Social Norm Breaking
A virtual community consists of social norms just like the real world. Thus, it also creates social pressure that convinces people to conform online. The goal of this assignment is to violate the social norms on social media. Norm breaking reveals the hidden rules that dictate our thoughts and behaviors in social interactions. Instagram is an app that I use religiously and spend a lot of time on. For this experiment, I posted 6 mundane photos that are trash can, plastic bag, doorknob, spoon, and a dirty sock. I also used exuberant hashtags such as “#amazing”, “#beautiful”, “#lifeisgood” and “#happy”. I have always worked hard to create and maintain a positive reputation on Instagram by posting impeccable or extremely filtered photographies.
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Before starting on this assignment, I calculated all the possible consequences and effects on my Instagram. I worried about my followers, my impression, and if I can still interact with people the same way. In order to decrease the negative reactions, I changed my profile to private. I saw some of my friends were new to Instagram and I wanted to add them but I restricted myself. However, there were some friends that requested to follow me but I wanted to wait until I can delete those photos. I was anxious that they would see my unflattering posts and think I am a weird person. I was scared of the public viewing my profile and judging me even though I never met those people. It was very uncomfortable and I was laughing myself of how ridiculous those images were. In my head, I already made a plan to explain myself on Instagram for my actions. Looking at my profile was not pleasant, I felt very disturbed by how disorganized they are. Nonetheless, I felt a sense of relief and freedom. Usually, I will spend 2 hours photoshopping my photos and testing out multiple filters. This experiment allowed me to post whatever I want and I didn’t have to judge every detail of my photo. I was less worried about the number of likes because I knew it wouldn’t get any. It was very tempting to click delete and it was hard to endure the temptation. After the assignment was over, I automatically deleted the photos and felt like I was cleaning my room, both relaxing and comforting. The second thing I did was accept my friends’ requests because my profile was back to
Before starting on this assignment, I calculated all the possible consequences and effects on my Instagram. I worried about my followers, my impression, and if I can still interact with people the same way. In order to decrease the negative reactions, I changed my profile to private. I saw some of my friends were new to Instagram and I wanted to add them but I restricted myself. However, there were some friends that requested to follow me but I wanted to wait until I can delete those photos. I was anxious that they would see my unflattering posts and think I am a weird person. I was scared of the public viewing my profile and judging me even though I never met those people. It was very uncomfortable and I was laughing myself of how ridiculous those images were. In my head, I already made a plan to explain myself on Instagram for my actions. Looking at my profile was not pleasant, I felt very disturbed by how disorganized they are. Nonetheless, I felt a sense of relief and freedom. Usually, I will spend 2 hours photoshopping my photos and testing out multiple filters. This experiment allowed me to post whatever I want and I didn’t have to judge every detail of my photo. I was less worried about the number of likes because I knew it wouldn’t get any. It was very tempting to click delete and it was hard to endure the temptation. After the assignment was over, I automatically deleted the photos and felt like I was cleaning my room, both relaxing and comforting. The second thing I did was accept my friends’ requests because my profile was back to