A Qualitative Study Analysis of How and Why People Use Instagram for Online Impression Management

Abstract

Impression management is a sum of conscious and subconscious activities which is aimed at creating a certain impression on the viewers.(Goffman, 1959) When an individual engages in impression management in real life, the audience has an opportunity to assess whether or not the person‟s performance matches with their „perceived reality‟. However in the case of virtual online networks the audience do not necessarily have the opportunity to personally verify the „authenticity‟ of the content that someone publishes on Social Networking Sites (SNS‟) such as Instagram. Thus, „the publishers of content‟ on SNS‟ such as Instagram have a great deal of „creative control‟ over how they portray themselves‟ on and through these platforms. (Manago, et. al, 2005) , (Sheldon & Bryant, 2016) This study tries to analyse how Instagram users use the platform for impression management and what are the various motives for choosing Instagram in particular for impression management