Community Within Instagram

Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger were just regular Stanford graduates looking for success in the business world. Systrom majored in management science and engineering, while Krieger majored in symbolic systems with a concentration in human-computer interaction. Both had a passion for photography, but also both had this passion for social technology that connects people. Naturally they founded the company Instagram.

Instagram is one of the fastest growing social media apps. It has over 75 million customers worldwide in almost every country of the world. What is so special about Instagram? You are able to share your experiences and interests instantly to the world; instant photos and telegrams in one, hence the name Instagram. Photos are available for anyone (or those who you approve only) to view. This way you can appreciate Instagram by sharing your life’s endeavors, art, or passion for photography with the world by the touch of your finger. One thing Kevin and Mike may not have known was how the popularity of Instagram would create a sense of community between worldwide users.  

There are different ways in which Instagram promotes community. People all around the world share common interests such as, a celebrity they like, or a sports team they cheer for. In this sense Instagram has managed to form communities by luring people to like and comment on users in the app. For example NFL football team, the San Diego Chargers, have an Instagram page. Fans that want to see cool photos of the team and their whereabouts follow the account. Followers can then like photos, comment on them, or just simply admire them. A community is formed by similar interest of following the team. Thereafter many embark into “comment conversations”, that is, conversations that occur through comments on the photo. This gives us a sense of community through a shared interest.

Chargers Eric Weddle

A second way is through hashtags. When any user uploads a photo to Instagram they have the ability to add a caption giving a brief explanation behind the photo. In these captions it has become a common way of creating community by adding a hashtag. Thereafter clicking on the hashtag in the caption you are able to see all other photos which had the same hashtag. This draws a people together through a certain shared interest once again.

Lastly, Instagram draws us together through art. Photography is not just a way to freeze a moment in time for memory’s sake; it is also a large form of art. Many users on Instagram are able to share their art through the app. This is a very common way many artists have become successful in our generation, through new media. Robert Bellah explains in his book Habits of the Heart, that community is a cultural theme, which calls us to wider and wider circles of loyalty, ultimately embracing that universal community of all beings. [1] I believe Instagram does this with artists. A community is created worldwide through Instagram, which allows artists to form, share, and embrace art together in a way that used to be limitedly impossible.

Graffiti art on Instagram

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[1]               Robert Neelly Bellah and others, Habits of the Heart, (California: University of California Press, 2008), xxxiv

The Hockey Community

Growing up with a father who was a professional athlete meant that I was put into athletics as soon as I could walk. My father, alumni of professional hockey, got me started in it pretty much from birth. When I was too little to skate we would play mini stick games in the house with a golf ball as puck, pillows belted to my legs as goalie pads, and a laundry hampers as goals. Those mini stick games transferred into 5 am practices, late nights in the driveway practicing my slap shot, and private skating lessons from a crazy Russian figure skating coach. Hockey was my father’s passion, passed on to me.

Fortunately hockey is still a sport I play today on an NCAA D-III level. When you speak with other hockey players at almost any level, they will probably have similar stories to tell about their childhood. Hockey is a sport many were raised with because the fundamentals of the game are so tough to learn, it almost requires being taught at a very young age. Therefore the hockey community is very small. It is common to see players through the ranks knowing and having played with individuals who have capitalized on the opportunity to turn pro. This unique tiny community is one of the things that sets aside hockey players from other athletes.

We are warriors on the ice, but gentlemen off of it. We stand on a piece of steel 1/8 of an inch thick, moving at speeds five times faster than running, whilst checking each other into the boards. We bleed, sweat, and struggle together just to kiss a piece of metal and raise it above our heads. We lose teeth, break bones, and put our face in front of a round 80 x 30 mm, piece of vulcanized rubber; going close to 100 mph.

Why?

Why do we do this? We do it for the guy sitting next to you in the locker room, who you know, will do the exact same for you; out of love, passion, and simply, because we are hockey players. 

LIfestyle Enclave and Junior Hockey

Back in 2009, I played junior hockey in Manitoba, Canada. Once a week on Thursdays our team would have chapel. Chapel consisted of a group of players getting together in the players’ lounge, eating pizza, and listening to the priest preach some sermons he had prepared for the day. Post preaching, all of us shared some stuff about ourselves and joined into conversation together with our teammates. At first I was obviously just there for my love of food, especially since it was pizza. As I attended chapel more regularly though, I began to enjoy these times spent together with my fellow teammates and our priest. I have never in my life been very faithful and religious, though I do not condemn those who are religious. I have always approached these belief systems with an open heart and mind. However, I have never bought into one religion as a follower.

While reading Habits of the Heart and the section we discussed in class about lifestyle enclave I realized the truth in these claims. We were a group of people who shared some form of private life. We were expressing our identity through shared patterns of appearance, consumption, and leisure activities.[1] I was picking up a “second language”, as Robert Bellah would perhaps claim. Although I never believed in the stories told by preachers, I began to understand the importance and impact they have on certain individuals. There I was in a group of men who fight, sweat, and bleed together every day in the purpose of overcoming a common enemy, in the search of glory and fame. At the same time there we were as a group of individuals, all with our own pasts brought together into one cohesive group, sharing a common lifestyle enclave.

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[1]               Robert Neelly Bellah and others, Habits of the Heart, (California: University of California Press, 2008), 335 

Success with Steve Jobs

Success can mean different things for different individuals. For example, life success for a Muslim can be completing the pilgrimage (Hajj) to Mecca; or for an athlete, being drafted in the first round could mean the same. Individually we all measure success differently, this is one of the most important messages we can get out of Robert Bellah’s, Habits of the Heart.

The American view on success typically means materialistic gain. We are driven through capitalism and society to want millions of dollars, fancy cars, and a comfortable exquisite home. These are all things we are brought up to believe mean you are successful. Having the opportunity to grow up in two different societies, I was able to witness the differences in how success is measured between socialism and capitalism. In Sweden success is typically measured by ones ability to provide for your family and give back to society as a whole, in order to benefit the next generation. The fancy cars, homes, and monetary superiority are seldom measures of success in contrast to America. 

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuNQgln6TL0

Watching Steve Jobs video interview on the rules for success, he speaks to us in the terms of gaining success through hard work in an area that you love and are passionate about. For long term sustainability, he explains, you must work hard and go through trivial times. However, the key to success in his mind is that you need to be passionate and love what you are doing. Bellah describes success between utilitarianism and expressive individualism, as a difference between being successful in the private or public arena. What I believe Jobs is trying to say is, if you are individually successful (private) and you are passionate about that success, you will ultimately be successful publicly.

The way in which Jobs pushes us to achieve the things we personally desire, without taking no for an answer, is extremely motivational. 

The Whole Earth Catalog Today

Snippet from the 1968 issue of Whole Earth Catalog

Scrolling through the 1968 issue of the Whole Earth Catalog I was stopped abruptly by page 13 as I saw the title The Year 2000. Holy hell am I interested in examining what had to be said about the year 2000 in 1968. What were the expectations back then? Will there be spaceships instead of cars? Will robots control the world? Etcetera, some science fiction stuff you would indeed seem then, as farfetched as science fiction is today. Then again, maybe it wasn’t/isn’t as farfetched as we thought/think?

Closer examination into what description is given from The Year 2000 some of their points are accurate to the T, such as widespread “cybernation” and “small world”. [1] Others not so far off because of statistical predictions. The catalog reminded me of a website that was introduced to me recently which I found extremely interesting invoking my thoughts into future-theory.

Here's a screenshot from http://www.futuretimeline.net/ 

Tying these two works together would be an awesome research paper I’d be willing to read. Just how accurate are predictions were in the past, and possibly how truthful some of the theories on the website will turn out to be. Trippy! Check it out!

http://www.futuretimeline.net/

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[1] Stewart Brand, The Whole Earth Catalog, http://www.wholeearth.com/issue-electronic-edition.php?iss=1010

Inspirational Jobs

First off is his” idgaf” attitude towards everything. The greatest example I think of from Jobs’ biography is when he leaves Reed College, moves back home to Palo Alto and goes to get a job. Looking like a hippie, smelling terrible yet so determined that he was best for the job. His soon to be employer, Al Alcorn, was so intrigued he had no choice but to hire Jobs. “The squeaky wheel gets oil first” mentality that Jobs personifies himself as, along with his faith in the self, cocky, yet great in the business world is awesome. Best of all, Jobs knew that.

Secondly Jobs was always convinced he knew what people needed in terms of a product they sought to have. This in my opinion is the art of innovation and entrepreneurship. The determination and persistence to take any bump in the road, any opportunity given, any idea or path crossed and make it better tenfold, is truly the greatest feat of any entrepreneur in my mind, once again reiterating that Jobs even fought off death at one point.

Concluding with the way in which Jobs attracts our attention. Speaking in public Jobs has a charisma and demeanor about him, which draws your attention no matter how you personally feel about the man. He presents products, ideas, and himself in such a powerful way it is hard to resist giving into his pitch. His gleaming confidence and persuasive abilities are some of his most admirable traits.

Disagree after this video?

Commencement Speech - Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs’ commencement speech is extremely motivational in my mind. The trivial times he went through in order to get to where he was on that day, were crazy accomplishments. Jobs is very adamant about each individual finding themselves through trivial times and he makes it sound as if self-worship will lead us down a path of success. He continues to challenge us saying, ““Sometimes life's going to hit you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did” inspiring us to keep towards the path of our dreams even in the adversity of physical hindrance.

 On a religious note, the speech feels as if Jobs is preaching to the graduates. For example the way his faith in his own ability has carried him through life, reminds me of this concept of the self. His determination in demanding more out ourselves is what makes his story so interesting and motivational to me. Seemingly Jobs alludes to the way people such as him (Wozniak, Gates, etc.) have made their own success was through self-worship.  Example is how Jobs refers to The Whole Earth Catalog as a bible to them at the time, as if they were starting a new religion or a new insight into life.

Jobs continues to lure the crowd along the path of self-enlightenment, with the death part of his speech. His near death experience is life changing in a way he explains affects his everyday attitude. He encourages us to pursue what we love in life without interference by anything other than your mind. “To allow yourself, your heart, and your intuition to guide you through moments of adversity, but to remain on course with your passion”, for it is that passion he means that will ultimately bring your life fulfillment.

Though there are many who claim Jobs was a real “a**hole”, arrogant, and egotistical, there is no one who can claim he didn’t change our world. I believe Jobs was just a realist, aware of his ability and power to change the world for the better. With a life philosophy like his, as well as the experiences and knowledge he gained throughout life. Jobs was able to turn thought into reality with the advancement of technology. Though some may argue he was in the right place at the right time and grew up with the rise of technology, he was nonetheless the one who followed his passion and made his success through hard work, innovation, and belief.