Mothers on Instagram: Strategies of representation of the mothers of toddlers

Abstract

The use of internet-based social networks intertwines with the mundane, and the practices and contents originating from the networks are a crucial part of individual identity constructions (Van Dijck 2013). Instagram is a social network on which users post images and short videos of users, and therefore identity and social constructs are built using visual means (Serafinelli 2018). Stemming from the theoretical framework of culture studies which focus on the social-contextual specifics of using social networking sites, the aim of this research is to offer an insight into the way one specific group - mothers of young children (from new-borns to five-year-olds) builds and presents their identity on Instagram. This research has attempted to answer the questions of how mothers of young children describe the practice of using Instagram, the way they present themselves and their children, how they establish the border between (semi-)public and private, how they observe their audience on Instagram. The basic research method consists of individual in-depth interviews with twenty mothers of young children who are active users of the internet-based social network Instagram. It has been determined that the mothers of young children use Instagram in order to present their way of life after founding a family and the challenges they face. They emphasize that their children are a crucial part of their identity, and that a photo without them is, therefore, pointless. The mothers are cautious when it comes to the content they post on their profiles, as their children's safety comes first. Due to the presence of photos of their children, most decide to make their profiles private and allow access to the photos only to certain people. The method employed to analyse the transcripts was discourse analysis.