Study Revealed Info about the Use of Instagram for Political Purposes
A 2018 study from the University of Missouri revealed that even if Instagram attained phenomenal growth, users are not so keen in viewing political content According to the study, the main reasons why social media audience follow Instagram posts, stories and streamed videos is to discover entertainment and meaningful social information they can adopt as improvement/s or enhancement/s . Additionally, the study also gave recommendations on ways Instagram users can engage their audiences or followers to improve the drawing power of news particularly in relation to political content.
The university findings revealed that most users of Instagram prefer feature images over news images, when scanning news feeds. Researchers give advice to new outlets that use Instagram to promote their website is to combine images with aesthetic visuals to their news stories in order to elicit audience interactions. According to one of the authors of the study, Keith Greenwood, the respondents liked photos that are friendly to the eye, clean, simple, and at the same time symbolic of a particular social topic .
T.J. Thomson, a doctoral candidate in the university’s School of Journalism cited various reasons why Instagram users avoid controversial and political content when choosing news feeds. Some respondents to their survey said that they use other websites when viewing news online, while some feel bad when viewing tragic posts because Instagram for them is a safe space where they can escape the problems of everyday life.
Still, Instagram as a visual-centric platform has evolved into becoming a useful source of income for creative influencers, as the platform became an excellent channel in which businesses can promote their brand of products or services. Over the past ten years since Instagram rolled out as a photo-sharing app, the active number of users grew considerably, which to date has reached more than one billion.
Significant Statistics Every Instagrammer Should Know to Increase Engagement
Knowing significant Instagram statistics will prove beneficial for users, particularly influencers and brand marketers as they strive to engage their audience and in devising content strategies.
Instagram has more users belonging to the younger age group, which according to Statista represents more than half of Instagram’s user population. The age group that has the largest percentage in all demographics are those between 18 to 24 years old.
Instagram audience come from various countries. The U.S. has the most number of Instagram accounts belonging to approximately 116 million people. India and Brazil rank as the second and third in the list of countries with highest population of users.
On a daily basis, 6 out of 10 social media users open their Instagram account; making Instagram the second most visited social media platform, next to its parent company Facebook.
Instagram users spend as much time on the site as they do on Facebook; usually averaging 53 minutes everyday.