"Instagram didn't invent trying to impress people with photos of your travels."
This is absolutely true. Before Instagram and similar sites, you'd invite friends over and then force a slideshow on them. This was widely reviled and turned into a staple of comedy. Because no one really wants to see people's travel photos.
The difference with Instagram and friends is that there's this sense of reciprocity -- that if we feign interest in other people's works, they'll have legitimate interest in ours. It's the giant lie of social media, where everyone is creating but almost no one is really consuming -- we all think we're tricking the system and cultivating our own consumers.
> It's the giant lie of social media, where everyone is creating but almost no one is really consuming -- we all think we're tricking the system and cultivating our own consumers.
Hmm. I can see what you're getting at, but I don't entirely agree.
Looking at my facebook newsfeed nowadays, for example, there's an awful lot of sharing going on, but it's not original content - there's very little creation going on. I'm slowly weeding this stuff out because what I really want to see is what my friends and family are saying, or posting, for themselves.
I share photos on Instagram as much for my own benefit as anyone else's. That being said, I have found myself thinking things that essentially boil down to, "This will get a lot of likes," and I'm not sure how I feel about it.
You might be a little cynical with the comment about feigning interest though. I'm sure it's true of some people but I know for myself, if I click 'Like' (and especially if I make a comment), it's because I genuinely do like something.
> Looking at my facebook newsfeed nowadays, for example, there's an awful lot of sharing going on, but it's not original content - there's very little creation going on. I'm slowly weeding this stuff out because what I really want to see is what my friends and family are saying, or posting, for themselves.
This is reportedly something that Facebook has noticed themselves.
> Overall sharing has remained "strong," according to Facebook. However, people have been less willing to post updates about their lives as their lists of friends grow, the people said.
Instead, Facebook’s 1.6 billion users are posting more news and information from other websites. As Facebook ages, users may have more than a decade’s worth of acquaintances added as friends. People may not always feel comfortable checking into a local bar or sharing an anecdote from their lives, knowing these updates may not be relevant to all their connections. [1]
> People may not always feel comfortable checking into a local bar or sharing an anecdote from their lives, knowing these updates may not be relevant to all their connections.
Google Plus solved this exact problem 5 years ago with "circles", letting you choose what to share with which groups of "friends". Why hasn't Facebook implemented this?
They actually have - and make it a bit easier than G+ did - with Groups and Smart Lists.
They also added a separate tier called 'Acquaintances' that you could add people to a while back.
However most users don't make use of it and will either share with Public or Friends. The only exception is things like groups - which are popular with things like neonatal classes and sports teams.
"Looking at my facebook newsfeed nowadays, for example, there's an awful lot of sharing going on, but it's not original content"
Maybe I'm just teasing easy confirmations of my theory -- very probably the case -- but I truly think that is the inevitable end-game that Facebook has hit, that Twitter has hit, and that Instagram is rapidly shooting towards.
When the circle of reciprocity breaks -- when people break the "contract" of earning cheap accolades by giving cheap accolades -- it starts to become embarrassing posting original content. When you post content and get a single digit of likes, it's demotivating for many and makes them feel like a social failure, so pretty soon it's just regurgitated memes and the like. I've seen this play out across a number of age groups, to the same eventual outcome. And I didn't look at this cynically but it was a theory I floated years ago about Flickr, so I watched to see if it would happen on Facebook. I truly believe social networks should allow users to hide all likes/shares/etc, but they won't for a very good reason - gaming users.
"You might be a little cynical with the comment about feigning interest though"
We all have close family and close friends who of course we have a personal, sincere interest in. But as you go out the sincerity declines at a perilous slope. But Instagram and others aren't built around sharing with a few close friends.
I've thought of making a chrome extension or something that would edit your newsfeed like this. Only show posts that don't have external links. I have a feeling my feed would become pretty barren.
> Because no one really wants to see people's travel photos.
I remember my grandfather showing slides from back home in Latvia and finding it super interesting. I've had lots of nice slideshow memories. I remember getting together with friends and swapping stacks of photos after trips.
Have you sat through a lot of bad slideshows? Or are you just repeating the joke?
I'll register another data point disproving your notion that no one wants to see people's travel photos. I have friends I deliberately invite over right after any trip they take so I can see their photos and talk about their travels.
Although, I can't see this being nearly as interesting with the traveler there in person to explain the photos and provide context. Not particularly interested in just a stream of people's photos, but a story from someone who traveled along with photos of what they saw is very interesting to me.
There's a reason travel shows exist as an entire genre of television.
> that if we feign interest in other people's works, they'll have legitimate interest in ours.
As a counter point, my wife and I both genuinely enjoy seeing other people's posts, esp. from friends who live far away or are on vacation. As much as the world is at your fingertips on the internet, there's something special in seeing a friends photo at or of some beautiful place I"ve never heard of. As much as it seems to annoy others, I've always enjoyed it (and unlike Facebook, I don't get updates from the 90% of poeple I'm not interested in hearing from).
This is absolutely true. Before Instagram and similar sites, you'd invite friends over and then force a slideshow on them. This was widely reviled and turned into a staple of comedy. Because no one really wants to see people's travel photos.
The difference with Instagram and friends is that there's this sense of reciprocity -- that if we feign interest in other people's works, they'll have legitimate interest in ours. It's the giant lie of social media, where everyone is creating but almost no one is really consuming -- we all think we're tricking the system and cultivating our own consumers.