A picture speaks a thousand words
Three Mac students reflect on the benefits and the drawbacks of harnessing the power of Instagram
January 1, 2018
A picture speaks a thousand words. These words can say, “talented photographer,” “look at how much fun I’m having on vacation,” “feeling myself” or just about anything in between. For this generation, rolling over to look at your phone first thing in the morning is an all-to-common habit. Pressing the home button triggers the countless notifications that were delivered to your device while you were sleeping. So-and-so liked your Instagram post and so-and-so snapchatted you. Increasingly in today’s smartphone society, social media has become the way to show your face, your talents and even your insecurities. But more than anything, photos and photography has become a primary way we communicate. For four McCallum students, this journey with experimenting with Instagram started years ago.
Sophia: Senior Sophia Bastidas first started Instagram in middle school with the intent to connect with friends and have fun posting what other middle school girls did at the time.
“I created it just to kind of reconnect with my friends,” Bastidas said. “I thought of it kind of like Facebook but for younger people, so I used it kind of like to express myself to my friends.” 
Bastidas states she has mixed feelings about Instagram. Sometimes after spending so much time on it, she believes she needs to take a break from all of it, but other times she just enjoys using it to post whatever she wants.
“It can be really time-consuming and pointless, and I just need to take a break from it,” Bastidas said. “But at the same time, I’m just here to express myself.”
Bastidas’ once pink-themed Instagram, is something she likes to look back on as artistic. Now she uses her Instagram as a start to her hopeful makeup career.
“I’m definitely really into makeup and one day I hope to be a makeup artist,” Bastidas said. “I feel like you gotta start somewhere, and so like building up your Instagram feed is a good start. I also use it to promote stuff, like events. If the fashion show is happening, I’ll advertise it on my Instagram, or like if I got my hair done I’d be like ‘This is who did my hair.’”
Bastidas has witnessed some of her friends feel the bad effects of Instagram. She says her friends and others tend to compare themselves to people on Instagram, but the people who they are comparing themselves to are fake and not real. Bastidas tries to ignore what she believes to be fake, and just be herself.
“I don’t really care what people think about me,” Bastidas said. “I’m not afraid to post something because it makes me look stupid or ugly, edgy, weird, or different. I enjoy being different.”
Joshua: Senior Joshua Tsang created an Instagram in middle school, mostly because it was a family affair.
“I created it mainly because my parents were on Instagram,” Tsang said. “It was just a thing for my family to do. I just kinda liked taking pictures. It was how I started photography.” 
His Instagram photography caught the attention of many people. Tsang now has more than 1,100 followers and gets compliments on his photos often.
“It’s just happened on it’s own,” Tsang said. “People see my work and are like, ‘Oh, you’re a really good photographer.’ I’ve never really put much work into trying to get my name out there; it has kind of just comes with posting a lot of photos. I try to post at least once a day, but it varies. The most I’ll post is three photos a day.”
Tsang shies away from changing his photos from their original state to what is seen on an Instagram feed.
“I try to style away from the hyper-edited, surreal photos,” Tsang said. “But there are photos that I put a lot of work into when I edit them.”
Instagram has become a platform for Tsang to showcase his passion, and has since taken numerous photography classes in high school and expanded his talents.
“When I really started getting into photography in high school, it was kind of a platform for me to put my art on and also get inspiration,” Tsang said. “It was a place for me to dip my feet into the world of photography.”
When it comes to the pressures of Instagram and what to post, Tsang never lets it get to him.
“I feel like it’s just for fun,” Tsang said. “I could still post like once a week and be OK with it. I don’t usually think of my followers when deciding what and when to post.”
Weatherly: Sophomore Weatherly Giblin has had a presence on Instagram since fifth grade when she started her Instagram just for fun. Ever since then, her Instagram has grown into something she is much more passionate about.
“Definitely when I first made it, it was just for fun,” Giblin said. “I definitely wouldn’t call myself a photographer, but I love taking cool photos and sharing them and taking cool photos of my friends and sharing those.” 
Giblin has more than 2,000 Instagram followers at this point, she says her following can be attributed to her creative photographs and the lack of structure in her account.
“I feel like I did at one point but I feel like the whole, ‘Don’t post more than one time a day,’ is stupid,” Giblin said. “I just post whatever we want, and I don’t have a specific set of rules that I feel like I have to follow.”
Giblin sees Instagram as a place to get photography inspiration too, and find new places to explore.
“It’s cool to see other people’s photography ideas and see what other people are sharing,” Giblin said. “I also like to find cool places to go in Austin because there are some Instagram accounts that post cool places to go and cool things to do. I like to use it for that.”
Some teens, however, still feel a pressure to post sometimes, or get caught up in the perfect lives portrayed in Instagram. Giblin says that can be an easy hole to fall into.
“When I’m at home by myself and a bunch of people are out, I just have to take a step back and be like, ‘Wait, Instagram isn’t my life, I am having fun right now I don’t need to worry that much about what other people are doing,’” Giblin said. “I definitely feel like it is easy to spiral into the fear-of-missing-out mentality, but I feel like you just have to realize that the world around you is what is happening in that moment, and it isn’t social media. Just taking that step back is something that everybody should do once and awhile.”
Maeve • Oct 4, 2018 at 10:03 am
I love this article! It does a really good job showing both sides of social media.
Jazzabelle Davishines • Mar 8, 2018 at 11:04 am
I like this article because I think it’s important to see both sides of social media. It can be an excellent place to express yourself and foster creativity, but it can also be stressful to have people from all aspects of your life follow you on the same platform. Creating an image and reputation for yourself on one online profile can be difficult. However, I still think it’s great to see young people able to make art easily and at no cost.
Harper Cummings • Feb 8, 2018 at 11:26 am
I really love this story, it shows more of the McCallum arts side of the school instead of the sports side and how talented some of the kids are here. It’s also fun to see what the other students here like to do and what their interests are and how different or similar they can be from your own.
Lindsey Plotkin • Feb 5, 2018 at 8:24 pm
This story is so cool. I like how it tells the story of each person’s account from their point of view, and how it also tells the account owner’s views on the positive and negative aspects of Instagram, and how it can educate parents of younger children whose kids are wanting to get involved in social media.
Luci Borowski • Jan 30, 2018 at 10:08 am
I love this! Social media is such a cool way to express yourself!
Hannah Zuniga • Jan 25, 2018 at 10:36 am
The thing that I think that stuck out to me and caught my eye, was the screenshots. I love how this shows you how involved McCallum is with their own students.
Molly Odland • Jan 23, 2018 at 12:16 pm
I really like how kids have used social media as a platform to express themselves however they choose. Social Media often gets a lot of criticism for distracting kids from the real world, but I think it can often impact a lot of them . The different pictures tell a story about each person giving the reader a little insight on each one. A great article !
Kristen T. • Jan 23, 2018 at 12:15 pm
This is so cool! I definitely understand the problems with Instagram and the pressure to post certain things. Social media as a whole can fell trapping, but I do agree with the positives as well! It’s a fun way to express yourself, just as long as you don’t get too caught up in ‘likes’ and comments.
Kirsten Pacotti • Jan 23, 2018 at 12:12 pm
This story really shone light on what some of the students think of the Instagram site. There are four different people here, all with different ideas of what Instagram is. But in the end they all have found something good out of it. Its nice that there is a story that isn’t all ‘hurr durr technology is bad social media is a witch,” Social media is a place to connect with friends, find friends and share photography.
Mia Terminella • Jan 23, 2018 at 12:00 pm
I agree with this article in that there are positives and negatives to social media. I like how you get to read four completely different McCallum students opinions on their social media and the pros and cons that go along with it. Instagram, like sophomore Weatherly said, can be used as a creative space to share places, photos, and information.
Jasmine Barrera • Jan 23, 2018 at 11:42 am
This article really changed my perspective on how much Instagram can really effect someone’s life. Christine’s story really hit home because I have friends who are transgender or are questioning their gender and they’re uncomfortable coming out to their family let alone 1500 people. I respect Christine’s bravery. While I feel like the picture chosen for Sophia’s section was a little weak compared to the photos used for the other three people I liked the way you guys included an account like her’s and Weatherly’s; more of a casual mixed-bag. It was funny reading about how casual Joshua is about posting his professional-level photography.
Ellen Fox • Jan 23, 2018 at 11:36 am
I think this is a really cool story because it talks about social media with people who are using it and like it versus the usual “social media is so fake and puts bad images out there.” Apps like Instagram aren’t about that, it’s just a bunch of people trying to show what they are all about. I think this story really looks are multiple perspectives, great job!
Finn Shehan • Jan 22, 2018 at 2:16 pm
This article made me think about the thought that goes into the content that the people I see everyday post.
J. Mariana • Jan 19, 2018 at 2:26 pm
I really like the structure of this story. I love how there are four separate stories in one main story and it was executed extremely well. I personally do not have an Instagram, so it is hard for me to relate with people who do, but I can still tell when someone is passionate about something, when they want to stay true to themselves, and that they have a platform for it. It is admirable. All in all a great story!
Bella Russo • Jan 19, 2018 at 2:10 pm
I really enjoyed this story!! In this time and age, I see a lot of criticism placed on social media, many of it slandering a space that means a lot of different things to different people. I really appreciate a feature that credits Instagram for being a creative and artistic space. That being said, I also agree with the more negative comments as well. It was nice to have our own opinions represented in a story instead of reading about the opinions of someone more close minded (and old, perhaps.)
Bodhi • Jan 19, 2018 at 1:59 pm
This helps me think about the photos I take in a relevant way.