Mobile Habits That Take a Toll on Society

This photo is a physical representation of Instagram.

For this I decided to discuss the topic of mobile habits; but more specifically, the habits that people tend to have while using Instagram. When it comes to the app itself, it tracks everything that people do (what they click on, what they like, who they follow, etc.). However, when it comes to people, they tend to do things without even knowing it. Even when people notice these patterns and try to do something about it, they usually tend to fall back into the same cycle. Causing them to interact with similar posts, or even the same posts. Yet, this is beneficial for companies trying to get a product across. On the cognitive side of media, it can take a toll on users because they are always striving to get a certain amount of likes, or they want a certain amount of comments. Some users even use media as a crutch, to assist them mentally. To be able to escape reality, or possibly even drown in it, depending on the circumstances. The internet has a very unique way of tracking what you do on mobile apps, such as Instagram.

“Cut The Unnecessary!”

Within the article, “Designing Content for The Mobile-First Index,” written by Pattrick Stox, it brings up the topic of filters. Stating that “Filters are an easy way to cut out large parts of the content that a user may not be interested in.” When discussing mobile habits, filters play a significant role; especially on Instagram. This is because the whole premise of Instagram is wrapped around filters. People that post things only want their viewers to see what they want them to, and if that post contains something that they are attracted to, then there will be a decent amount of interactions that happen on that post. Stox also brings up the topic of summaries or highlights. This is because in today’s world a lot of mobile users are either on the go, or they just do not want to read a full block of text. When pages on Instagram make posts that have a predominantly large caption underneath them, then there is a less likely chance that viewers will read the whole thing (or even half in some cases). That is why most of the time Instagram posts will keep their captions short, in order to get their point across to viewers. This then causes the viewer to look at more of that page's posts because they post what they are attracted to, and they do not have to read that much into it either.

When you want to want to edit photos on social media, you will see this.

Studying Your Movements

Within the article, “Study of Consumer’s Unconscious Reaction Towards the Use of Anthropomorphic Appearance of Ai: An Eye-Tracking Experiment,” written by Irina Ene, it is stated how companies use artificial intelligence in order to promote their products to certain viewers. Ene states that eye-tracking has become very essential for marketing strategies, especially with jobs such as advertising design, in today’s society. When going further into detail about eye-tracking, Ene states that “First, this is an observation method that can register the point of view. Then, data about the dilation of the pupils can be collected” (Paragraph 28). Ene then proceeds to make the statement that by doing this companies can find out how long it will take for a viewer to be attracted to whatever product they are advertising. This has become very essential for the use of Instagram in more recent years as well. Mainly due to the fact that Instagram has incorporated marketing into their platform. With the help of eye-tracking, companies can tell when someone is viewing their product and if they like it. If the viewer is intrigued by a product, then they will see more advertisements for it because Instagram will recognize that, almost immediately.

The data base of what employees at Instagram HQ might see.

The Mental Toll

Author Henry Wilmer states in his article, “Mobile technology habits: patterns of association among device usage, intertemporal preference, impulse control, and reward sensitivity,” that he did a study on how the media plays a significant role in people's cognitive mind. Wilmer makes the claim that people have this, somewhat, constant urge to always look at their phones and reply to anyone that comes in contact with them. “These constant notifications and cues, and the relative immediacy with which we can acquire information and satisfy specific desires by responding to them, may alter our basic cognitive and affective functioning” (Paragraph 2). When relating this to habits on Instagram, it still holds true. Because when someone makes a post on Instagram (actual picture post, story, etc.), then they will be more inclined to check their phone to see who liked, or looked, at their post. People get this instant gratification when their phone lights up showing who interacted with their post. That is why people are inclined to post more because they are constantly looking for those likes and comments that do not really mean anything. But since people can get them with a touch of a button, then they will always yearn for that gratification.

Representation of people wondering where the likes are for their picture.

While on the topic of the cognitive toll that mobile devices put on people; author Ana Ivanova discusses how mobile devices, predominantly cell phones, can take a toll on someone's mental health. Within Ivanova’s text “Mobile Phone Addiction, Phubbing, and Depression Among Men and Women: A Moderated Mediation Analysis,” she states that while people are on their phones more, this can have the possibility of causing someone to feel like they are lonely, are not good enough, or even depressed. Claiming that “studies show that people who more often experience depressive symptoms more often suffer from social media addiction” (Pg. 3). Social media can be seen as, somewhat, a crutch for people in both good and bad ways, and Instagram plays a strong role when it comes to this topic. Social media can be used as a crutch for depression, in the sense that it either causes it or helps forget about it. This is very true with the case of Instagram. Because in terms of causing depression, Instagram can make viewers feel like they are not accomplishing much, or they might feel like others are rubbing their life in their faces with the things that they post. This can cause depression because everyone wants to post something exciting that happens to them whenever they get the chance. Yet, if these life events do not come around that often, then people will get discouraged by the things that they see on Instagram. On the opposing side, Instagram can also be seen as a crutch against things like depression. This is because for some people, they might view Instagram as a sense of relief. They will be able to escape society and only have to worry about what they like on Instagram, and avoid what they do not like. It is that aspect that people like about social media (especially Instagram) because if they do not like what they see then they can either scroll past it, or even alter their settings to not see posts even relatively close to what they do not like. It is the aspect that people feel like they can control/escape reality whenever they open Instagram.

The relevance of how people are always on their phones.

In conclusion, everyone has certain habits when it comes to social media, especially with an app that is as popular as Instagram. The app has been out for a decent amount of time now, so when it comes to tracking our habits and analyzing what we look at; it has become relatively easy. Users can control what their viewers see, along with being able to control what they see themselves. Companies can track what users click on in order to get a better understanding of what they like, and that proceeds to companies showing more of that product, or something similar. Lastly, apps like Instagram can cause mental health problems, in the sense of users wanting to be like other people they see. Users also get caught up in the instant gratification when they receive likes or comments on a post that they made. This then causes the user to post more, or want to post more because they feel like they mean something whenever they get those notifications. Therefore, as you can see, media like Instagram has multiple ways to get to a person. They have multiple ways to better understand each and every user, and get across whatever message they need to.