Jennifer Trang

Observation Notes: Instagram

Figured World: A large group/community with rules and customs.
The figured world I chose to do my observations on is my home feed on the Instagram
app. Instagram is a mobile photo-sharing and video-sharing social networking app
created in 2010. The purpose of Instagram is to share photos or videos with your
followers or everyone else (if your profile isnt on private). It gives people an opportunity
to express themselves freely through a single image. Users of this figured world enjoy
sharing photos that are mainly about their daily lives, pets, vacations, photography, and
many more. The most important type of communication is through commenting on other
peoples photos. There isnt any specific rules that you have to follow in this figured
world. The only set of rules that must be followed is the Terms of Services that you
must agree to when signing up for an account and the fact that you must be 13 years or
older in order to use the service. Everyone on Instagram, including users who are a part
of this figured world, have the right to post any picture they like. However, they have to
be responsible with what they upload on Instagram. Pictures that have offensive or
explicit content should not be shown on Instagram or any social networking websites. As
for behavior, there really isnt any specific type of behaviors that users must behave like
when going on this figured world or Instagram, in general. On the app, the only way
behavior is shown is through comments. Users can freely behave the way they want.
Literacy Practices: A practice of manners or communications within a figured world.
Comments: When users post their pictures online, their followers or anyone, that is
allowed to view a users profile, can post any type of comment on the picture by clicking
the button that says comment. Even though Instagram allows users to type as much as
they want without a 140 characters limit, comments are usually short and simple (for
example, I love this! or Cute). Most times, people would normally just type an emoji
as their comment. For example, users would use an emoji thats smiling with hearts as its
eyes.
Likes: A box-shaped button below the picture, next to the comment button with a shape
of a heart located inside. Instagram users would press this button whenever they see a
picture they like. Also, another way to like the photo is double tapping the picture and a
heart will appear, showing that you liked the photo. Even though this literacy practice
isnt verbal, its considered a nonverbal communication. By liking a persons photo, it
sends a notification to that person, telling them that someone has seen the photo and liked
it.
Artifact(s): Objects, ideas, and emotions that are important/shared in a figured world.
Pictures: The most important artifact in the figured world. Instagram is an app where
users upload pictures and share them to everyone. Pictures are usually either selfies,
photography shots, etc. The significance of pictures is that it serves as the main purpose
of the app and without it, there would be no Instagram.
Hashtags: A search tool for Instagram. Hashtags are used to categorize photos and make
them searchable on the app. For example, if a user posts a picture of flowers and add to
Commented [JT1]: Jessica: I enjoy the way that you bold
and underline the major headings and names in your
assignment. This helps me to pick out the important pieces
of information and the places where different sections
begin and end. I hate reading through a piece that has no
definition, one that is all straight writing in the same tone or
font with no bold or underlined portions. I love the way you
break the assignment up to look clean and neat and easy for
the reader to find different parts they may be looking for.
Commented [JT2]: Jessica: The way that you introduce
your figured world is very strong. I love the way you made
the into personal to you by stating why you like the app
Instagram so much. This helps the reader to become
involved in your piece because they know your background
with Instagram and why you chose to examine this figured
world. Your passion about your topic will make readers
curious and want to read more to see if they will have a
similar passion for Instagram.
Commented [JT3]: Abriana: In the description of your
figured world I like that you gave some factual background
information. I personally didnt know that Instagram was
created in 2010 so that was interesting information to note.
I also liked that in the description you added in the Terms of
Service which a lot of people tend to ignore.
Commented [JT4]: Brooke: You had a very great
description of the figured world of Instagram. A majority of
people do in fact have an Instagram but for anyone who
doesnt, they should know what Instagram is now. I
wouldnt say there are no specific rules because there are
actually a lot of rules with Instagram. I would definitely
...
Commented [JT5]: Sarah: I wouldnt say that there arent
any specific rules or behaviors to instagram. Like you said
there are the Terms and Conditions that you have to agree
upon signing up for an account. Plus there are just unspoken
rules that people know to abide by like obviously not
...
Commented [JT6]: Sarah: I like the examples you give for
what most people comment on pictures. I personally have
an Instagram so I found this to be very true. Also it made me
laugh a little bit when you were trying to describe the
emojis that people use commonly.
Commented [JT7]: Abriana: I liked the descriptions of
your artifacts, they were all very thorough and detailed.
However, I think it would be beneficial to add in a
description of the fairly new video feature on instagram. I
think this is important to note because it was a fairly large
...
Commented [JT8]: Brooke: Great job on the description
of the artifacts. You definitely explained each very well and
gave great examples of each. Instagram is pretty self
explanatory when it comes to the types of things on it but
with your examples it gave an insight into Instagram that
...
Commented [JT9]: Sarah: Hashtags are a big
phenomenon in our generation today. It seems like every
thing has a hashtag whether or not its related to that thing
or not. I would elaborate more on this specific artifact
...
their caption #flowers, the picture will show up on that specific tag when someone
searches it up. Users can also click on the hashtag in the caption and it will directly take
them to that specific tag.
Filters/Editing Features: When uploading pictures on Instagram, users are given an option
to edit their photos before sharing them. Instagram comes with a variety of photographic-
looking filters (Amaro, Mayfair, Rise, etc.) that users can apply to their images. Also,
there is a tool that allows users to adjust the brightness, contrast, or saturation, sharpen
the image, add highlights or shadows, or apply a luxurious effect to the photos. It helps
the users give their pictures a more photographic look.
Actor(s): A person who performs the expectations and practices of a specific figured world.
On Instagram, there are a numerous amount of users who uses the app on a daily basis.
The actors that are a part of this figured world are those who show up on my home feed.
In other words, the actors are users that I follow on Instagram. For example, actors that
appear on my home feed are mostly friends and classmates who attended the same high
school as I did. Other actors are either photographers, celebrities, etc. They all perform
the expectations and practices of this figured world by posting and sharing their pictures
to their followers.
Communities of Practices: A smaller group who shares the same ideas, goals, knowledge, etc in
the figured world.
Photographers: Those who are a part of this group are photography lovers who enjoy
showcasing their skills to their followers. The types of pictures that they like to post are
usually a field of flowers, landscapes, day or night skies, historic landmarks, and many
more. Before sharing their photos, they would edit their photo by using apps like
VSCOcam or Afterlight to give their photos a more attractive look since their editing
features are more above and beyond than Instagrams. They share a goal of showcasing
their eye-catching photos to their followers while discovering new photo editing skills to
improve on their photos.
Carolina Top Shots Senior Spokesmodels: Those who are a part of this group usually
like to post their pictures from their photo shoot that were taken by a photographer named
Brian Mayhew, owner of Carolina Top Shots. He specializes in senior photo shoots, sport
events, modeling, and more. Those who are a part of this group all share the same role as
a spokesmodel. They share a goal of helping advertise Brians photography to their
followers by showcasing his photos on their profiles. This group consists of mainly
seniors, including previous seniors, who attend schools that are in the surrounding
counties of NC and SC, most are usually from Gastonia, NC.
Other types of communities are a group of users who like to share photos of their daily
lives. Whether its a picture of being recruited in a sorority or fraternity, after school
pictures in the parking lot, partying or clubbing, selfies, and much more. They share a
common goal of showing their followers whats going on in their daily lives through a
single image.
Practices of the Community: Shared ways to achieve many tasks in a community.
Posting pictures: Instagram is a photo-sharing app so the only practice of the community
of this figured world is posting pictures. It doesnt really matter what kind of pictures
Commented [JT10]: Abriana: To add more detail and
possibly go above and beyond you might want to add actual
descriptions of your actors in the figured world. For
example, you could select a couple of the most important
people you follow, maybe add in a couple of their pictures,
and give a short little description of the types of posts they
upload. This can help give your readers a better context to
understand your notes and observations.
Commented [JT11]: Brooke: When talking about the
different communities of practice, I wouldnt necessarily
isolate Carolina Top Shots Senior Spokesmodels because
this makes it seem as if there are only 3 communities of
practices when in reality there are endless. You could may
actually say there are endless amounts of communities of
practices and that you have only touched on a few
important ones. You could say Carolina Top Shots Senior
Spokesmodel is only one example of endless communities
of practice like this, just to clear up that there are endless
ones.
(e.g. selfie) youre uploading. As long as the user is posting the photo and sharing it to
everyone and their followers, they are following the practices that are a part of the
community.
Domain: Something that a community shares together as a group.
A domain that is shared within this figured world is the idea of freely posting any type of
pictures they like/want. Every user wants to be able to post anything they like and
expressing themselves without the judgment of other users. Whether the picture is
foolish, hilarious, or amazing-looking, its their right to upload whatever they want.
*Note: Observations took place on certain days and times. After pictures are taken 1 or more
hours ago, it will only show as 1 hr or 2 hrs on the users post and doesnt include minutes.
For example, if a picture was taken 1 hour and 15 minutes ago, it will only show as 1 hr.
Observations One:
*Note: Observations took place on my Instagram feed on Saturday September 13, 2014 at 9 p.m.,
starting with the last picture posted 1 hour ago.
1 hr (1 hr ago) User and photographer carolinatopshots posts a picture from his fun evening
teen photo shoot. The picture is taken most likely before nighttime and the teen modeling in this
photo is standing in a lake. His caption says Fun evening teen photo shoot with Emma.
Schedule your shoot by calling or texting me.
1 hr (1 hr ago) User avamac99 wishes happy birthday to her friend by posting a picture of
them together. In the picture, both girls are in a dressing room wearing their costumes in the
musical, Footloose. She writes in her caption, Happy Birthday to the fabulous Anna Hertel!!
Im so glad that I met you this past year and that weve become good friends during Footloose. I
hope you have the most amazing 15
th
! Love ya lots #Liquida.
50 mins (50 mins ago) User mar_velez shares a photo that has two McDonalds coffee cups.
Both coffee cups must have a lot of cream and sugar in it as shown by the numerous amounts of
used cream cups and sugar packs. Her caption says Ladies and gentlemen, McDonalds coffee.
44 mins (44 mins ago) samsungmobileusa post a sponsored photo taken with a Galaxy Note
4 phone, which can be viewed by everyone who uses Instagram. The picture contains a box filled
with macaroons in different shades of colors (purple, yellow, pink, brown, etc.). Their caption
says The last colors of summer, captured by @AmyLombard with optical zoom on the
#GalaxyNote4.
38 mins (38 mins ago) goodinthehood posts a throwback photo of her laying in a field of
autumn leaves. The purpose of her posting this photo is to welcome the fall-like weather since
autumn is close by. Her caption says In honor of the amazing fall-like weather coming in.
31 mins (31 mins ago) User bryannaaaxo posts a picture of her lunch from the Sprouts Caf
and Cellar. Her lunch shows a 4-slice small pizza with a Blue Sky natural soda. There is another
plate of food next to hers so it is assumed that she had lunch with a friend. Her caption reads
lunch with bae.
Commented [JT12]: Jessica: I would elaborate a little bit
more on the Domain and the actors in your assignment. Get
creative with the actors that come into the figured world.
For example, some other actors that come on to Instagram
could be businesses that look for new product ideas in
peoples photos, browsers or people that are just passing
through to look at the pictures but don't have accounts, and
elaborate a little more on the celebrities role on instagram.
The domain is short and very broad, I would try and make it
a little bit more specific.
Commented [JT13]: Sarah: The note you added right
before your observation is very helpful when describing the
time system and how it works on instagram. For someone
who has never seen it they might of been confused as to
why you were noting your observations by hours and not
minutes. Its a very nice touch!
Commented [JT14]: Brooke: Great details in your
observations. Even though I couldnt see the picture, you
gave enough details for me to make up a picture in my head
of what I thought the picture looked like. I also liked how
you included all usernames and hashtags as these are very
important pieces of Instagram.
Commented [JT15]: Jessica: I really love the fact that you
included the names of the users that you observed in your
observations. This helps the reader to be more engaged in
the observations because they know exactly when and who
the posts are coming from. It gives us a name to identify to
the type of post that the individual chose to put up on the
feed. The reader of your assignment can then go and look at
the user on the real cite to learn more should they be
interested.
Commented [JT16]: Abriana: For your observations I
really liked that you included the users name. It gives the
reader a person to identify with. Especially after you
describe the types of pictures they post. Once the reader
sees each user posting multiple pictures they could be able
to identify that user with the type of photo they post. This
would be even better if you added specific descriptions
about a few of the people you follow as I suggested above.
Commented [JT17]: Abriana: Also, the fact that you
included the actual caption instead of just describing the
picture is awesome. It puts the photo into the context that
the instagram users wanted his followers to see it in.
Reading your observations was almost like scrolling through
an actual instagram feed itself. The only other suggestion I
could make would be maybe to just lengthen the
observations a bit more to add some more of your own
insight. Other than that, theyre great!

23 mins (23 mins ago) User klaneh posts a selfie of herself in her car. By reading her
caption, it shows that she has gotten her nose pierced. Her caption says Built up the nerve to
change it! I love how tiny it is now.
18 mins (18 mins ago) hivickytee, who is my cousin, shares a photo of her daughter, Azehla.
Her daughter is wearing a pink dress with polka dots and a bow wrapped around the center. She
writes in her caption, My #azehla girl.
9 mins (9 mins ago) User rimalternanni posts a picture of herself standing on top of the
mountains. The mountains are located in Syria and is hands down one of the most beautiful
places Ive ever been to, as stated in her caption.
Observation Two:
*Note: Observations took place on my Instagram feed on Tuesday September 16, 2014 at 6:00
p.m starting with the last picture posted 2 hours ago.
2 hrs (2 hrs ago) User mrlztx posts a picture of her and her boyfriend holding a caramel
frappuccino and a chocolate and strawberry cake pops from Starbucks. The picture was taken in
a car and only shows their hands holding their treats. Her caption says With bae. No filter
needed.
1 hr (1 hour ago) User s_galeano14 shares a #TransformationTuesday photo of her son. The
picture is in a photo collage form where it shows her son before as a three days old newborn to
now, a four months baby. She writes in her caption, #transformationtuesday 3 days old to 4
months old <3 I am not sorry for all the pictures I have. Hes just too perfect, I cant help it.
1 hr (1 hour ago) User and photographer carolinatopshots posts a picture from a photo shoot
he did recently. The model in this picture is a student from a high school located in Rock Hill,
NC. The caption reads Another sneak peek from a shoot this weekend with Madison from
Northwestern High School in Rock Hill.
56 mins (56 mins ago) carolinatopshots posts a photo collage of a middle softball games
from various schools. All pictures in the collage shows one player, in an action shot, either
catching the ball, running, or preparing to catch. The user writes in his caption, Some middle
school softball the other day.
47 mins (47 mins ago) User kiabuentipo shares to her followers her photography skills by
uploading a picture of the sky. The sky in the picture tells her followers that the day is about to
turn into evening. The caption says excuse me while I kiss the sky.
33 mins (33 mins ago) carolinatopshots uploads an action shot taken from the Carolinas
Panthers game this past Sunday. It shows one of the players from the Panthers team catching the
ball from their opponent. The caption says One of my favorite pictures I took from the game
Sunday.
22 mins (22 mins ago) User christineethach posts a selfie of herself. In her caption, instead
of using words or letters, she uses an emoji of a Hawaiian-type flower.
14 mins (14 mins ago) User mlj1996 participates in #TwinTuesday by posting a photo of her
with her twin sister. In the picture, they are wearing a Phi Beta Chi t-shirt and are holding a pink,
with white polka dots, picture-like frame that has the words Fall in Love with Phi Beta Chi.
Her caption says #twintuesday with my favorite sister ever, even though I now how 100 more
youll still be my fav #Pforalifetime.
2 mins (2 mins ago) User gracestroupe_ posts a throwback picture of her most likely during
the summer. In the picture, it shows her with a friend at a beach-like setting with palm trees, a
beach house, and a pond in the background. Her caption says Tb to the best week of my life.
Observation Three:
*Note: Observations took place on my Instagram feed on Wednesday September 17, 2014 at
9:40 p.m, starting with the last picture posted 3 hours ago.
3 hrs (3 hrs ago) Madison_mar10 posts a picture of her with her boyfriend at the Mellow
Mushroom Ballantyne in Charlotte, NC. From her caption, it is assumed that she and her
boyfriend are out for her birthday dinner since today is her birthday. Her caption says Birthday
dinner, Im legal.
2 hrs (2 hrs ago) Photographer carolinatopshots posts a photo collage from a volleyball
game that took place this evening. All pictures are action shots with players either serving the
ball, making a forearm pass, or performing a jump set. Caption says Some volleyball action
between Cherryville and Bessemer City. Hate they didnt out our better, the lighting there is not
very good haha.
2 hrs (2 hrs ago) User cardona222 posts a pre-game selfie of himself before playing soccer
against Clemson. His red Under Armour uniform shows that he is part of the Gardner-Webb
Bulldogs soccer team. His caption reads Soccer game tonight at Clemson, lets go bulldogs.
1 hr (1 hr ago) User haleyetaylor posts a selfie of her and her boyfriend after she is surprised
with a date night in downtown Charlotte. The picture was created with the PicCollage app where
she placed her photo on top of a light green background. Her caption says Surprise date night
downtown. So blessed.
41 mins (41 mins ago) carolinatopshots advertises his photography by posting a picture of
Abbee from her senior photo shoot. Abbee is wearing a blue, red, and black dress, sitting on a
rock by a pool in her backyard. Caption says Be like Abbee and schedule your senior photo
shootlots of fun and great photos for an excellent price!
30 mins (30 mins ago) rachelbpressley posts a VSCOcam edited photo of her sitting on a
hammock by her residence hall in Appalachian State University. It appears that she is relaxing
and reading a book titled Visions of America. Her caption says take a breath & let the rest
come easy ~ #appstate #eno #liveauthentic #vscocam.
27 mins ago (27 mins ago) imagegalleryphotography showcases a photo of a sleeping baby
from a recent photo shoot. The baby is sleeping on a light pink blanket, wearing pink and white
rabbit ears. Their caption says Newborns are the cutest! #ImageGallery.
Interview:
*Note: The person I interviewed is Instagram user bryannaaaxo, who is a close friend of
mine. Interview questions were sent to her on Friday September 12, 2014 and I received her
responses on Sunday September 14, 2014.
Commented [JT18]: Jessica: The interview portion of
your assignment is really short and doesn't give me a lot of
information about how your friend is really engaged with
instagram. Her answers are very short and not elaborated,
making it boring to read at times. Maybe try giving her
questions with more bulk, something that she would have
to explain or elaborate on. This would give your interview a
little more length.
Commented [JT19]: Brooke: With your interview
questions, either phrase them a different way or specifically
tell the person you interviewed to make their answers
longer. I know that we were given a list of words to use in
order to get in depth and detailed responses to the
questions asked, so definitely go back and work on the
interview more. Also if the answers are more detailed, it
gives a more personal feel and people may be able to
connect with the answers more. Also, longer and more
detailed answers are more interesting to read.
1. Describe the types of pictures you like to post on Instagram.
@bryannaaaxo: I like posting pictures of scenery and any activities I did throughout the day.
2. List and explain the filter(s) you think are the best when editing pictures.
@bryannaaaxo: My favorite filter is Valencia. I just think its pretty and not as intense as the
other filters.
3. Tell me how Instagram has connected you to the rest of the world.
@bryannaaaxo: Instagram makes me feel like Im a lot closer to the people I follow than I
actually am. It also makes me feel like I know more about a persons life than I actually do.
4. Tell me about how Instagram has impacted you since you started using the app.
@bryannaaaxo: It makes me feel like I have to take pictures whenever I do something
interesting. I also feel lonely when I see people doing things together and I wasnt invited. I also
get upset when I dont get enough likes on my pictures.
5. If the app was no longer available, tell me the positive and negative effects you think will
happen, if any.
@bryannaaaxo: The positive effect(s) is that you wont feel lonely or jealous of people and you
can do fun things without worrying about taking cute pictures to show off to everyone. The
negative effect(s) is feeling less connected to your friends and less creativity.

Commented [JT20]: Sarah: It was very clever to use the
the persons @ name of who you interviewed. It almost
gave off the illusion that you interviewed him or her
through Instagram. Maybe you should talk more about user
names in your artifacts or actors area though so someone
who doesnt know instagram would see why this is a clever
fact.