Hiding Traces of Status Seeking: Contradictory Tagging Strategies on Instagram

Abstract

The prevailing presence of social media in the twenty-first century has changed processes of self-presentation. This study questions how Instagram users employ the platform’s tagging features to claim and seek status. Content analysis on a random sample of 787 posts carrying the hashtag “instagood” revealed that they utilize the tagging affordances to make their audience aware of their capital. In addition to displaying their capital through tags, however, users employ hashtags and account tags to increase their visibility on the platform. Interestingly, analysis shows the prevalence of attempts to conceal these obvious paratextual status-seeking strategies. Over half of the Instagram posts in the sample showed traces of the creators taking active steps to hide their use of like-hunter hashtags, through which users explicitly ask other Instagrammers for likes and follows. This finding builds upon Marwick’s concept of aspirational production: The perfecting of one’s online presentation does not only happen by producing a high-status image, but also by concealing the “inauthentic” nature of this production. Furthermore, the fact that traces of obvious status seeking can be found online implies that the lines between Goffman’s front- and backstage are blurred in the digital age.