Visual Content Analysis
Digital Sociology
Best Face Forward
How do you want to be perceived? What do you want people to think when they look at your Instagram account? Most want to look good and have posts that will get them likes. Wanting to be painted in the best light.
This is true for schools as well. I looked at three colleges’ Instagram accounts to see what they wanted to showcase. I was under the impression schools would overrepresent their diversity. Some photoshopping of their own. The same way Instagram models airbrush and edit themselves to seem perfect to the outside world. I was surprised to find that the schools had representation on social media similar to their demographics.
This may be because they are small schools. Or that they all have separate Instagram accounts for different parts of the school. It can also be because these accounts are updated much more often that their websites are. Social media comes with the ease of posting, editing, and updating.
Colleges use their Instagram accounts in a casual and professional way. Posting very often and only with important updates. Always trying to put their best face forward.
Hi Kavita, I love you blog! My favorite color is actually pink so I might be a bit bias, but the formatting of each post is super cool and I think it’s really well done. What you wrote about universities trying to appeal to potential students on Instagram by altering their images and appearing more diverse is really interesting. It’s crazy because at the end of the day, schools are businesses too and they’re gonna do the most to put their “best face forward.” I know plenty of POC at Drew that get plastered all over posters, flyers and would get chased down on campus by the photographer to get their pictures taken. Definitely wild, and your post was great about describing that. Great job!!
Hi Kavita!
I really enjoyed reading your blog posts. I find it really interesting what you found about universities putting their “best face forward” and photoshopping their accounts in order to appeal to prospective students. I think this study could push students to be more aware of the certain strategies that universities use to draw them in and be more cautious of campus diversity outside of the media. Great work!