Social media platforms like instagram are inherently performative. Users often will devote an account to a specific purpose. For example, a fashion blogger may have an instagram through which they are sponsored by brands and can form relationships with PR and industry professionals. Even users who have personal accounts are aware of their audience while they are posting. With this in mind, I decided to complete the assignment by using a social media platform as part of my performative photography series.
I liked the idea of creating an instagram after the examples we looked at in class. I was drawn to finstas (fake instagrams) since they are allegedly a more authentic way to reach followers. They’re typically visible to a smaller circle of friends and are supposed to be more candid or honest. However, I began by questioning whether finstas can ever truly achieve this authenticity. Given that finstas are supposed to be a more personal reflection of a user, authors are inherently aware that their finsta will create assumptions and perceptions about themselves. Thus, finstas inevitably raise questions of authorship.
I also thought finstas would be an interesting form of performative photography because of the specific types of characteristics they tend to convey. Most that I follow are extremely self-deprecating. They’re typically on the more sarcastic side. They give the impression that the user is willing to bare all to the audience, but only to an extent. I kept these in mind when deciding which images to take and post. I wanted to give the impression that I would put just about anything on the internet while actually revealing very few details about myself. My finsta persona became a character which I based the content I was posting around.
Most finstas I follow range from absurd pictures to paragraph long confessions. I decided to make a finsta and spend a day posting whatever came to mind in an effort to be authentic. This was a performance given that very little of what I actually posted was authentic. They were mostly dumb snap chats, overdramatic captions and shots of moments of my day that weren’t particularly significant in the long run. My performance of authenticity only created an account that stands as a caricature of myself. Some of my followers knew that I was creating the account for class. Others thought I had genuinely created another account and went along with it. My ultimate goal was to be obnoxious enough that my close friends would unfollow me or tell me to stop. However, after posting six times in one day I realized that a different standard exists in the finsta world where oversharing is encouraged.
