User-Generated Content: An Examination of Users and the Commodification of Instagram Posts

Abstract

USER-GENERATED CONTENT: AN EXAMINATION OF USERS AND THE COMMODIFICATION OF INSTAGRAMThe language around social media contributes to perceptions of who is posting content and why. The concept of user generated content (UGC) places an emphasis on authorship and has been defined as online content that is publically available and created by end-users in a creative effort (Dennhardt, 2013). UGC is a powerful tool for businesses because it taps into one of the most valued marketing tools: verbal consumer-to-consumer communication, which is also known as "word of mouth" (WOM) marketing. However, the tactics used by companies to integrate UGC with their own content and goals has resulted in a blurred line between sponsored content paid by advertisers and UGC independently posted by regular users. Recent attempts to regulate this distinction have struggled to determine how, exactly, audiences can be effectively alerted to paid content on social media platforms, especially Instagram. This study uses the persuasion knowledge model (PKM) as a theoretical framework to examine if and when audiences' responses to and coping mechanisms are triggered in Instagram.It argues that digital media literacy is especially challenged in UGC platforms, and draws on political economy to suggest that the relationships between producers and consumers has been blurred in favor of the producers. Online users who have a well-known or niche brand can make money from his or her brand and online community because companies use "regular people" to push products to reach a specific audience; one that a regular user has the ability to build and iii maintain. This is why businesses have targeted UGC and why the user interaction with this type of content needs to be re-examined.This study examines the relationships between viewer perceptions of commercial sponsorship and post content in the social media platform, Instagram. Specifically, it examines whether or not the trust and credibility generally associated with electronic word-of-mouth are affected by hashtags and other cues on Instagram posts. This project asks, Does the commodification of user-generated content change the way the content is perceived by users? It tests these relationships in an experiment that manipulates hashtags and @name text that accompany an image. The study hypothesizes that users will not be more likely to identify content as sponsored when a #promoted tag is present in the caption than when #ad or #sponsored is used; it also hypothesizes that @company_name tags were more likely to be recognized as sponsored than the hashtag text versions. Changes in advertising recognition, persuasive intent of the message, trust in the message, and credibility of the message were examined in between subjects' analyses using ANOVAs, correlations, and t-tests.The results revealed several findings. Results showed users recognized the @company_handle as an advertisement more than #ad, #sponsored, and #promoted. The results also showed no significant difference between user's percept...

Product placement by social media homefluencers during new normal

“…Fashion influencers' product relatability is managed by crosscategorization of skills either by staying-home workout wearing sponsored accessories or cooking the healthy recipes reinforcing partnered brands usage. Previous academics examined the adoption of influencers' contents in beauty, fashion, food and lifestyle domains, which are booming as followers find "realness" and "intimacy" among micro and nano-SMIs (Argyris et al, 2020;Britt et al, 2020;Macon, 2017;Boerman et al, 2017).…”

Un acercamiento hacia la apropiación y consumo de Instagram por parte de jóvenes universitarios

“…Por otra, quienes interactúan con los Brand Loyals tienden a sentirse obligados a ser también fieles a la marca, esto por querer pertenecer a un grupo específico. Según Macon (2017), en Instagram se acompaña el factor Word of Mouth con un lenguaje seleccionado para una comunidad online específica. Es decir, se construyen las características de cómo se ve una persona que venda un determinado producto.…”

Motif Penggunaan Fitur Stories Highlight Instagram sebagai Memori Media bagi Generasi Milenial

“…Instagram memberi pengguna kemampuan untuk merekam video hingga 60 detik (ini meningkat dari 15 detik pada 2016) melalui ponsel (Macon, 2017). Aplikasi ini memiliki beragam fitur untuk memberikan informasi kepada pengguna.…”

“…Aplikasi ini memiliki beragam fitur untuk memberikan informasi kepada pengguna. Beberapa fitur umum yang digunakan pada Instagram (Macon, 2017), yaitu (a) photo profile: foto dipilih oleh pengguna sebagai foto identitas dan dapat diubah sesering yang diinginkan pengguna, (b) username: nama untuk pengguna, yang mengidentifikasi penulis posting, (c) like: jumlah pengguna yang menyukai foto, (d) comment: komentar yang ditulis oleh pengguna lain pada postingan sebagai tanggapan terhadap posting asli, (e) caption: keterangan berbentuk teks atau emoji yang ditambahkan oleh penulis pos yang ditampilkan di bawah postingan, (f) mention: membuat link dari pos ke akun pengguna yang dituju, (g) timeline/feed: format foto atau video yang diunggah pengguna pada laman utama profil yang dapat disertai dengan caption, (h) story: fitur yang hadir pada tahun 2016 dengan hanya berdurasi 24 jam kemudian lenyap dari pengguna lain, dengan format foto atau video yang berdurasi 5 -15 detik, dan opsi filter yang beragam. Instagram story telah menjadi fenomena dalam masyarakat.…”

“…Definisi tersebut untuk memori komunikasi menjelaskan entitas memori di media sosial saat ini (Seyfi & Uzuncarsili Soydas, 2017). (Macon, 2017) mengungkapkan internet menjadi menarik karena menyajikan teks, foto dan video dengan resolusi yang cukup bagi pengguna untuk diproses secara efisien.…”