Caceres 1

Ana G. Caceres
Professor Granillo
English 103
30 May 2019
Public Space- Instagram

According to the American Planning Association, there are certain criteria to consider a

public space a "Great Public Space." Public space must promote human contact and social

activities, has a design visually interesting, promotes community involvement, reflects the local

culture or history, is welcoming for all users, and is well maintained (Rader and Silverman 141).

As information technology evolves, the ways in which we understand and engage with places are

transformed by social media. Media such as Instagram is now a kind of public space where

people post and make their things public and at the same time make a claim for spatial

representation. Instagram is a media platform that claims to promote human contact and social

culture; however, the platform does the opposite and creates an illusion of human contact and

false reality. Using deconstruction theory people can identify how Instagram manipulates human

identity. In addition, using Marxist lenses it is possible to identify the false consciousness and

consumerism ideologies that Instagram promotes. Thus, Instagram is a public space that its main

purpose is to influence culture and change the way people communicate and get involved with

society.

Instagram is a photo and video sharing social network for mobile phones created in

October of 2010. Instagram users can apply filters to their photos and shared them with their

followers on the application or in other social networks. When sharing a photo, users can choose

to add it to a photo map that includes the specific latitude and longitude of the place where the

photo was uploaded and appears in a timeline or news feed. The popularity of Instagram remains
 Caceres 2

in the facility with which users can browse other users’ content by tags and locations, and view

trending content.

Deconstruction theory states that human identities are unstable and can be reinvented

(Granillo). Thus, by using deconstruction theory lenses people can identify how Instagram

shapes and manipulates human identity. Instagram has changed beauty standards and many

people have blamed the amount of filtered, edited images that represent an unrealistic

expectation of beauty. This has created a necessity for people to have more than one identity, the

virtual and the real identity. According to deconstruction theory, the self-image of a stable

identity that many people have in reality is just a comforting self-delusion produced in collusion

with culture; thus, some individuals might have multiple identities trying to find a way to “fit in”

in the fragmented culture they live (Tyson, 243). Indeed, people act differently according to their

situations, and in the case of social media, they mask their real identity online in order “to fit”

with cultural beauty standards.

In the same way, Instagram has changed not just people’s identities but also the way in

which they consume. By analyzing Instagram with Marxist lenses, people can identify the false

consciousness and consumerism ideologies that the platform promotes. The same people who

influence unexpected beauty standards (influencers) promote consumerism. Consumerism fulfills

the ideological purpose that people can be “as good as” the wealthy if they can purchase what

others purchase filling the pockets of the companies who manufacture and sell the consumer

products (Tyson, 58). Companies choose to pay Instagram users to model specific products

promoting consumerism by using hidden advertisements. In addition, users may unconsciously

decide to promote products in their images just because the process of sharing everything is

deeply embedded in society. Now, people instead of looking at companies before making
 Caceres 3

purchases, they look at each other and at their favorite personalities. This is due to the belief in

“getting ahead” and competition as a natural or necessary mode of being (Tyson, 55). In the

same way, Instagram promotes a false consciousness that prevents a person from perceiving the

true nature of their social or economic situation (Granillo). The reason is that people cling to the

ego gratification of the American Dream that tells them that they are “as good as” the wealthy by

consuming what they do but that only promotes the interest of those in power.

In conclusion, Instagram has changed the way in which people perceive the world and

has shaped many aspects of human life such as identity and product consumption. Therefore,

Instagram is a public space that people need to analyze with specific theoretical lenses because it

can create an illusion of reality and lose the main purpose for which was created in the first

place, the promotion of human interaction.