Why do we use and upload photos to Instagram?

Uploading photos to Instagram, and the social network itself as a whole, has acquired a relevant role in the social functioning of our culture. Far from being a mechanism to share our good moments, desires, ambitions and personality traits are hidden in the upload of a photo that have nothing to do with the main function of a social network: being connected.

We can relate the way we use Instagram with how we are. That is, the use we make of Instagram (and similar social networks) is to a certain extent a reflection of mental health and the psychological construct that we present when pressing the “share”, “like” or “comment” button. ”.

Below we present the most relevant studies that have collected data and conclusions about our behavior on Instagram. Gestures that may seem random, but, like any functioning embedded in human behavior, have a lot to say and express about the person who performs them.

People with depression tend to apply more filters to photos.

Personality traits and photo editing

Let’s remember the 5 big personality traits developed by authors such as Goldberg or Digman (1990):

Openness to experience. Neuroticism. Extraversion. Kindness. Responsibility.

Personality traits do not define “what a person is like.” They are dimensional categories that can help understand some of your most stable behavior patterns, serving as elements that help us predict certain psychological or physical conditions (for example, higher levels of neuroticism indicate greater coronary accidents).

Ferwerda, Schedl and Tkalcic (2016) find a correlation between the edition chosen to present a photo and certain personality traits. For example, people with greater openness to experience use cold, saturated colors in photos, in which mostly few faces appear. People with high conscientiousness ratings usually uploaded both saturated and unsaturated photos interchangeably and, like people with neuroticism, they uploaded more photos with high brightness.

In this study they expose how personality can manifest itself in the way of editing the photographs that are shared on Instagram.

Clinical entities through a photo

Moving away from personality traits, other researchers have tried to use the social network to detect psychological conditions. This could become a powerful tool for the prevention of the psychological condition if it can be located quickly without the condition needing to have fully developed.

Reece and Danforth (2017) tried to do this, searching on Instagram for a tool to warn of the development of a possible depressive disorder. They were looking for correlations and they found them. According to these authors, increased hue, along with decreased brightness and saturation in photos, predicted the development or presence of a depressive disorder. Overall, they found that participants with a depressive disorder applied fewer filtersand preferably a filter to convert the image to black/white.

Interestingly, they also found that the posts that received the most likes among the participants in their study had been uploaded by participants diagnosed with depression. Another interesting fact is that, although depressed people were more likely to upload photos with faces, fewer faces typically appeared in these photos than in the photos of a participant without this psychological condition. Perhaps, reflecting the reduction of the social circle as a consequence of the depression itself.

The most important conclusion of this study is the following: certain depressive signals could have been detected before the first diagnosis of depression (Reece and Danforth, 2017).

The “selfie” in the depressed person

These same authors tried to investigate why a higher percentage of faces appeared in their photos in depressed people. These did not differentiate between the type of face that appeared.

This is relevant because they built an interesting hypothesis. Just like the language of people with depression usually focused on themselves -as reflected by the use of the first person-, this could also happen with photos.

How is it possible that more photographs with faces are published, but the heterogeneity of faces is low? These authors hypothesized that, perhaps, because these photos were selfies or self-portraits of the depressed person themselves.

Like us through “like”

Instagram and social networks have not only played a fundamental role in the culture of our society and how we relate to our context; also in how we relate to ourselves.

In fact, although the objective of the social network is to keep us connected, an even more important objective underlies it: the maintenance and conservation of self-concept. Paradoxically, Instagram acts as a thief and provider of self-esteem. Not only has it become the only way –apparently– to nurture self-concept, also has the power to give and take away mental health at will.

While comparison takes away our self-esteem, “likes” enhance it. In a study carried out by Dumas, Maxwell, Davis and Giulietti (2017), 90% of participants admitted to having used Instagram to receive “likes”in what they call search behavior like (like-seeking behavior). These authors differentiated two types of behavior to get “likes”

Normative search: from the use of filters to the inclusion of hashtags. These behaviors are generally accepted by other peers. That is, it is understood that they are used and, up to that point, the search for “likes” is understood.Non-normative search: trickier actions, such as changing our body or face with a program. Up to 55% of participants admitted to doing this. They also found that people who used non-normative search tools were more likely to have self-esteem problems and dissatisfaction; and that they would have difficulty finding the meaning and purpose of their lives in the future.

Instagram, indicator of narcissism?

Numerous studies have tried to find the relationship between narcissism and Instagram. People with high levels of narcissism tend to be much more active on the social network, using it for self-promotion more frequently and intensely than people without this trait (Dumas, et al., 2017).

Narcissistic people have an inflated self-concept and a pathological assertion of the “I” as a unique and special being. In the search for power over others and the perception of control of the other’s behavior, Narcissistic people tend to “like” other people’s photos to, in turn, receive a “like” from the other person..

The selfies They seem especially typical of narcissistic people. To be more precise, with the need for perceived leadership and authority – which do not have to be negative characteristics – and the display of grandiosity.

Narcissistic people need to control the way others see and consider them. Sheldon and Bryant (2016) find that, The greater the narcissism, the greater the time invested in editing a photograph.. Not only to control what others think, also for orientals to think that the person is cool (cool) and creative.

The vulnerable narcissist and the grandiose, on Instagram

Furthermore, it was found a positive relationship between the grandiose narcissist – dominant and extroverted – and sharing photographs of physical appearance; as well as between the vulnerable narcissist – neurotic and insecure – and the request for followers and new friends.

Along these lines, Paramboukis, Skues and Wise (2016) find that people with high levels of vulnerable narcissism use Instagram to increase their popularitywhile the grandiose narcissist sought attention to produce admiration in others.

The more narcissistic the person is, the more editing they will do to the photograph.

Instagram to search for diagnosis, not “likes”

The studies presented reveal everything that our behavior on Instagram can reveal. Not only as a sociological phenomenon, but also as support for the detection and prevention of significant clinical entities at a mental level.

Finally, if we could establish causal relationships, we could also specify criteria for detect depressive, anxiety or eating disordersas well as those personality traits that may be related to certain types of behaviors, such as those that seek recognition or reflect the presence of an addiction.

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