Instagram affords its more than one billion active monthly users (Statista 2019), an immersive and visually rich platform for creating and presenting a personal brand identity. Typically, these online identities are moulded around notions of an ideal self and lifestyle. Users tend to display content that is socially desirable or valuable, such as practicing yoga, spending time with friends, or eating healthily (Aires 2020). Other users within the platform aren’t merely an audience to this content - but play an active role in the perpetuation of idealised and celebrity lifestyles through ‘engagement marketing’ and reproduction of content as ‘prosumers’ (Zhang 2015).

On the platform, a user’s persona or identity becomes a tangible entity entangled in a commitment to deploying and maintaining this entity as if it were a real branded good to be traded (Senft 2013). The form that these entities take are influenced by cultural factors and aesthetics vying for attention, where the labour and time necessary to generate these being unpaid (Drenten, Gurrieri & Tyler 2018). Through this labour, close consideration is paid to grabbing attention through a ‘sex sells’; ‘porn chic’ aesthetic, particularly promoting products alongside sexualised women (Blair et al. 2006; Drenten, Gurrieri & Tyler 2018).

With the popularity of visual platforms such as Instagram, many are left vulnerable to content which is left unchecked and uncensored. Users are exposed to unrealistic aesthetic templates – with these altering real life perceptions even in the offline world (Marwick 2015). Dorfman (2017) argue that it is critical that board certified surgeons increase their presence on social media. This is to educate and inform users about the real-world risks and implications of undergoing plastic surgery to conform to these aesthetic templates. As with many social media platforms, they are still in their relative infancy. Currently, Instagram – like others, are an online ‘Wild West’. There must continue to be those within and outside these platforms actively speaking out and keeping the capabilities of the platforms themselves in check.

References:

Aires, S 2020, ‘Laboured Identity: An Analysis of User Branding Practices on Instagram’, tripleC: Communication, Capitalism & Critique. Open Access Journal for a Global Sustainable Information Society, vol. 18, no. 1, pp. 494-507.

Blair, J, Stephensen, J, Hill, K & Green, J 2006, ‘Ethics in advertising: sex sells, but should it?’, Journal of Legal, Ethical and Regulatory Issues, vol. 9, no. 1, p. 109.

Dorfman, R, Vaca, E, Mahmood, E, Fine, N & Schierle, C 2017, ‘Plastic Surgery-Related Hashtag Utilization on Instagram: Implications for Education and Marketing’, Aesthetic Surgery Journal, vol. 38, no. 3, pp. 332-338.

Drenten, J, Gurrieri, L & Tyler, M 2018, ‘Sexualized labour in digital culture: Instagram influencers, porn chic and the monetization of attention’, Gender, Work & Organization, vol. 27, no. 1, pp. 41-66.

Marwick, A 2015, Status Update: Celebrity, Publicity, and Branding in the Social Media Age, Yale University Press, New Haven.

Senft, T 2013, ‘Microcelebrity and the Branded Self’, A Companion to New Media Dynamics, in J Hartley, J Burgess & A Bruns (ed.), Wiley‐Blackwell, Oxford, UK, pp. 346-354.

Statista 2019, Number of monthly active Instagram users from January 2013 to June 2018, viewed 30 May 2020, <https://www.statista.com/statistics/253577/number-of-monthly-active-instagram-users/>.

Brand Me: This week's class focused on identifying our personal pixie dust. We take a moment to think and reflect on our interests, talents, and values that shape how we become designers but also human beings. Both from our own perspective (self-reflection) and through the eyes of another classmate we were paired with, by receiving peer-written feedback and also visual exercises. Diving into this, I really didn't expect this to be as much of a challenge as it was. This past year was really tough on me mentally and physically. From trying to secure an internship while also completing the tail end of my studies. When I had to list my strengths and personal qualities, it was something I did not expect to take so long to do. This was a good exercise for me as an eye-opener to spend more time on the activities I used to love in my free time that shaped me into the person I have become. It definitely took time to feel confident enough to be able to narrow them down. But after this, I was better able to understand both how I see myself and also how others experience working with me. Based on what we did, a large part of my "pixie dust" comes from my interests that are outside of design. I love a combination of drawing, music, sports, photography, and travel, all in all, which defines and influences how I think visually and creatively. And also shape my mindset with storytelling and appreciation for diversity in visual language. Being a bilingual speaker and heavily culturally influenced also helped me communicate and collaborate with others. Several traits that consistently stood out to me were qualities such as hardworking, creative, culturally influenced, confident, outgoing, and generous. This aligns with the feedback I received from my survey, which helped shape my personal brand. I was quite pleased to see that most of the traits I had written down were pretty similar to what I had viewed myself as. It is interesting to learn and observe how others perceive me as a designer and person. We also looked at reflecting on my long-term goals. I view myself working in a professional design agency/studio environment where I continually expect myself to master my craft and to also have an impact on what I create with my own personal touch. While being able to build and establish a future for myself and my family. As a person, I really value having balance, and I want my career to reflect that. For my portfolio development: -For my platform, I already have a portfolio on carrd.io, but I intend to switch to Readymag. It is currently an up-and-coming website builder. But it really requires you to put in the time and effort to get one done.

-I am currently still trying to narrow down my portfolio work by making sure I have my best work, but also having a diversity to showcase that I am a multidisciplinary designer. -I need to obtain a domain. I intend to keep my name Stefanemmanuel since that's my name on all my social media and it's most recognizable by my peers.

Blog Post 1- INTERESTS/ TALENTS/ PASSIONS (Pixie Dust) Brand Me: This week's class focused on identifying our personal pixie dust. Where we take a moment to think and reflect on our interests, talents, and values that shape how we become designers, but also as human beings. Both from our own perspective (self-reflection) and through the eyes of another classmate we were paired with, by receiving peer-written feedback and also visual exercises. Diving into this, I really didn't expect this to be as much of a challenge as it was. This past year was really tough on me mentally and physically. From trying to secure an internship while also completing the tail end of my studies. When I had to list my strengths and personal qualities, it was something I did not expect to take so long to do. This was a good exercise for me as an eye-opener to spend more time on the activities I used to love in my free time that shaped me into the person I have become. It definitely took time to feel confident enough to be able to narrow them down. But after this, I was better able to understand both how I see myself and also how others experience working with me. Based on what we did, a large part of my "pixie dust" comes from my interests that are outside of design. I love a combination of drawing, music, sports, photography, and travel, all in all, which defines and influences how I think visually and creatively. And also shape my mindset with storytelling and appreciation for diversity in visual language. Being a bilingual speaker and heavily culturally influenced also helped me communicate and collaborate with others. Several traits that consistently stood out to me were qualities such as hardworking, creative, culturally influenced, confident, outgoing, and generous. This aligns with the feedback I received from my survey, which helped shape my personal brand. I was quite pleased to see that most of the traits I had written down were pretty similar to what I had viewed myself as. It is interesting to learn and observe how others perceive me as a designer and person. We also looked at reflecting on my long-term goals. I view myself working in a professional design agency/studio environment where I continually expect myself to master my craft and to also have an impact on what I create with my own personal touch. While being able to build and establish a future for myself and my family. As a person, I really value having balance, and I want my career to reflect that. For my Portfolio development: -For my platfortm I already have a portfolio on carrd.io, but i intend to switch to Readymag. It is currently up and coming website builder. But it really requires you to put in the time and effort to get one done.