As embarrassing as it is, the social media clout was a big reason I wanted to study abroad. When choosing a host country, I spent hours combing through images of different cities’ most picturesque spots and searching photos posted by peers who have already completed their travels on Instagram. I have always prided myself on having an aesthetically pleasing Instagram feed, and I was excited for my European travels would add to my page’s look. Also, of course, showing off all the cool places I was traveling to my friends back home. I would consider myself a “social media junkie,” I love the thrill of watching notifications pop up on my screen after posting a photo. I will never take a bite of food at a trendy restaurant without Snapchatting it first. As I expected, social media continued to play a large role in my life as I traveled city to city abroad.
The platform that I used most frequently during my time in Barcelona was Snapchat. However, that is because I used it as a way to stay in touch with friends from home, and communicate with new friends in Barcelona when I didn’t have their phone numbers. Snapchat is a great app because while it lets you show off your fun nights, yummy meals, and touristy photos, it’s also used as a major platform of communication. Since I was so far from my family and friends at home, I used snapchat more than ever to ensure we kept in close contact. While I used Snapchat the most, I placed the most value on my posts on Instagram. For me, Snapchat is much more casual and used for my closer friends. On Instagram, I will spend hours making sure the picture I post is just right and the caption is perfect. Additionally, I have a larger reach on Instagram so I value the content I put out more because it goes to more people.
My most popular post was a picture posted on Instagram towards the end of my trip. It’s a picture of me sitting on a couch at a rooftop bar overlooking Sagrada Familia. I think this post did well for a few reasons. First off, it’s a high-quality photo with great lighting. Second, it’s in front of a well-known landmark in Barcelona, the Sagrada Familia Cathedral. This picture received 449 likes and 15 comments.
I think the last three months have helped me to create a digital identify that differs based on the platform I am using. Instagram is my main platform. It represents the image of myself that I want others to see. My Instagram pictures and stories are the best, most high-quality photos. I always make sure images are appropriate and reflect me in the light I want them to. I try not to post too often, but still consistently on this platform. While abroad I tried to post at least one picture in every city I visited with some sort of significant landmark in that city, or a cool activity I did while there. Snapchat on the other hand, is geared more towards my close family and friends. Since I control who is permitted to view my snapchat stories, I am slightly more lenient with posts. I post more fun activates, silly videos, and lower quality images. Other than staying connected with friends back home, I mostly posted videos of nights out and food on my snapchat, while saving the better photos for Instagram. The third platform I used abroad was Facebook. I really don’t use Facebook often other than to receive information from specific groups or post albums for my extended family to catch up with my life. Facebook was important abroad because I was in a group for my program. In this group we received reminders about upcoming events and updates on the program. Additionally, I posted a few times throughput the semester with highlights from my travels so my grandparents, aunts, and uncles could see what I had been up to. Twitter was the platform I used the least. I mainly used Twitter for my own entertainment. I’ve never been big on posting my own ideas on Twitter, and that carried over throughput my abroad experience. I never posted on Twitter while in Barcelona, but I did spend hours scrolling through tweets and retweets when I was bored to get a good laugh.
Since I used each platform differently, I think each of them told a slightly different narrative about me. Instagram told the narrative that I was a polished, and experienced traveler. Snapchat saw me as a party girl that eats out a lot. Facebook saw the studious explorer. All these different narratives come together to tell the full story. Yes, I did try my best to be put together, and yes, I tried a lot of new, exciting things. Yes, I went out to bars and clubs a lot. Yes, I studied hard and saw each new city as an education experience. I think my digital Identity has changed to reflect how I changed as a person over the past few months. My posts became more informed, more explorative, more humorous, more fearless, and more aesthetically conscious, just like I have.
Everything Emma 