Photographic peripheries of Instagram

The article presents the results of a multi-modal analysis regarding the communicative role of images posted on Instagram and opposed to the service’s visual trends. These images include i.a. photos with the hashtag #nofilterneeded, which reveal the service’s operating principles and are a symbol of the fight against the creation of reality in social media. Based on the conducted research, the author characterizes selected photographs in terms of instagrammability indicators and groups them according to their functions: archivization, communication and autopresentation. Her observations are juxtaposed with analyses conducted by other researchers concerned with the issue of the impact of algorithmization and metrification of social media services on users’ actions and motivations, especially in terms of selecting photos for publication and their role in memory processes. In order to provide a precise description of users’ curatorial practices, the author presents selected visual trends and explains how Instagram’s algorithm operates. A crucial part of her research consists of the interpretation of hashtags added to the analyzed posts. These hashtags not only inform whether the photograph was modified, but also provide the viewer with an interpretative direction, indicating the author’s preferred reading of the work.