How Instagram Replaced Aspiration With Performative Relatability
Instagram became the platform for the unattainable with its highly curated luxury and “This could be you” message, but with the growth of social media, the digital landscape has undergone a massive transformation. The shine and glamor of tailored luxury is fading and being replaced by the performance of relatability. The age of influencers has shifted towards creators who behave like ordinary users.
The transition was made possible through the power of User Generated Content (UGC). Traditional ads on social media were slowly replaced by UGC as marketing discovered that UGC had a greater impact than traditional ads because it felt more natural to the target audience. When a creator films in a messy room while recording daily GRWM (Get Ready With Me) videos, or shares stories from her life by speaking directly to a shaky camera, she sends the message, “I’m just like you.” But even reality is often a very calculated choice.
In this era, the individual is no longer separate from the brand; They become content. Every creator has a niche: fashion, comedy, wellness, fitness or art. They never move from one niche to another; If they do, it may not work for them or their brand image. Identities are reduced to aesthetics or “cores” designed to fit specific audience archetypes. It’s all about Instagram metrics and algorithms; as the primary goal is to grow the account rather than personal connection.
Deceptive Vulnerability
The quest for relatability often turns into deception on Instagram. Some influencers have been accused of creating a fake narrative of struggle or poverty to sell the performance of relatability while secretly living an elite lifestyle. Many Instagram influencers have been accused of making up stories just for views and even using the theme of sadness to gain sympathy and support. Reddit forums often discuss how influencers create stories for interaction. They make up stories, they make up their life struggles, they even make up their jobs.
Many influencers have been accused of stealing other artists’ work and passing it off as their own to gain followers. Even though they are privileged, they don’t cosplay just for the sake of bonding. Another use of social media is to boast of wealth under the guise of self-care after a stressful day, using hooks like “I’ve had a very rough day; come with me for some retail therapy”, which many users think is incredibly tone-deaf. This performance-based attribution is used for advertising and engagement only.
Constant performance has changed the way one experiences life. People are more interested in curating “perfect intimate” moments or creating content from experiences. People focus on how they want to live the moment rather than actually living the moment, even if they are enjoying it. Hundreds of photos taken for that one “effortless” Instagram post followed by candid images carefully planned for a “perfect” sunset and real life interrupted by cameras.
Conclusion? A constant feeling of exhaustion. Over time, people realize how strange and harmful this endless self-promotion is. A user on Reddit named ThrowRAchristmastime compared the experience on Instagram to flipping through a “highly addictive coupon book.”
This led us to a critical question: Who is Performance For?
If everyone is applying their own version of “authenticity and relatability” to the algorithm, is the performance acceptable? While influencers and creators trade the unattainable heights of luxury for the “just like us” narrative, the scene remains the same; “relatability” is just a sophisticated performance.
This article was written by EFLU student Archana Prasad, who is interning at Deccan Chronicle.
