COM0011 Netoye Morris – Will Instagram Live On?

In 2019, Instagram had almost 815 million users using their app, but how many of those accounts aren’t bots, “finstas” or fake pages used to stalk your ex? That’s mainly the faults with Instagram today, there are many accounts being made maliciously and the platform not being able to filter out all the spam pages being created for whatever reason. How many times a week do you get added to a group chat with 15 others where someone is trying to get you to click a link that will take you to a page that you can see a person’s naughty pictures? Right and how many times do you report accounts for spam because of private DMs like that? Okay. I believe Instagram needs a better filtering system so that accounts like that can’t be created because 1. it’s annoying and 2. their number of users grow when in reality most pages are unused and forgotten about.

I have deleted and re-downloaded Instagram a numerous amount of times only because it has no sentimental value to me, my account stays up because I want my content to still be visible to others, but as for the app itself I don’t care much for it. I came to the realization that most of the content that you see from Instagram’s explore page comes from another social media platform so it becomes kind of useless at the end of the day, but I go back only to post more content for myself or to see pictures of friends and family. A lot of users are in the same boat as me and use apps like Tiktok and Twitter more frequently than Instagram because they feel as I do. I believe it could be the downfall of Instagram since it’s meaning has changed so much over the years, they’ve introduced so many new features that are mainly overwhelming for their older users to understand and unessential to their younger users. I understand the business aspect of introducing “Shops” on Instagram but at that point what really is Instagram, is it a platform that you can post random pictures and videos? Is it a platform where you can find and buy goods from businesses? It’s a lot for everyone which is why I do see a decline in users in the years to come but who knows? I could be wrong and Instagram could become bigger than ever, we’ll just have to wait and see with the years to come!

COM0011 BLOG #1- Netoye Morris

TIKTOK: Addictive & Time-Consuming

Tiktok has been an active platform since 2016 and over the years has upped its game by being a diversifying app. It can be at times educational and comedic, depending on the algorithm which makes this app so much more interesting. In 2021, it became the most downloaded app due to families having to quarantine at home during the first wave of the pandemic. Many people have used the platform to become social media influencers who often dance, make skits or just promote brands to their fanbase, but for those who use Tiktok as a way of passing the time how much time actually goes by? 

The age minimum to have a Tiktok account is 13, as someone who uses Tiktok every day as a part of my job, I can say I’ve seen children as young as 4 years old posting on the app. Of course there is content that is suitable for young children, which is why so many parents allow their kids to use the app, it seems like a safe app where they can entertain themselves for hours. The algorithm is never ending, let’s compare it to apps like instagram and twitter, if you scroll on your timeline of these apps at some point you would get a notification on your screen telling you that you’ve seen everything which would naturally make you come out of the app because what more is there to see? Tiktok doesn’t do that. You could be on the app for 4 hours straight scrolling on the “For You Page” and the content will be never ending.

 Many use Tiktok in hopes of somehow making a profit and a career out of it, which is very possible because so many have done so, but it is very hard. Posting new content at least 3 or 4 times a day can be very difficult by trying to come up with new ideas and keeping up with the trends, it can all be very time consuming. Most content creators are sponsored which makes the process a lot easier and faster, but for small pages trying to gain followers and likes it can be harder because of the algorithm. It’s so complicated that many still don’t understand how ending up on the For You Page works and I’m not going to lie to you, I don’t know either. Like I said, many are on Tiktok in hope of becoming famous or making money like so many have. If you do put yourself to the challenge of becoming “Tiktok Famous”, be prepared for a long journey of ups and downs, wanting to delete your account and being patronized by 14 year old’s in your comments!