7887836.html
