In this project I will look at the creation of autobiographical narratives on social media platforms such as Instagram, focusing on one of the key features ‘My story’. Instagram allows the user to upload images and videos to their ‘Story’ which will stay available for 24 hours from the posting time and can be viewed by all the followers of that user. The sequence appears in chronological order, therefore when watched the oldest content will appear first as it was uploaded first. Given that the formation and production of autobiographical narrative belong to the user, Instagram presents a scenario of autobiographer documenting events as a historian of his own life through a chain of visual narrative.
For this project, I want to explore the idea of self-making embedded in the process of autobiographical construction. The concept outlined by Bruner (2004) states that our desires may lead us to find meanings in contexts where others might not. We think not of self but of Possible Selves along with Now Self. Possible selves represent ideas of what we might become, what we would like to become and what we are afraid of becoming. Furthermore, Bruner (1991) also explains that the narrative account must have at least two characteristics. They should canter upon people and their intentional states: their desires, beliefs, and so on; and they should focus on how these intentional states led to certain kinds of activities. This has led me to construct an autobiographical narrative in which my actions are guided by my desires and goals, these, in turn, contribute to self-making in the process.
The construction of the narrative required self-reflection as self-making is strongly affected by our interpretation of self. I reflected upon the self I am now and considered the selves I would like to become. The self of the present that I see myself for is a career-driven student guided by the long-term goals and a vision of success. My now self, therefore, is reflective of all the ideas for my possible selves, as my goal is to have a successful career my current actions are guided by this desire, failure to accomplish is my worst fear. Therefore the narrative will not only be reflective of what I want to become but will also show what I fear becoming, a failure. The narrative will show my commitments and good habits, dedication to work early mornings and late nights, associating with people that inspire, challenge and make me better. The "why tell" function imposes something of great (and hidden) significance on narrative (Bruner 1991). Brockmeiers (1997) explains that facts of the past are themselves products of the present, for it is only through the act of remembering, "facts" and "origins" take on meaning and significance. Therefore, my autobiographical narrative as insignificant as it may seem will gain meaning in the future through the act of remembering. Reflecting upon the journey and the actions that seemed trivial which in fact had facilitated the creation of self.
Bibliography
Brockmeier, J., 1997. Autobiography, narrative, and the Freudian concept of life history. Philosophy, psychiatry, & psychology, 4(3), pp.175-199.
Bruner, J., 1990. Acts of meaning. Harvard university press, Vol. 3, pp.40-46
Bruner, J., 1991. Self-making and world-making. Journal of aesthetic education, 25(1), pp.67-78.
Bruner, J., 2004. Life as narrative. Social research: An international quarterly, 71(3), pp.691-710.