Apoorva Agrawal

Apoorva Agrawal's Executive Summary:

Can I Get Your Instagram Handle? Instagram as the New Phone Number: A Uses and Gratifications Study

Methods

My data collection process consisted of a focus group, interviews, and surveys. To be eligible for each research method, participants needed to (1) be 18 or older, (2) check Instagram daily, and (3) be an active user of Instagram (post, like, or follow at least twice a week). Each method was piloted with peers and friends and contained gender balance. I overcame the challenge of recruiting participants by not being afraid to reach out directly to people on Facebook and Instagram. Snowball sampling played a big part in my study as my contacts reached out to their friends.

Research Question

My research question asks: How and why do people use Instagram to communicate? My data revealed that Instagram allows users to keep in touch with others, look back on memories, express their personalities, escape from reality, and browse the daily lives of people all over the world.

Hypothesis

I correctly hypothesized that people primarily use Instagram to perform an online identity. My data shows that young users put time and thought into visually representing themselves on Instagram. In fact, participants use external photo-editing apps to enhance their photos before uploading to Instagram.

Brief Summary Statement

People primarily use Instagram to perform an online identity. Users enjoy the visual aspect of Instagram and find the platform to be less cluttered than other social media sites, such as Facebook. Overall, Instagram is an outlet that provides young users the opportunity to visually represent their lives and personalities online.