This week I sent out my all-school survey and am waiting to collect responses from students. I am hoping to have at least 150 responses to my survey and will begin analyzing the data once it closes. Currently, I am analyzing my interview data and making connections between my primary sources and the respondent’s answers. A major theme in all my interviews is that students have certain parts of their lives that they actively choose to share or choose not to share on Instagram. One student avoids posting content that displays his socioeconomic class and another does not share political opinions on the app. Another student mentions that she consciously shares her identity as Filipino and LGBTQ+ in her Instagram bio because she views these as an important part of herself she wants on display. On the other hand, one senior mentioned that she is unable to share her identity as bisexual because she has family members that follow her who would disapprove if they knew this about her. All instances highlight the ways in which students understand they are under observation on social media and the different reactions or perceptions of themselves that could be created through how they choose to present on the app. In “You never really know who’s looking”: Imagined surveillance across social media platforms, Brooke Duffy and Keung Chan explore how the imagined surveillance of social actors in college students’ lives including friends, family educators, employers etc.. can influence what they choose to share on social media. Students take part in self-monitoring practices to best represent themselves to audiences and create spaces for different parts of their identities to be shared, carefully choosing who sees what about them. I found this concept useful in my analysis of how Bowdoin students negotiate what goes on their Instagram feeds.
This next week my main goal is to start creating my website. I will use Canva to create instagram like templates to share my research data. A challenge that I am currently facing is how to best organize each page so that the information flows without it feeling choppy or disconnected from one another. I will also need to incorporate my survey data in a way that doesn’t feel overwhelming but conversational.