Selfies on Instagram: implications of a platform in the configuration of a research object.

Abstract

This paper aims to identify the interventions that the Instagram platform calls upon the configuration of selfies as a research object. This perspective aligns itself with the approach which defends a position that aims to consider critically digital data used in investigations of Social Sciences and Humanities. For this purpose, this article is based on the model posited by Van Dijck (2013), who interprets platforms both as techno-cultural constructs and socio-economic structures. From the confrontation between literature review and empirical evidences obtained in previous studies, it is highlighted that the dynamics encouraged by the platform come to consider selfies performativity beyond its visual aspect, in terms of captions, hashtags and location, reconfiguring the question of visibility associated with to personal exposure on that platform.

Keywords selfies; platform; Instagram