EOTO 1: Reflection

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The art of the selfie

I think it was a tall order for Gianna Smith to pick Instagram, because condensing the social ramifications and legal implications of Instagram in a mere three minutes is massively difficult. Nonetheless, she did a good job providing a broad overview of the application and its overall impact.

It was fascinating to learn about the research done into the toxicity that Instagram has wrought upon the world. It really is just a tool designed to manipulate people into constant popularity contests with each other. Generally, it's an extremely unhealthy way to navigate the world - only encouraging feelings of negative self-worth and narcissism. 

While initially Instagram was a tool to just share photos, it's become (as Smith has pointed out) an addictive game tuned to gather data and sell you advertisements. In my opinion, there's no redemption for the platform at this point. It's become a mess of self-aggrandizing personalities that constantly seek validation.


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