FirstMonday,Volume20,Number15January2015

Whilesocialmediaresearchhasprovideddetailedcumulativeanalysesofselectedsocialmediaplatformsandcontent,especiallyTwitter,newer
platforms,apps,andvisualcontenthavebeenlessextensivelystudiedsofar.ThispaperproposesamethodologyforstudyingInstagramactivity,
buildingonestablishedmethodsforTwitterresearchbyinitiallyexamininghashtags,ascommonstructuralfeaturestobothplatforms.Indoingso,
weoutlinemethodologicalchallengestostudyingInstagram,especiallyincomparisontoTwitter.Finally,weaddresscriticalquestionsaroundethics
andprivacyforsocialmediausersandresearchersalike,settingoutkeyconsiderationsforfuturesocialmediaresearch.
Contents
Introduction
Socialmediaresearchcontext
Twitterstudies
Hashtags
Instagram:Challengesandquestions
Ethicsandprivacybeyondthebinary
Conclusion

Introduction
Socialmedia,asplatformsforcontentsharing,informationdiffusion,andpublishingthoughtsandopinions,havebeenthesubjectofawiderangeof
studies,examiningonlineactivitywithinfieldsfrompoliticsandmediatohealthandcrisiscommunication.However,forvariousreasons,some
platformsaremorewidelyrepresentedinresearchtodatethanothers,particularlywhenexamininglargescaleactivitycapturedthrough
automatedprocesses,ordatasetsreflectingthewidertrendtowardsbigdata.Facebook,forinstance,asaclosedplatformwithdifferentprivacy
settingsavailableforitsusers,hasnotbeensubjecttothesameextensivequantitativeandmixedmethodsstudiesasothersocialmedia,suchas
Twitter.Indeed,theaccessibilityofTwitterhasledtoitbeingoneofthemoststudiedsocialmediaplatformsacrossmyriadcontexts:thestrict
characterlimitfortweetsandthecommonfunctionsofhashtags,replies,andretweets,aswellasthemorepublicnatureofpostingonTwitter,
meanthatthesameprocessescanbeusedtotrackandanalysedatacollectedthroughtheTwitterAPI,despitepresentingverydifferentsubjects,
languages,andcontexts(Bruns,etal.,2012MoeandLarsson,2013PapacharissianddeFatimaOliveira,2012).

BuildingontheresearchcarriedoutintoTwitter,thispaperoutlinesemergingmethodstostudyusesandactivityontheimagesharingappand
socialmediaplatformInstagram.Whilethecontentofthetwosocialmediaplatformsisdissimilarmainlyshorttextualcommentsversusimages
andvideotherearesomearchitecturalparallelsencouragingtheextensionofmethodsfromoneplatformtoanother.Theimportanceoftagging
onInstagram,forinstance,hasconceptualandpracticallinkstothehashtagsemployedonTwitter(andothersocialmediaandWeb2.0
platforms),withtagsservingasmarkersforthemainsubjects,ideas,events,locations,oremotionsfeaturedintweetsandimagesalike.The
InstagramApplicationProgrammingInterface(API)allowsqueriesarounduserspecifiedtags,providingextensiveinformationaboutrelevant
imagesandvideos,similartotheresultsprovidedbytheTwitterAPIforsearchesaroundparticularhashtagsorkeywords.Theinformation
providedallowsfortheanalysisofcollecteddatatoincorporateseveraldifferentdimensionsforexample,theinformationaboutthetaggedimages
returnedthroughtheInstagramAPIallowsustoexaminepatternsofusearoundpublishingactivity(timeofday,dayoftheweek),typesofcontent
(imageorvideo),andlocationsspecifiedaroundtheseparticularterms.
Thisisanexploratorystudy,developingandintroducingmethodstotrackandanalyseInstagramdataitbuildsuponthemethods,tools,and
scriptsusedbyBrunsandBurgess(2011a)intheirlargescaleanalysisofTwitterdatasets.Theseprocessesallowforthefilteringofthecollected
databasedontimeandkeywords,andforadditionalmetricsaroundtimeintervalsandoverallusercontributions.Suchtoolsallowustoidentify
quantitativepatternswithinthecaptured,largescaledatasets,whicharethensupportedbyqualitativeexaminationsoftheresultingfiltered
datasets.

Socialmediaresearchcontext
OurexplorationofInstagramoccursinthewidercontextofextendedresearchintosocialmedia,frombothqualitativeandquantitativefoundations.
Thesetakeintoaccountawiderangeofsocialmediaplatforms,includingappsaswellasWebsites,andstudyingawealthofpracticesand
functions,conceptsandaffordances.Researchintosocialmediahasbeencarriedoutwithinandacrossnumerousdisciplines,furtherdemonstrating
theuseofsocialmediaformultiplepurposesandcontexts(see,forinstance,theperspectivesrepresentedinWeller,etal.,2014).Therehasbeen
ageneraltrend,though,withinInternetStudiesandother,relatedfields,towardsquantitativedriven,largescaleprojectsusingautomated
processestocaptureandanalyseactivityonsocialmediaplatforms.UsingAPIsprovidedbytheplatforms,publiclyavailabledataiscollectedand
processedinlargenumbers,withrichdatasetsgathered.Suchprojectsprovidethemeansforresearcherstostudyextendedonlineactivity,usesof
socialmediaplatformsandtheirevolutionovertimeandacrosstopics,andpopulations.
Theprevalenceofbigdata,aidedbytheavailabilityoftoolsforcapturingandprocessinglargedatasets,hasbeennotedacrossdisciplines,ashave
itslimitationsandpitfalls(seeboydandCrawford,2012).Simplyreportingmetricsaroundactivityperdayormeasuringthemostactiveusersor
mostmentionedusersandcontent,whileanimportantoutputofthedataset,doesnotnecessarilyaccountforwhythishashappened,andmay
overlookreasonsandbehavioursinfluencingsocialmediause.AsboydandCrawford(2012)note:Toooften,BigDataenablesthepracticeof
apophenia:seeingpatternswherenoneactuallyexist,simplybecauseenormousquantitiesofdatacanofferconnectionsthatradiateinall
directions.[1]Ofcourse,bigdataisnotsynonymouswithquantitativeanalysis(norsmalldatawithqualitative),andthereareimportantinsightsto
begarneredfromlargescaleanalysisandtrackingweadvocateformixedmethods,combiningquantitativeandqualitativetoolsandinsights,to
takefulladvantageandexploremorethoroughlytherichdatasetscollectedfromsocialmedia.
Spendingtimestudyingdatathroughqualitativemeansisalsocriticaltounderstandinghowsocialmediaareusedinnonstandardways,identifying
practicesthatmighteasilybemissedthroughautomatedanalyses.ForTwitter,forinstance,whileretweetsandrepliescanbemeasuredand
connectionsbetweenusersidentifiedthroughfollowingrelationshipsand@mentions,thereareseveralpracticesthatimplyconnectionswithout
necessarilycreatingaformal,structurallink.Tufekci(2014)outlinessomeofthesepractices,includingsubtweeting(discussingotherswithout
explicitmentionoftheirnameorTwitterhandle)andscreencapping(includingscreenshotsofcommentsintweets).Suchpracticesmightbe
overlookedinlargescale,automatedanalysesofTwitterdata,however,andinthecaseofsubtweetingthelackofcontextforthetweetsmight
furthermasktheirmeaning.Insuchcases,thequantitativepatternsmightsuggestonething,whilequalitativeanalysisfindsalternative
interpretationsorphenomenaatplayaconnectionbetweenusersdoesnotautomaticallyimplyendorsementoftheircomments.Forvisual
platformssuchasInstagram,thisisevenmorecritical,forthetextualandgraphiccomponentsofaposteachofferkeyinformation,andanalysis
needstotakeintoaccountbothaspectsthetextdrivenfocusofTwitterstudies,forinstance,canriskoverlookingvisualandmixedmediawithin
tweets,anddevelopingmethodsforanalysingimagesaswellastextisanimportantdirectionforsocialmediaresearch.

Sofar,textualcontenthasdominatedsocialmediaresearch,particularlyforlargescaleanalysesthisisinpartduetotheeaseofcollectingand
processingtextincomparisontoimages,especiallyinthecaseofTwitterwheretweetsconformtoastrictmaximumcharacterlimit.Thepromotion
oftoolsforcollectingdatafromTwitter,andthestandardisationofmethodsforcomparableresearchprojects,hasalsomadestudyingthisplatform
morestraightforwardthanothers.Visualcontent,though,isanimportantaspectofsocialmediaactivity,includingonTwitter(seeHjorthand
Burgess,2014,forinstance).Thereisaneedforexpandedsocialmediaresearchmethodswhichmoredirectlyandconsistentlyincorporatevisual
content,fromcollectingdatafromimagesharingplatformstoapproachestoprocessingandanalysingphotographs,images,orvideos.Preliminary
researchintoInstagramhasofferedlargescaleanalysesofimagesfromspecificlocations(HochmanandManovich,2013),buttherearemany
userpractices,sharedexperiences,andapproachestocontentthathavenotyetbeenresearchedinanysignificantdetail.
OurapproachhereoffersatransitionbetweenestablishedmethodsforTwitterresearchandwaysforstudyingnewerplatformssuchasInstagram.
Aswithothersocialmediaplatforms,theInstagramAPIgivesresearchersaccesstometadataaroundpubliccontent,includingphotographs,videos,
andcomments.GiventhedevelopmentofextensivemethodsforanalysingTwitterdata(seeBrunsandBurgess,2011a,forinstance),andthe
presenceofsharedcontentelementssuchashashtagsonbothTwitterandInstagram,weuseexistingTwitterresearchasastartingpointfor
preliminaryInstagramresearch.Thisisdesignedforcomparabilityofactivityacrossthetwoplatforms,aswellasofferinganinitialmeansof
examiningInstagramdata.ThereareotheroptionsforbothqueryingtheInstagramAPI,suchasusinglocationspecificqueries,andforstudying
contentatthispreliminarystage,wemostlyfocusonthemetadataofInstagramcontent,ratherthantheimagesorvideosthemselves.However,
thismethodoutlineshowhashtagsmaybeusedtodefinethescopeofresearchintoInstagramandthetypesofinformationavailableforsuch
projects,whichcanthenbesupplementedbyvisualandcontentanalysisofrelevantmedia.

Twitterstudies
Forourmappingandtrackingofsocialmediause,focusingonInstagram,startingwithestablishedTwittermethodsallowsustodrawonarich
researchliteratureexploringTwitterfrommanycontextsandparadigms(forexample,Weller,etal.,2014).Researchhasfocusedinpartontopical
datasets,usingsimilarmethodstogatherdataaroundvariedsubjects,frombreakingnews(Vis,2013),politics(AusserhoferandMaireder,2013),
andcrises(Bruns,etal.,2012),totelevisionbroadcastsandpopularculture(GigliettoandSelva,2014Highfield,etal.,2013),andsports(Bruns,
etal.,2013).Inthesecases,despitethewidelydifferenttopicsinquestionandtheircontexts(includingdifferentcountries,languages,andtime
periods),commonapproachesareusedinordertoidentifyrelevantcontent.
ThewealthofresearchintoTwitterhasallowedastandardisationofapproachesforbothcollectingandanalysingactivityonthisplatform.Thereare
numeroustoolsandservices,includingcommercialonsellersandopensource,freelyavailableapplications,whichresearcherscanusetoobtain
data,fromlargescale,ongoingcapturestosnapshotsanduserspecificinformation.AlthoughaccessingtheentiretyofTwitteractivityrequires
financesandinfrastructurethatarelikelyunavailableformostresearchers,theresultsgatheredfromtheStreamingandSearchAPIs,whileonly
representingapercentageofthetotalactivity(Morstatter,etal.,2013),arestillsufficientlyrichdatasourcesforanalysis.
WhathashelpedtofosterstandardisationforTwitterresearchistheconsistencyofTwitterdata.Inparticular,the140characterlimitfortweets
makestheircaptureassmallstringsoftextandprocessingamorestraightforwardpropositionthanmessagesofmorevariablelength,mixed
mediacontent,orimages,videos,oraudiocontent.Twittersapproachtopublicandprivateaccountsalsosetsitapartfromothersocialmedia.
UnlikeFacebook,forinstance,whereusersmighthaveseveraldifferentsettingsforaccountprivacy,Twitterusersareeitherpublicorprivate:
contentiseithervisibletoeveryone(includingpeoplenotsignedintoTwitter)oronlytoapprovedusers.Sincetweetsfromprivateaccountsare
notretrievedbytheTwitterAPI,andcannotbeautomaticallyretweetedbyotherusers,tweetscapturedfromtheAPIforTwitterresearchare
knowntobepubliclyavailablecomments(althoughtheymayofcoursebedeletedafterpublication,butstillbecapturedbeforedeletion).
Thestructureoftweetsalsoprovidessomeconsistencyforanalysis,beyondbeingshorttextualcontent.PracticeshavedevelopedonTwitter,both
createdbytheplatformanduserled,whichhavebecomecommonplace,fromtheuseofhashtagstodenotekeysubjects,contexts,oremotions,to
conventionsofmentioningotherusers.Again,theconsistentformofhashtagsand@mentionsandcommon,ifnotuniversal,approachesto
retweetingenabletheuseofautomatedprocessestoidentifytheseelementswithintweets.Figure1demonstratesthecommonelementsofan
individualtweet.Furthermore,though,atweetisitsowndatapoint:oncecreated,itexistsinisolation.Aresponsetothetweetintheformofareply
orretweetcreatesanewtweetonthepartoftherespondinguser,ratherthanappendingacommenttotheoriginaltweet.WhileTwittertimelines

mightshowrepliesasmorethreadedconversations,thecreationofuniquetweetsforeachcommentmeansthatcapturingTwitteractivityhasfewer
concernsarounddynamicactions:atweetsfollowupsareindependentofthefirstpost.Therearesomemetricswhicharemoredynamic,and
whichcontinuetochangefollowingdatacapture,suchasthenumbersofautomatedretweetsandfavouritesatweetreceivesperhapsforthis
reason,thesemetricsarelessextensivelyanalysedthanhashtaguseandnetworksof@mentionsand@replieswithinunfoldingtopicaldiscussions.

Figure1:Exampletweetandselectedelements.

Whiletheadvantagesofconsistent,publicdata,andestablishedcaptureandanalyticsmethodsmeanthatTwitterisanappealingsocialmedia
platformforresearch,itisimportanttorememberthatitisfarfromtheonlyexampleofpopularsocialmedia.Thecomparativeeaseofaccessto
dataandlessblurryquestionsaroundpublic/privatecommentsthanforplatformssuchasFacebookmaymeanthat,whileTwitteriseminently
examinable,itisoverrepresentedinresearchorindeedthatcertainpracticesareoveremphasisedtothedetrimentofothers(including
approachestocommunicationonTwitterwhichignoreorcircumventcommonpractice,asnotedbyTufekci,2014).YetthesesameTwitter
approachesgiveusastrongfoundationfordevelopingresearchmethodsforstudyingothersocialmedia,movingbeyondshortsnippetsoftextto
moredynamic,visualsocialmediacontent.Otherplatformscreatetheirownmethodologicalchallenges,butbuildingonthewealthofresearchinto
Twitterallowsustostartwithcomparativeworkthatcanevolveintostandalone,moredetailedplatformspecificmethodsratherthanmovingback
tosingleplatformstudies,though,thedevelopmentofmethodsforgatheringandanalysingrichdatafordifferentplatformswillaffordthe
opportunitytocarryoutmorecomparativework,especiallyintheabsenceofoverlappingconventionsorcommonelementstoprovideaninitial
hookforcomparisons.
Forourinitialwork,though,commonstructuralelementsarecrucialforsettinguptheapplicationofTwittermethodstootherplatforms.Hashtags
actasapointofdepartureforourresearch,duetotheiradoptiononadditionalsocialmediatoTwitter,includingInstagram,Facebook,and
Pinterest(andastagsmoregenerallyonplatformspredatingTwitter,suchasFlickr).OnTwitter,theuseofkeywordsand,especially,hashtags

(suchas#ir15)isaprimarymeansforfindingtopicallyrelevanttweets.ToolssuchasyourTwapperKeeperusedefinedtermsassearchqueries,
accessingtheTwitterAPItofindrelevantcontentsearchingforaspecifichashtag,forinstance,locatespublictweetscontainingthatmarker.By
includingahashtaginatweet,aTwitteruserismakinganactivedecision,andthischoiceconnectstheirposttoothercommentsaroundacommon
topic,event,ortheme.Althoughhashtagsmayrepresentdifferentintentionsonthepartoftheindividualuserandtheplatformchosen,theiruse
stillreflectsparticularsocialmediaaffordancesandpractices,andarethususefulfiltersfordefiningthescopeofresearchprojects.

Hashtags
Usertaggingofentries,mediaandotherinformationhasbeenacentralfeatureofmanyWeb2.0andsocialmediaplatformsformorethana
decade(Bruns,2008).AsAdamMathes(2004)explainedinrelationtothesocialbookmarkingtoolDeliciousandphotosharingplatformFlickr,
socialtaggingleadstoafolksonomythecombinationofthewordsfolkandtaxonomyindicatingthecollectivesocialorganisationand
descriptionofinformationatthemetadatalevel.Afolksonomyisemergentinthesensethatitisalwaysintheprocessofbeinggeneratedbyusers
andupdatedwithnewcontributions.Importantly,andincontrastwithatraditionaltaxonomy,afolksonomydoesnotfollowapredetermined
organisationorindexicalstructure,butis,instead,asociallyandcollectivelyproducedalternative.Taggingandfolksonomiescanbeharnessednot
justforthebasicorganisationofmediaandinformation,butviathetoolsandaccessprovidedbymanyplatformscanleadofnewsocialand
technicalwaysofmanipulatingandharnessingdata,suchasdetailedexplorationsofspecificplacesenabledbythelocativeandtaggingdata
createdbyFlickrusers(Kennedy,etal.,2007).
WhenTwitterwasinitiallylaunchedin2006,therewasnotechnicalorsocialconventionforreplyingtoanotheruser,fororganisingtweetstogether,
orforindicatingthatatweetwaspartofabroadertopic.AlloftheseaffordancesemergedfromthesocialusesofTwittersearlyusers,withthe@
replyconvention,retweeting,and,hashtagsallbecomingtechnicallyformalisedinTwittersarchitecture(Halavais,2013).Theuseofthehash(or
sometimescalledthepoundornumbersign)characterbeforecertaintermsindicatedadesiretogrouptweetssocially,orasHalavaisexplains,
theseare...awayofindicatingtextuallykeywordsorphrasesespeciallyworthindexing...byusingthe#charactertomarkparticularkeywords,
Twitteruserscommunicateadesiretoshareparticularkeywordsfolksonomically[2].Examplesofhashtagscanincludepoliticalconversations,
including#auspolforAustralianpolitics(BrunsandHighfield,2013)discussionscentredontelevisioneventssuchas#Eurovisionforthelive
broadcastoftheEurovisionsongcontest(Highfield,etal.,2013)information,discussionandreliefcoordinationduringnaturalemergencies(Bruns,
etal.,2012)orevenexternaldiscussionsaboutaparticularunitofstudyatuniversity(Leaver,2012).
AsBrunsandBurgess(2011b)haveargued,hashtagscanallowcertaintypesofcommunitiestoemergeandform,includingadhocpublics,forming
andrespondingveryquicklyinrelationtoaparticulareventortopicalissue.Thesepublicsorcommunitiesmaynotpersistforlongperiods,butcan
beextremelyefficientandsignificantevenifonlyexistingforashorttime.Yetevenonasingleplatform,sincehashtagsemergesocially,itcan
taketimebeforeapredominantagreedupontagemergesforagiventhemeorevent.Thiscanbeexacerbatedbyparticularpressures,including
thelengthoftimeindividualshavebeenusingaplatform,anissueofsignificantnoteinrelationtoTwitteruseduringnaturaldisasters(Potts,etal.,
2011).
ItisalsoimportanttonotethatwhilesomehashtagsonTwittermayleadtotheformationofpublicsorcommunities,manyhashtagsdonot,and
werenotusedwiththatintentioninmind(BrunsandBurgess,2011b).Thusascribingintentionalitytohashtagspresumingthatusingatagisan
indicationthattheuserintendedthistweet,orphoto,tobegroupedtogethermeaningfullywithothertweetsorphotosusingthattagcannotbe
takenasagiven.Tagsandhashtaguseisnotonlyplatformspecificattimes,butalsocontextuallyspecifictotheindividualuser.Aphotographor
tweetwiththehashtags#longday#tired#cantwaitforbedmaybeusedtoenhance(orsimplybe)thecaptionordescriptionofthatphotographitis
unlikelytheuserpurposefullyintendsthatimageortweettobegroupedtogetherwithallother#tiredor#cantwaitforbedinstances.Aswemove
ourattentiontothespecificsofInstagramhashtagsasawayofaccessingandorganisingcertainideas,discussionsorvisualisations,wemustkeep
inmindthatwhilewecan,anddo,accessInstagramphotosusinghashtagsasameansoforganisation,inmanycasesthisaffordanceislikelytobe
morethefocusofresearchers,notindividualusers.

Instagram:Challengesandquestions
AsonSeptember2014,Instagramhas200millionmonthlyusers,with65percentofthoseusersoutsideoftheUnitedStates,withover20billion
photosshared,anaverageof1.6billionlikeseachday,andanaverageof60millionphotospostedperday(Instagram,2014b).LikeTwitter,
Instagramoffersresearcherstheopportunitytostudyhowusersdocumentelementsoftheireverydaylives,inthiscaseinapredominatelyvisual
context,andhowthesearepresentedonline.Asasmartphoneapp,Instagramalsorepresentstheconfluenceofdifferentpracticesandinterests:
theubiquityofsmartdevices,internetandmobiledataconnections,andcameraswithinthesedevicesthesharedexperiencespromotedthrough
socialmedia,includingtheinstantpublicationofstatusesandimagesfromthesceneoftheexperience,taggingfriendspresent,andlikingand
commentingonotherscontenttheperformativeaspectsofsocialmediaactivity,includingonlinevisualculture,fromselfies(selfportrait
photographs)andimagesspecificallyindicatingthattheyhavenothadadditionalfiltersadded(seeRettberg,2014)andthepromotionofsmall,
standardisedbitsofinformationphotos,15secondvideos,tweetsratherthanextendedcommentary.Whilethesepracticesarenotlimitedto
Instagram,foruserssharecontentonmultipleplatformssimultaneously,theyhighlightkeyfactorsimpactinguponhowInstagramisusedandhow
tostudyuseractivityontheplatform.
Asnotedpreviously,acommonapproachtoTwitterresearchistotrackspecifichashtagsorkeywordsovertime,usingtheTwitterSearchand
StreamingAPIs.TheInstagramAPIprovidesasearchhookdedicatedsolelytotags,andthisoffersanimmediatecomparativeopportunity.
QueryingtheInstagramAPIforselectedtagsthenprovidesresultsakintosimilarTwitterprojects,althoughwithdifferentmetadata,resultingin
furthermethodologicalquestions.Thesequeriesalsodonotarchivetheimageorvideocontentretrievedusingthesearches(whichwouldbe
againsttheInstagramtermsofservice),butprovidelinkstothemediainquestion,whichcanthenbeverifiedbytheresearcher.
Figure2providesanexampleofaimagesharedonInstagramanditscommonelements,fromuserinformationtocommentsandtags.An
InstagramAPIqueryprovidesawealthofmetadataforrelevantmediasharedontheplatform,extendingbeyondwhatmightbeimmediately
visibleinFigure2.Foreachmediaobjectmatchingthetagquery,theAPIalsoreturnsnotjustitsuniqueidentifier(id)andlinkstothelowand
standardresolutionversionsofthecontent(whetherimageorvideo),butalsometadataincludingusernames,timeanddateofcreation,caption,
comments(anduserandtimeinformationforcomments),tags,likes,andlocationinformationwhenauserhasgeotaggedtheirmedia.Suchdata
allowsforquantitativeandqualitativeanalyses,whethercountingtheamountofcontentovertime,users,ortags,mappingmediabasedonlocation
data,orlookingatthecontentofthemediaandtheircaptions,forexample.


Figure2:ExampleInstagrampostandselectedelements.

However,thenatureofInstagramraisesmethodologicalquestionswithoutclearprecedentsfromTwitterresearch.Atweetisastandalonedata
point:oncepublished,itcanonlybedeleted,notedited.Otherusersmayreplytoit,favouriteit,orshareit(whetherbyusingtheretweetbuttonor
creatinganewtweetquotingtheoriginal),butforthemostparttheseactionscreatenewdatapointsratherthanalteringtheoriginalareplyora
retweetisanewtweet,notanextensionoftheoriginal.Favouritingistheexceptionhere,andthechallengescapturingthisactionraisesfor
automatedcaptureofmoredynamicdatamayaccountforitsrelativeabsencefrommuchlargescaleTwitteranalysis(formethodologicalreasons
aswellasanalyticalfavouritingcanbealesswidelyvisibleactinresponsetoatweetthaneitherretweetingorreplying).
Instagramcontentaremoredynamicdatapointsthantweets,though.Again,eachimageorvideoisitsowndatapoint.However,ifauserresponds
toanimagebyleavingacomment,thatbecomesanadditiontotheoriginaldatapointitispartofthecommentsthreadforthatmedia,rather
thanbeingadistinctentity.Thishastwomajorimplicationsforourresearchmethodology:first,thechallengeoftrackingcommentsaspartofuser
practicesandresponsestochosentopics,andsecondtheimpactcommentshaveonqueryingtheInstagramAPI.
Thefirstconcernhasnumerouspossiblesolutions:filteringoutcommentsandstudyingjusttheoriginalmediapostedonInstagram,orselectinga

particulardaterangeandonlystudyingcommentsuptothatpoint(asusersmayleavecommentsonmediadays,weeks,oryearsafteritwas
originallyposted),forexample.Sincemediamightattractmanyornocomments,thereisnoconsistencybetweendatapoints:whiletheresultscan
bestoredinadatabase,analysingvariablecommentthreadswhichmaychangeoverthecourseofthedatacaptureisanewmethodological
concernwhichdoesnotaffectTwitterresearch(althoughthetrackingonconversationsonFacebookpages,whichhavenotechnicallyenforcedend
pointtoconversationthreads,provokessimilarissues).ApproachesfortrackingInstagramactivitycantakeTwittermethodsandcommonelements
asaninspiration,butaddressingaspectssuchascommentsisonepointwherethesetwoplatformsandtheiranalysiswilldiverge.
ThesecondconcernrelatestohowresultsarereturnedfromtheInstagramAPI.Queryingforaspecifictagwillretrieveinformationaboutmedia
publishedwiththerelevanttaginthecaptionforthatmediathatis,animageoravideothattheoriginaluserhasexplicitlychosentoaccompany
withthetaginquestion.However,thesamesearchwillalsoreturnmediawhichincludesthetagincommentseveniftheoriginalcaptiondoes
notfeaturethetag,andifthecommentandtagwerenotpostedbytheoriginaluser.Thisthenraisesquestionsaboutauthorshipandintentionality
whenitcomestotagsandInstagramcontent:theinclusionofataginacommentpostedbyanotherusermightreflectdifferentintentionsthanthe
originaluserinpostingthecontent(andbeirrelevantorcontradictorytothemediacontent,includingspamcomments).Includingthetagmightalso
givethemediaapublicprominencethatwasnotpreviouslysought,addingtothedistinctionsrequiredforanindividualspossibleusesand
intentionsaroundtagging.
Forthisreason,inourpilotstudyoftaggedcontentonInstagram,wehavefilteredourdatasettoincludeonlythemediafeaturingthespecifiedtags
intheoriginalcaption.Thesemediathendemonstratetheexplicitdecisionbythepersonpostingthemediatoincludethetagatthetimeof
publication,makingtheirintentionsclearer.Whilethisfilteringprocessthenexcludesanycontentwheretheoriginaluserhasincludedthetagina
latercommentratherthanthecaption,wehavechosentofocussolelyoncaptionsformethodologicaleaseatthisinitialstage(sinceourpilot
studysdatacollection,Instagramhasintroducededitingcapabilityforcaptions,creatingfurthermethodologicalquestionstobeaddressedinfuture
iterationsofthisresearch).
AdaptingmethodsusedforanalysinglargescaleTwitterdata,wearealsoabletofilterandprocesstheInstagrammetadatabasedonvariables
suchastimeanddate,keywordsincaptions,additionaltags,andusernames.Ourinteresthere,though,extendsbeyondthisquantifiable
information,withouranalysesalsolookingattheothertypesofinformationusersprovide(whetherintentionallyornot)thisincludesdetails
providedincommentsandintheimagesandvideosthemselves.Suchinformationagainraisesfurthermethodologicalandalsoethicalconcerns:
whileallofthesedetailsarebeingmadepubliclyavailable,theresponsibilitiesofresearchersinhowtotreatandrepresentthisintheirstudieshas
beeninconsistentforsocialmediaresearch(seeZimmerandProferes,2013,forexample).Addressinganonymityandpseudonymityofsocial
mediausers,forinstance,hasnothadacleardirectionanddiffersonacasebycasebasis.However,thisisanobviousandrealconcern,
especiallywhenusersofferhighlypersonalandidentifiableinformation(suchasrealnamesoraddresses)intheirmediacontentwhensuch
informationisnotprovidedintheirprofiles(andmay,attimes,beprovidedaccidentally).

Ethicsandprivacybeyondthebinary
Thequestionofprivacyinrelationtosocialmediaplatformsofalltypesremainsanongoingissue.Privacyatatechnicallevel,theindividualand
collectiveexperiencesofprivacy,andwhatprivateactuallymeans,areoftenconflatedbutcanbeimaginedandunderstoodinquitedifferentways
bydifferentpeople.Asboyd[3]argues,softwareengineerstendtoviewprivacyinbinaryterms,atthelevelofcode,notexperience:
Thetechworldhasatendencytoviewtheconceptofprivateasasinglebitthatiseither0or1.Data
areeitherexposedornot.Whencompaniesmakeadecisiontomakedatavisibleinamoreefficient
manner,itisoftenstartling,promptinguserstospeakofadisruptiontoprivacy.
Alongsimilarlines,theEthicalDecisionMakingandInternetResearchRecommendationsfromtheAoIREthicsWorkingCommitteebyMarkham
andBuchanan[4],andtheircollaborators,warnsagainstatechnicaloranysingularunderstandingofprivacyonline:
Individualandculturaldefinitionsandexpectationsofprivacyareambiguous,contested,andchanging.
Peoplemayoperateinpublicspacesbutmaintainstrongperceptionsorexpectationsofprivacy.Or,
theymayacknowledgethatthesubstanceoftheircommunicationispublic,butthatthespecificcontext

inwhichitappearsimpliesrestrictionsonhowthatinformationisoroughttobeusedbyother
parties.Dataaggregatorsorsearchtoolsmakeinformationaccessibletoawiderpublicthanwhat
mighthavebeenoriginallyintended.
Researcherswhocollatedatasetsmayalso,inadvertently,reducetheexperienceofprivacybyremovingtheoriginalcontextofsocialmediaposts,
includingInstagramimagesandvideosandmetadataaboutthem.Byhighlightingexamples,orsurfacingparticularnotableusersfromdatanot
necessarilyvisibletoeverydayusers,thereispotentialtoaltertheexperienceofprivacyforanInstagramuser(whilenotalteringprivacyata
technicallevel).
GiventheseemingsimplicityofInstagramsprivacysettingsabinarychoicebetweenapublicorprivateaccount,similartoTwittersoptions
(ZimmerandProferes,2013)privacymay,atleastostensibly,appearrelativelystraightforwardtounderstand,alongthesamelinesasTwitter.
However,anexampledemonstratingtheopposite,inanswertothequestionWhathappensifIsharemyphototoanothersocialnetwork?,
Instagram(2014a)providesthefollowingexplanation:
Ifsomeonewithaprivateprofilesharesaphotoorvideotoasocialnetwork(likeTwitter,Facebook,
Foursquareandsoon)usingInstagram,theimagewillbevisibleonthatnetworkandthepermalink
willbeactive.Inotherwords,thephotowillbepubliclyaccessiblebyanyonewhohasaccesstoits
directlink/URL.Keepinmindthatsharingaphotoorvideotoasocialnetworkdoesntmeanthatthe
imagewillbevisibleinInstagram.
SothefactthatInstagramispartofacomplexecosystemofsocialmediaplatformsactuallymeansthatithasmorenuancedprivacyoptionsthan
initiallyseemsthecase.GiventheseemingsimplicityofInstagramsprivacysettings,thefullimplicationsofsharinganInstagramimagevia
Twitter,Facebook,oranothersocialnetworkingservicemaynotbeimmediatelyobvioustousers.Whilethiscomplexityisclearlyimportantto
individualsmanagingtheirInstagramuse,italsobegssomeinterestingquestionsforresearcherscollatingInstagramdatasets.AprivateInstagram
imageorvideopurposefullysharedonothersocialmediawouldnotbereturnedwhenqueryingtheAPI,butifitwassharedwithTwitter,refined
searchingoftheTwitterAPIforInstagrampostswouldcapturethismedia(or,atleast,thelinktoit).Thus,comparativeworklookingat,for
example,TwitterandInstagramusesidebysidemaycomeupwithanomaliesduetothissortofcomplexsharingandprivacylandscape,which
provokesequallyimportantquestionsaboutwhetherresearchshouldfindostensiblyprivateInstagramposts,orwhethersearchingviaanother
platformsuchasTwittercoulddifferentiatebetweenpublicandprivatebutsharedviaanotherplatformInstagramlinks(thereisnoobviouswayto
sortbetweenthesetwotypesatfacevalueusingtheTwitterAPI).
Itisalsoimportanttorememberthattheexperienceorperceptionofprivacy,orrelativeprivacy,forInstagramusersmayshiftovertimeasthe
platformandappshavebecomemoreaccessibleandwidespread.AsthetimelineinTable1indicates,theInstagramappwasoriginallylaunchedin
October2010andwasonlyavailableasaniOSapponAppledevicesforthefirst18months.Whiletheearlyapphadthesamechoiceofhavinga
publicorprivateaccount,forthevastmajorityofusers,itwasonlyotheriPhoneoriPaduserswhocouldseetheirpublicInstagramstream,so
theremayhavebeenarelativesenseofprivacyinthatusersonotherplatforms,ortheWeb,couldnotaccesstheirInstagrammedia.Overtime,
thischanged,withtheApril2012releaseofaversionforAndroidphones,thepurchaseofInstagraminthesamemonthbyFacebookfor$US1
billion,thesubsequentestablishmentofInstagramprofilesontheWeb,andfinallytheabilitytoembedInstagrammediadirectlyintootherWeb
pagesusinganofficialembedcode.Overthatperiodthenumberofusershasgrownfromjustafewto200millionactiveuserstoday.Thus,for
earlyuserswhoseInstagramphotoscouldonlybeseenbythesmallnumberofotherInstagramappusers,onlyonAppledevices,andonlyon
mobiledevices,nottheWeb,therehasbeenasteadyshifttotheirInstagrammaterialbecomingaccessibletomoreandmorepeople.Ata
technicallevel,theirmaterialmayhavealwaysbeenpublic,butatanexperientiallevel,relativeprivacy(orlimitedexposure)hasbeenlost.
Moreover,manyusersareprobablyunawarethatusingtheAPI,manythirdpartytools,appsandWebbasedservicescanalsoaccessandshare
Instagrammedia.Asresearchers,itisimportanttoconsiderthisshiftingexperienceofvisibilityandprivacyonInstagram,evenifnothinghas
changedintermsofthetechnicalorcodelevelstructureofhavingapublicversusaprivateInstagramaccount.Itisalsoworthnotingthatin
December2013Instagramreleasedaninternaldirectmessagingtool,andwhiletherearenoofficialstatisticsaboutthenumberofpeopleusingthis
tool,itcanbeinferredthatatleastaproportionofusersnowprobablysharetheirmorepersonalphotosandvideoswithmorelimitedaudiences
usingthistool.

Table1:Instagramtimeline.

16October2010 InstagramapplaunchedviaApplesAppStore
12December
2010

1millionregisteredusers

3August2011

150millionphotosuploaded

September2011

10millionregisteredusers

3April2012

InstagramreleasesAndroidversion

9April2012

FacebookpurchasesInstagramfor$US1billion

26July2012

80millionregisteredusers

16August2012

InstagramPhotoMapslaunched

5November2012 InstagramProfilesfortheWeblaunched
5December2012 InstagramremovesabilityforphotostoappearascardsonTwitter
17December
2012

InstagramaltersTermsofUse

18December
2012

InstagramrevertstopreviousTermsofUseafterpublicbacklash

26February2013 100millionactivemonthlyusers
20June2013

Instagramaddsvideo(15secondsmaximum)

10July2013

InstagramaddsnativeWebembeddingforphotosandvideos

6September2013 150millionusers
12December
2013

InstagramDirectmessagingserviceadded

24March2014

200millionusers

26August2014

Instagram/FacebookreleaseHyperlapseappviaAppleAppStore

Instagram,similartomanyotherappsandplatforms,isinthegripofasocialmediacontradiction(LeaverandLloyd,2015):whileusersoftenfocus
onplatformsasameansofcommunication,oftenconsideredephemeralakintoatelephonecallinitspermanence,Instagramthemselves(andthe
parentcompanyFacebook)aremorefocusedonthemediaside,onthelongevityofmediabothintermsofphotosandvideos,butalsothe
associatedmetadataandfurthermetadatageneratedbyuserinteractions,whichcanbeanalysed,aggregatedandusedforcommercialends,
includingfocusingtargetedadvertising.Asresearchers,weneedtobalancethiscontradictionwiththerelativeeaseofextractingInstagram
metadata,andthevalueoftheresearchandinsightsproducedbyanalysingit.Asitstands,InstagramsTermsofUseprohibitthelargescale
savingofmediafilesfromtheplatform,soqualitativeresearchersmightviewexamplesontheWeboruseabespoketoolorscripttoautomatethe
viewingofphotosorvideosfromadatasetwithoutpermanentlystoringacopy.Tominimisetherisktouserprivacy,ortheexperienceofprivacy,
wherepractical,theresultsfromanalysinghashtagbasedInstagramdatasetsshouldbereportedattheaggregatelevel,suchasthenumberof
Instagramimagesandvideospostedoverasetperiodoftime,themostfrequentlyassociatedhashtags,themostprominentgeographiclocations
ofthismedia,andsoforth.TominimisetheriskofdoinganyharmbyincreasingtheexposureorvisibilityorparticularInstagramusers,wehave
chosennottosharethelargedatasetsgathered.WhilethisprotectsInstagramusers,itdoeshavetheobviousdownsidethatotherresearchers
cannotimmediatelyreplicatethesamequeriesandverifyourresults.Insomecasesthebalancebetweenrespectingusersprivacyandthe
thoroughnessofresearchmaybestbeservedbysharingdatasetsbutthiswouldhavetobecarefullyweighedonacasebycasebasis.Where
illustrativeexamplesofInstagramimagesorvideosareneededforthepurposesofdemonstration,thesemediashouldbeasdeidentifiedasis
practicallypossible.

WhilethispaperhasfocusedontheInstagramAPIandtheofficialInstagramapp,itisimportanttorememberthatliterallyhundredsofdifferent
appsworkusingtheInstagramAPIandcanbringaffordancesandfunctionalitybeyondthatoftheofficialapp.Forexample,whilethereisno
InstagramequivalentoftheTwitterretweet,thefamiliarityofthisfunctionalityfromTwitteranddemandforithasledtothereleaseofdozensof
regrammingappswhichprovidethisaffordance.Regramming,orreplicatingtheimagecontentusuallywithanacknowledgementofthesource
Instagramaccount,atleastbydefaultdoesnotnecessarilyleaveanytraceatthemetadatalevel.Whilesomeregrammingappseitherreplicate
oracknowledgethecaptionthatwentwiththeoriginalimageorvideo,andmayusebespokehashtagssuchas#regramtoexplicitlyflagthatthisis
areplicatedpieceofmedia,userscaneasilychoosenottopostthisintheirnewcaptionandotherregrammingappsdonotreplicateanycaption
dataatall.ThisisalsoaninstancewhichhighlightstheimportanceofmixedmethodapproachestostudyingInstagramdatasetswhileregrams
maybeinvisibleatthemetadatalevel,evenacursoryqualitativeeyecastoveraseriesofimageswouldeasilynoticereplicatedimages,especially
ifthesearewidespreadinadataset.Moreover,regrammingremindsusthatunderstandingandstudyingInstagramisnotjustaboutunderstanding
theapp,ortheAPI,ortheplatformasawhole,butalsoaboutunderstandingtheappecosystemwhichutilisestheInstagramAPIand,more
generallyandprobablymoreimportantly,thebroadertechnicalandsocialcontextsinwhichindividualsandgroupsutilise,share,manipulateand
regramInstagramimagesandvideos.

Conclusion
ThispaperhassetoutourrationaleforhashtagsasaninitialpointofdepartureforstudyingactivityonInstagram,adoptingestablishedmethods
fromTwitterresearchasameansofenablinglongtermcomparativestudiesaswellassingleplatformanalysis.Apilotstudytestingthesenew
methodsiscurrentlyunderway,withtheoutcomesofthisprojecthighlightingadditionalquestionstoaddress,challengestoovercome,and
affordancesofInstagramtoexplorefurther.
Whileouranalysisisstillintheexploratorystage,whatisclearfromresearchinthisfieldisthatstudiesofInstagramandsocialmediaingeneral
needtoreconcileseveralkey,andnotinsignificant,considerationsinfluencinghowandwhypeopleusedifferentplatforms,andhowtobest
analysethis.Thequestionofpublicandpublicness,fromanethicalperspectivebutalsoregardinghowpublicandprivatearerealisedand
performedonsocialmedia,isacriticalelementofsocialmediaresearch,especiallyaroundpersonalinformationrevealedbyusers(whether
deliberatelyorinadvertently).Thereisaclearneedforricherquantitativeandqualitativemethodsforstudyingsocialmediaactivity,includingnew
methodsforemergingplatforms,andanunderstandingofthedifferentstrengthstheseapproachesbringtoanalysisandhowtheycancomplement
oneanothertoprovideextended,detailedexaminationsofsocialmediadata.
ResearchersalsoneedtoaddressthetypesofdataandcontentmadeavailablebyusersandsocialmediaAPIsalike:thisincludestextandimage
content,aswellastheircontextsandassociatedmetadata,andtheneedforappropriateanalyticalmethodsforeachtype.Similarly,anawareness
oftheevolvingpracticesandtheircontextsonsocialmediaplatformsisessential,sinceusesandaffordanceschangeovertimetheseinclude
changesenforcedbytheplatformsthemselves,andnewpracticesdevelopedinformallybutspreadwidelybyusers.Finally,butmostimportantly,
researchneedstoreconcileplatformspecificstudieswithsocialmediauseoverall.Socialmediaplatformsarenotusedinisolation,andactivityis
influencedbyhowindividualuserschoosetoemploydifferentplatforms.Contentisnotlimitedtoonesingleplatform,butissharedthroughdiverse
networks,critiqued,transformed,andremixed.WhileourmethodologyherefocusesinitiallyonInstagram,itisdesignedtoalsoenablecomparative
analysisofTwitterandInstagramactivityaroundspecifichashtags.Thenextstepforresearchinthisfieldistofurthertheseapproaches,providing
extendedcomparativeapproachesforqualitativeandquantitativeexplorationsofmultiplesocialmediaplatforms.

Abouttheauthors
TimHighfieldisaPostdoctoralResearchFellowinMediaandCommunicationatQueenslandUniversityofTechnology.
Web:http://timhighfield.net
Email:t[dot]highfield[at]qut[dot]edu[dot]au
TamaLeaverisSeniorLecturerinInternetStudiesatCurtinUniversity,Perth,Australia.HeistheauthorofArtificialculture:Identity,technology,
andbodies(Routledge,2012)andcoeditorofAneducationinFacebook?Highereducationandtheworldslargestsocialnetwork(withMikeKent,

Routledge,2014).
Web:http://tamaleaver.net
Email:t[dot]leaver[at]curtin[dot]edu[dot]au

Notes
1.boydandCrawford,2012,p.668.
2.Halavais,2013,p.36.
3.boyd,2008,p.14.
4.MarkhamandBuchanan,2012,p.6.

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Editorialhistory
Received16October2014accepted20December2014.

ThispaperislicensedunderaCreativeCommonsAttributionNonCommercial4.0InternationalLicense.
AmethodologyformappingInstagramhashtags
byTimHighfieldandTamaLeaver.
FirstMonday,Volume20,Number15January2015
http://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/rt/printerFriendly/5563/4195
doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.5210/fm.v20i1.