The Rise of Social Media
In today's interconnected world, social media has experienced an explosive rise in popularity, forever changing the way we communicate, connect, and consume content. With over 4.74 billion social media users worldwide, an astounding 75% of the global population aged 13+ actively engage on various social platforms. As internet users themselves become active participants in shaping online conversations with an impressive 93% of internet users actively using social media.
The statistics paint a vivid picture of our deep involvement with social media. On average, people spend 2 hours and 28 minutes per day each day on these platforms, with young women aged 16-24 years old using social media the most, dedicating approximately 3 hours and 10 minutes to social media activities daily. The impact of social media on our daily routines becomes even more apparent when we examine specific platforms.
According to a 2022 screen time report, UK adults spend around two hours on Facebook, one hour and 30 minutes on Instagram, one hour and 25 minutes on YouTube, and one hour and 15 minutes on TikTok. Astonishingly, this amounts to a staggering six hours of social media screen time per day. For younger generations, traditional television is being replaced by Instagram, with nearly one in 10 people aged 16-24 spending seven hours a day scrolling through the image-focused app. That adds up to a staggering 2,555 hours per year dedicated solely to Instagram.
These trends are reinforced by mobile phone usage statistics from Uswitch 2022 broadband survey, indicating that UK mobile phone users spend an average of five hours per day on their devices. Furthermore, according to a 2021 Ofcom survey, people in the UK check their smartphones approximately every 12 minutes during their waking hours. It has become routine for 40% of adults to reach for their phones within five minutes of waking up, with the figure rising to 65% among those aged 35 and under. Similarly, 37% of adults check their phones within five minutes of going to sleep, and among the younger demographic, that number reaches 60%.
The Arrival of Instagram:
In the midst of the ongoing digital revolution, we all know that Instagram has emerged as a powerful force, shaping the social media landscape. Boasting over 1 billion monthly active users, Instagram has secured its position as the fourth most popular social networking site worldwide. Users spend an average of 11.7 hours per month on this platform, immersing themselves in a visually captivating experience.
I have previously discussed the ripple Instagram caused on how and why we now live our lives through a camera lens when its founders had the profound impact of introducing filters to enhance pictures. These filters gave people the power to transform reality into art, influencing their perception of self, society, and the world. Instagram became a platform where individuals could curate their lives, hoping to reflect their aspirations and identity. Today, it has become the norm to document every aspect of our lives through a camera lens that has ultimately created a modern pressure to present only the most exceptional version of ourselves, fostering a perception of perfect lives that often diverges from reality.
However, Instagram didn't stop at photos, it had no choice after the profound impact it had on society and the ball it started rolling. There was now a hunger to consume, produce, and document every second of our lives in a way that justified our individual existence through an ongoing competition to receive the most the most engagement, interaction, and validation and in 2016 TikTok - burst onto the scene providing a new and better way to do just that… vertical video-sharing.
Instagram responded to the trend when they unveiled Reels in 2020, a revolutionary feature for vertical video sharing, rapidly expanding its availability to over 50 countries. Described by Instagram as "a new way to create and discover short, entertaining videos." Reels empowers users to record and edit 15-second or 60-second videos, sharing them with friends and fellow Instagram users. Unlike its competitor TikTok, Reels is seamlessly integrated within the Instagram platform, eliminating the need for a separate app.
With the introduction of Reels, Instagram granted millions of users the opportunity to become self-producing consumers. With their smartphones already attached to their hands users could now create short videos and infuse them with various built-in editing features, and share their short, compelling, and creative content with their followers and friends.
It is well known that the success of a Reels video is often measured by its "virality", determined by the number of view, likes, comments, shares, and saves it receives within a short span of time. However, achieving viral status isn't immediate, easy, or even dependent on the quality of the content produced. It also heavily depends on users' online social capital, and the immediate volume of engagement it receives from the first 10% of the creators followers the content is displayed to in order for it to be classified by the algorithm as a high quality post increasing its exposure and chance of virality. Therefore the immediate response and social recognition from immediate connections is what is the core driver for amplifying the reach of a post and the chance of someone further building their brand, followers, and social capital.
What started as a simple photo-sharing app with filters was able further cemented itself as a global phenomenon with the introduction of Reels. The simple vertical video content with an endless scroll allowed individuals to explore an endless "reel" of creative content further inspiring them to find new wats better curate their lives and project their carefully constructed narratives to the world, ultimately thrusting open the door for endless possibilities of success, brand deals, influencer status, and social recognition.
However, with such a diverse user base comprising countless unique individuals all using the feature differently, what drives us all to addictively create, consume, and document our lives through concise 90-second videos?
Why Do We Use Reels
A research study conducted by Devadas Menon delved into the factors influencing Instagram Reels usage behaviours through an examination of motivations, contextual age and narcissism and it identified seven primary motivations for using Instagram Reels:
1. Socially Rewarding Self-Promotion:
Users seek popularity and social rewards, such as likes, comments, and shares, by creating and sharing Reels videos.
2. Entertainment:
Users utilise Reels for fun and to pass the time, enjoying the engaging and entertaining nature of short videos.
3. Escape:
Reels serve as a temporary escape from daily routines and problems, allowing users to take a break and immerse themselves in enjoyable content.
4. Surveillance:
Users use Reels to peek into the lives of others through the short videos shared on the platform, satisfying their curiosity and interest in others' lives.
5. Novelty:
The innovative and unique nature of Reels attracts users who are intrigued by the novelty of this short video-sharing application.
6. Documentation:
Reels features enable users to record and preserve memorable events in their lives through short videos, serving as a form of documentation.
7. Trendiness:
Reels' popularity and widespread adoption motivate users to follow this new fashion trend, encouraging others to engage with the feature.
After clarifying these seven motivations Menon found that these motivations also exhibited high correlations with each other indicating many different forms of how people individually use Reels.
The strongest correlation was observed between socially rewarding self-promotion and novelty, suggesting that users are primarily driven by the desire for fame due to the novelty of the Reels platform.
Additionally, higher correlations were observed between socially rewarding self-promotion and other motivations such as surveillance, documentation, and entertainment, indicating the interplay between these motives.
Furthermore, the study explored the relationship between motivations, contextual age, and narcissism. It found that interpersonal interaction positively correlated with all Reels usage motives, with a particularly high correlation with trendiness. Life satisfaction exhibited positive correlations with all motives except escape where users with lower life satisfaction were more likely to use Reels for escapism.
The study also revealed a positive correlation between narcissism and socially rewarding self-promotion, indicating that narcissistic individuals use Reels to promote themselves and satisfy their need for self-validation.
In terms of usage behaviours, the study also examined the factors influencing Reels creation, consumption, and participation. Social activity and interpersonal interaction were significant predictors of all three behaviours, indicating that users who are socially active and engage in interpersonal interactions are more likely to create, consume, and participate in Reels content.
Additionally, individuals with higher life satisfaction were more inclined towards consumption rather than creation and participation. Narcissism positively predicted creation and participation but did not predict consumption. Users motivated by socially rewarding self-promotion were more likely to create and participate, while those seeking entertainment and escape motivations were more inclined to create and participate, respectively.
Surveillance negatively predicted creation but positively predicted consumption, suggesting that users interested in watching others' Reels were less likely to create their own content. Lastly, users motivated by novelty were less involved in participation behaviours.
In summary, the study found that people use Instagram Reels for different reasons, with some motivations being more strongly linked to each other. Being socially active and interacting with others are important factors in using Reels, and different motivations all influence whether people create, consume, or participate in Reels.
However even if we do use Instagram for different reasons the time we are spreading on the app consuming its creative features is ever-increasing, so what are the implications of our increasing consumption?
Implications of Reels Usage:
The implications of Reels usage extend beyond mere entertainment and creative expression. Devadas Menon's findings illuminate the motivations behind our digital behaviour on Reels, allowing us to shed more light on the potential drawbacks of overconsumption of the always-alluring vibrant digital world.
As I explained in my previous blog post discussing the insights from the book "dopamine nation" the allure of highly saturated rewards within the world of social media can rewire our neural pathways, leading to long term addiction and dependence on smartphones and platforms providing measures, metrics and rewards for self-worth. Unfortunately, this reliance can hinder our genuine desire for real human connections and authentic experiences, as we mistakenly evaluate our lives based on likes, comments, and shares.
Additionally, Menon's study has shown that low life satisfaction increases Reels consumption, it seems logical to conclude that further consumption will increase further dissatisfaction due to comparison with the highlight reel and curated feeds of others. The future implications of this are still unmeasured but with the rising rates of depression and withdrawal from society, it is possible that the fame-making machine for many also has the power to destroy many more.
Furthermore, more people are spending their precious hours within the digital realm of content creation in order for the small chance to become famous is ultimately resulting in more young people becoming less weary about their privacy because of the neurological and digital rewards they receive from sharing and being "authentic" with thousands of strangers further reinforcing the same behaviour.
However, now that research has begun to uncover the underlying realities, motivations, and implications of social media use, it allows us the opportunity to redefine and reevaluate our relationships with features like Instagram Reels and other social media platforms in order to better navigate this forever evolving vibrant digital world. This therefore further allows us to identify both how and why we must find a balance between seeking digital validation and cultivating authentic human connections in the real world.
Additionally by reflecting on the implications of our online activity will allow us to become more mindful users where we can start re-shaping the future of social media by transforming it into a tool for genuine self-expression, meaningful connections, and personal growth. It is my hope that with this intention this will help stop our mindless consumption of the vibrant colours and cheap rewards designed to light up the pleasure response in our brains that keep us distracted and consuming like cattle grazing in a field absent of thought, autonomy, and the desire to live a meaningful life. I hope that in doing this we can learn to put down our phones in order to return to the real world do to it being the one which is actually full of endless possibilities, changes for connection, intimacy, and wonder.
So, think about the seven motivations behind using Instagram Reels and ask you to reflect on if you are using the feature productively, whether is it adding value to your life, or are you just mindlessly grazing away rather than actually living?
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