Influencers on social media is a new phenomenon that has gained popularity in recent years. Despite the increasing popularity of influencer marketing on Instagram, research has been limited. The purpose of this thesis is to evaluate the credibility of Instagram influencers from the perspective of followers, and see whether the dimensions of source credibility outlined by Ohanian (1990) has a positive impact on users to follow influencers on this platform. The research first presents and compares the research and theories to date regarding the use of celebrities in advertisement and influencer marketing. Then it attempts to investigate the credibility of Instagram influencers in the eyes of male and female users, and evaluates the differences in both genders on the criteria that they decide to follow influencers. This study also evaluates purchase intention of Instagram users based on the product advertisements by influencers to see whether dimensions of source credibility positively impact users’ intent to purchase. For the purpose of this study, a survey of 250 participants was conducted using Amazon MTurk. The results show that about 77 percent of the participants spend more than at least half an hour a day on Instagram and more than half of the participants indicated that their purchase intention is impacted by influencers on this platform. The key findings of this study provide further understanding of the influencers phenomenon on Instagram and give marketers valuable insight in the process of decision-making when running influencer marketing campaigns on Instagram. It provides marketers with more information on how to match up influencers and potential consumers.

The common us of social media in everyday life has raised questions on the possible impact it has on individuals’ wellbeing. This study was conducted to determine if there was a correlation between Instagram, a common social media platform, usage and self-esteem of college students. The sample population for this research was 95 undergraduate students at Mississippi State University during the fall semester of 2019. Data was collected via an online survey that included Rosenburg’s Self-Esteem scale and ten additional questions relating to the independent variables and Instagram. The independent variables of this study were the number of Instagram followers, the average number of likes on a post, the frequency of posting, and the pressure to post and the dependent variable was self-esteem according to the Rosenburg scale. This study did not find a correlation between Instagram usage and self-esteem.

El texto completo de este trabajo no está disponible en el Repositorio Académico UPC por restricciones de la casa editorial donde ha sido publicado. / This paper presents the results of an interview of first-year university students at a private face-to-face university in Lima city on how they use digital technologies in their social and academic lives. This study was positioned in the interpretive paradigm with qualitative research design. Semi-structured interview with 13 open-ended questions was selected as the means of data. Atlas.ti. were used to analysed and coded all the interviews. To provide a well-structured approach to handling a large data set, thematic analysis was employed to analyse the verbatim transcription as outlined by Braun and Clarke. Contrary to the assumption that young learners are seen as highly adept technology users, the findings show that social networks (Facebook and Instagram) and WhatsApp are the most important applications for the participants.

Objetivo: Determinar la asociación entre el uso de Instagram con contenido nutricional y la presencia de síntomas de ortorexia nerviosa en estudiantes universitarios de 18 a 25 años en la ciudad de Lima, Perú en el año 2020. Diseño: El estudio será de tipo observacional, descriptivo y transversal. Será observacional porque los factores de estudio no serán manipulados por el investigador, solo observados. Será de carácter descriptivo porque los datos obtenidos sólo serán descritos y no se busca evaluar una relación causa-efecto entre las variables. El estudio será transversal porque las variables se medirán en un solo momento entre los meses de octubre y noviembre del año 2020.

This thesis investigates the cultural politics of taste in contemporary food media of Hong Kong through the lens of foodie stylistics on Instagram. By bearing on the semiotic theory and analysis by Roland Barthes, this research seeks to closely examine the mythmaking of taste in foodie criticism--the food and restaurant review written by foodies on social media platform. The theory will be used to spell out the layered meaning of foodie criticism: a linguistic depiction of food, visual stylistic of writing about taste, tactics of gaining voice of authority by foodie critics and their intention of writing. Considering taste as a cultural and social construct, the present research examines the pivotal role of foodie critics as mythmakers that render and stylize taste on Instagram, which mythologizes the intention of writing and complicates how voice of authority can be accumulated and how monopolized power of food media corporate can be further expanded invisibly. Through semiotic analysis, how taste is represented and informed by the mythmaker linguistically, how food trends are set stylistically to attract and affect the audience, as well as how attraction accumulates the voice of authority and engenders problems of self-branding, commercialization and collusion will become apparent. Finally, the findings of this pilot research of Hong Kong foodies will contribute to the understanding of cultural politics of contemporary food criticism media in the social media era.

My study contains a semiotic analysis of two photos posted by the Instagram account Snubbarinreder, an account that posts photos of homes allegedly belonging to men. There are clear tendencies on the account to portray men as heavy consumers of alcohol and video games alongside a general inability or disinterest in caring for a home. My study is based mainly on studies by Beverly Skeggs and Göran Eriksson on how the working class are commonly portrayed in the media. The purpose of the study is to investigate aspects of class in the portrayal of men in the posted photos. Eriksson and Skeggs explains that it is common to portray the working class as exaggerated, tasteless and out of control, which my study shows are also recurring themes in the portrayal of men on Snubbarinreder. Thus, the results of the study shows that there are similarities between the portrayal of the working class in, for example Reality-TV, and the portrayal of men on the Instagram account Snubbarinreder.

Frågeställning: Vilken attityd och köpintention finns hos tjejer i generation Z i relation till marknadsföring på Instagram? Är köpintentionen positivare för en typ av marknadsföring på Instagram?  Syfte: Syftet studien är att undersöka tjejer i generation Z’s attityder och köpintentioner av marknadsföring på Instagram. Vad det är för marknadsföring som når ut genom bruset? Av en beskrivande analys av enkätsvaren kan resultatet av denna studie hjälpa företag att förstå deras kunders preferenser inom marknadsföring på Instagram, där tjejer tillhörande generation Z är målgruppen.  Metod: För att uppfylla syftet och för att kunna besvara frågeställningen till denna studie användes en kvantitativ metod för att samla in empirin. Detta gjordes genom en digital enkätundersökning, enkäten skickades online till personer som ingick i urvalet. Totalt fick studien in 242 svar av tjejer i generation Z. Slutsats: Tjejer tillhörande generation Z har preferenser, positiva och negativa attityder och köpintentioner till marknadsföring på Instagram. Digital-WOM är de marknadsföringsverktyg som tjejer i generation Z ställer sig mest positiva till i både attityden och köpintentionen. Tjejer i generation Z föredrar att annonser innehåller personer som de vill se ut som/leva som mer än personer som de själva liknar.

Cyberbullying is one of the major problems of social networking sites, which has been known to have prolonged adverse psychological effects on social network users. Cyberbullying has been discussed a lot in the literature, but little research has been done on cyberbullying and its related factors. This study seeks to examine the factors influencing cyberbullying on Instagram among young adults. Instagram was chosen as a case study for the thesis because research shows that Instagram is the most preferred social networking site among the age cohort (18–30), who are popularly referred to as young adults. An extensive review of the literature was carried out, and six constructs (Instagram Usage, Vulnerability, Peer Pressure, Anonymity, and Instagram Features) were used to examine the influence of cyberbullying among young adults on Instagram. This study draws from the theory of routine activity theory (RAT), which is grounded on the postulation that criminal acts can be easily committed by any individual who has the opportunity. The researcher reviewed the process and deployed a methodological and concept-centric approach to create a comprehensive conceptual model that included key factors. This dissertation is different from most cyberbullying research in the sense that it reviews cyberbullying behaviours from the context in which they occur rather than the intent or motivation of the perpetrator. The model allowed a holistic examination of factors that influenced cyberbullying behaviours on Instagram. Using a survey methodology, over 201 Instagram users who are also students at the University of Cape Town completed an instrument measuring factor influencing cyberbullying. The researcher deployed Smart PLS, a statistical package for the social sciences, to test for reliability, validity and to analyse the entire dataset. The study critically examined the factors that influence cyberbullying among young adults. The results of this dissertation indicated that peer pressure and online vulnerability have a strong significance in cyberbullying behaviours. Surprisingly, Instagram usage had a weak correlation with cyberbullying behaviours. This study contributes significantly to the exciting research on cyberbullying as it helps identify the factors that contribute to cyberbullying behaviours. From this research, cyberbullying interventions or solutions can be accurately developed.

Studien syftar till att undersöka vad gymnasielärare och högstadielärare i idrott och hälsa väljer att publicera på skolans officiella Instagramkonto. Detta ska ge en förståelse för vilka moment och aktiviteter som premieras, samt i vilken miljö som undervisningen sker i. Studien syftar även till att jämföra de fristående skolorna samt de kommunala skolorna med varandra, för att se skillnader och likheter mellan de fristående skolorna, samt de kommunala skolorna. Studien ska även belysa vilka målgrupper lärarna tenderar att nå ut till med sitt Instagramkonto. Resultatet är baserat utifrån våra tolkningar som forskare av publiceringarna på de fyra Instagramkonton. Dessa Instagramkontona tillhör lärare från två fristående skolor och två kommunala skolor. Resultatet av denna studie visar att friluftsaktiviteter premieras att publiceras, där undervisningen främst sker i utomhusmiljö. De målgrupper som lärarna tenderar att nå ut till varierar beroende på skolreform. De fristående skolorna tenderar främst till att nå ut till framtida elever på skolan samt vårdnadshavare medan de kommunala skolorna tenderar att nå ut till elever på skolan eller andra lärare för inspiration i undervisningen.

As social media evolves, educators and other professionals have taken advantage of it as a teaching resource. This research focused on exploring the role of Instagram as a learning technology on health and fitness. In this research, there are references to literature that document the impact of social media on health and fitness. This study also highlights several features found on Instagram, Facebook, Twitch, YouTube, and other similar platforms to deliver learning content in real time. Several articles in this dissertation mentioned how social media content can influence the audience and their thoughts on health and fitness. Social media presents the opportunity to access information, impart knowledge as well as other forms of interaction.