A series of studies has investigated
what characterizes the self-presenta-
tion of successful female inuencers
on Instagram, and what this can
mean for the self-presentation of
girls on Instagram.
They smile into the camera with their
perfect faces, and pose in beautiful
places. Their bodies are super-slim,
their clothing f rom fashionab le bran ds.
What inuencers present, especially
on Instagram, is a perfect world of
fashion, travel and trendy lifestyles.
Since it was launched in 2010, the
image-based platform Instagram has
been one of the fastest-growing glo-
bal social networks, and is used by a
billion users worldwide every month
(as of June 2018).
1
In 2016, Instagram
announced that every minute, more
than 40,000 photos and videos were
being uploaded, i.e. nearly 60 million
items per day (Instagram, 2016). This
makes Instagram an extremely attrac-
tive platform for online marketing and
inuencers; the focus on pictures and
videos allows a very direct form of self-
presentation with a high market value
(Rainie et al., 2012).
For young people in Germany, Insta-
gram is the most popular online ser vice
after YouTube and WhatsApp, having
seen a surge in popularity over the
last year. Instagram use is especially
high among 14- to 15-year-olds: 73 %
of adolescents use it daily or several
times a week (Feierabend et al., 2018).
If young people are on Instagram,
they mainly follow people they know
personally (97 %), but also stars or
celebrities (inuencers) (81 %), and
they comment on photos and videos
from other users (81 %). At least 85 %
of the 12- to 19-year-olds who use
Instagram post photos and videos
themselves (Feierabend et al., 2018).
A series of studies conducted by IZI
jointly with the MaLisa Foundation
has examined what characterizes the
self-presentation of successful inu-
encers on Instagram, and what this
might mean for the self-presentation
of girls on Instagram. What follows is a
summar y of the ndings (se e also Götz ,
2019; Götz & Becker, 2019).
HOW FEMALE INFLUENCERS
PRESENT THEMSELVES ON
INSTAGRAM
Approach 1: What female inu-
encers post about themselves
Inuencers, i.e. people who start social
interactions by posting content (texts,
images, audio, video) on a subject area,
frequently, regularly, and on their own
initiative, are the new role-models of
today’s preteens and teenagers.
Their appeal lies mainly in the image
they transmit of themselves: the im-
pression they give of being authentic,
honest, and experts in their eld, and
of having similar values to their target
group (Scott, 2018). Self-branding
becomes their cultural capital, and
thus the basis for their commercial
success (Khedher, 2014). Self-marketing
becomes a constitutive element of life
(Hearn, 2008, p. 211).
In order to position themselves ap-
pealingly as a brand for their followers,
it is essential for inuencers to post
photos of themselves regularly. Each
picture individually is part of their
self-branding, as is the account as a
whole. To analyse how women present
themselves here, the rst step was a de-
scriptive stan dardized content analysis
of the Instagram accounts of the 10 In-
stagrammers with the highest number
of followers, looking at 30 randomly
chosen images from each account. The
images (n =30 0) were coded according
to who can be seen with what image
segment, and whether there is any
obvious sexualization or eroticization.
The analysis showed that female
inuencers mainly post pictures in
which they themselves are the central
focus (76 % of all images). There are
also photos in which they can be seen
with friends or colleagues (12 %), and
pictures with their partner (9 %). Oc-
casionally they also post pictures of
themselves with dogs or cats, rarely
with their own children. Thus the
visual self-branding is primarily based
on the person of the inuencer herself,
supplemented by other people from
her life. In the pictures, the inuencers
are mainly visible in full-body shots in-
cluding their feet (35 %) or in portrait
shots with face, shoulders and part of
the upper body (35 %). There are also
RESEARCH
9
2020/E
The self-presentation of inuencers
on Instagram and its signicance
for girls
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS OF A SERIES OF STUDIES
Maya Götz
pictures showing their bodies down
to the buttocks (15 %) or knee (12 %).
Photos showing only the face, without
the shoulders, are rare (4 %). Overall,
in 6 out of 10 photos the inuencers’
bodies are the central focus of their
self-branding, in 4 out of 10 their faces.
In most of the images (78 %) the in-
uencers are not obviously sexualized
or presented in an erotically inviting
way, but they are sometimes irta-
tiously provocative (10 %) or sexualized
(7 %). Here, however, there are clear
dierences between the individual
Insta grammers . While the singer Shirin
David mainly presents her body and its
curves, clearly sexualizing herself in the
process, the twins Lisa and Lena, for
example, present themselves without
explicit eroticization or sexualization
in all their pictures.
Approach 2: A high degree of
similarity, but with a USP – a
qualitative look at the accounts
Despite all the obvious similarities, the
proles do show individual tendencies.
The qualitative analysis of the proles
shows, for example, how Dagi Bee
presents herself as someone who is
“genuine” and “deeply admired and
loved by her boyfriend, then husband”
– and who has particular competence
in the area of make-up design. Bibi
(from BibisBeautyPalace) presents
herself mainly in the shared intimacy
of her everyday life with her boyfriend
and later husband, including phases
of pregnancy and as a young mother.
These are images of a fullled life of
idealized femininity. In contrast, Heidi
Klum’s Instagram account presents
her primarily as a woman of many
facets. She appears alone much more
seldom than all the other inuencers,
and instead shows herself with her
boyfriend and friends, sometimes in
intimate situations and an informal
atmosphere, thus presenting herself
as a spontaneous and very much
socially integrated person. The more
closely the accounts are examined,
the more clearly tendencies and slight
dierences emerge. The basic tenden-
cy remains, however: all the pictures,
without exception, show beautifully
presented and/or cheerful women,
extremely slim, with long, styled hair
and no skin blemishes or visible ab.
Approach 3: Analysis of poses,
gestures and gaze behaviour
To expand the spectrum of inuen-
cers and systematically explore the
key research questions (about supra-
individual, recurring details relating
to poses, facial expressions and gaze
behaviour in self-presentation), the
number of inuencers was increased
to n=66 in the next phase. Female In-
stagrammers who are followed by girls
(aged 14 to 19) were selected, and again
n=300 images were chosen. This time
the focus was on photos in which the
inuencers appear on their own, and
which have obviously been staged for
a professional camera shot.
The analysis investigated whether
recurring patterns appeared. The fol-
lowing points become evident: female
inuencers are always very thin, with
long hair and well- groomed, made -up
faces. In the photos, the inuencers re-
peatedly present themselves in similar
postures . They usually s tand as ymmet-
rically in a position that optimizes their
body shape. Typical poses are:
• one leg turned out to the side,
• accidentally crossed legs,
• the “S-curve”
• a “spontaneous” glance over the
shoulder.
Typical gestures are a hand raised to
the hair or face, as if by chance. Recur-
ring patterns can also be identied in
their gaze behaviour:
• the provocatively erotic gaze,
• the intense, direct gaze,
• the playfully innocent gaze (Ill. 1),
• the introspective gaze,
• the dreamy gaze into the distance.
Overall, the media analysis shows 3 types
of self-presentation among female inu-
encers, in the pictures where they appear
alone: the erotically attractive woman, the
likeably naïve woman, and the beautiful
woman, casually photographed. All 3
types are forms of traditional presen-
tations of femininity.
People who in many respects dier
markedly as individuals are presenting
themselves in an astonishingly similar
way, with the same gestures, in similar
places, and with a similar portfolio.
In this way the “Instafamous” (Spech,
2016) dene – for those who follow
them and take their cues from them
– the parameters of what being an
attractive woman today involves, and
present a consistently similar post-
feminist masquerade (see McRobbie,
2010).
SIGNIFICANCE FOR
ADOLESCENTS
Adolescents are online for somewhat
over 3.5 hours per day, and 73 % use
the social network Instagram daily
or several times a week. They follow
inuencers and people they know
personally, make comments, and
post photos and videos of themselves
(Feierabend et al., 2018). This makes
Instagram, at present, the biggest
platform for visual self-presentation
by adolescents worldwide. Girls and
young women in particular post vast
Ill. 1: A recurring pattern in gaze behaviour:
the playfully innocent gaze
Screenshot from Instagram © hannahg11
RESEARCH
10
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numbers of pictures of themselves
here, presenting their life and identi-
ty to others (de Aguiar Pereira, 2016).
This oers young women new oppor-
tunities to make themselves visible,
show themselves in their own distinct
identity, and give themselves a voice.
Yet even a supercial glance shows
that an astonishing similarity prevails
among these images. How does this
come about? Qualitative case studies
and a representative survey were car-
ried out to investigate this question.
Case studies on the self-presen-
tation of girls (aged 14 to 16)
7 individual case studies were used to
examine how girls create their posts on
Instagram, what is important to them
here, and what they avoid. The studies
show that the girls have mostly been on
Instagram for longer than a year, and
post photos regularly. They themselves
are the central focus of their presen-
tation. The photos they post are not
random, but usually strategically stage -
managed.
In this presentation, their facial expres-
sion, hair and posture are particularly
important to them; all of these things
are meant to look “perfect” and “na-
tural”. They would never upload a
picture that was “not perfect”, where
they did not look slim, for example, or
had messy hair or no make-up. The girls
are prepared to invest considerable ef-
fort in producing these pictures, and
often take up to 20 attempts before
they achieve the perfect “natural” and
“spontaneous” picture.
They learn what a perfect picture
look s like from the inuencers, copying
their postures and their little tricks,
and using lters to remove unwanted
people from their photos and smooth
out irregularities and perceived inade-
quacies in themselves. Looking back,
they started o by posting a wider
range of images of themselves, but over
time this has developed increasingly
towards the perfect picture. They are
now embarrassed by their older self-
presentations, in which they are more
individual, for example, and more fo-
cused on fun than perfection. A “post-
feminist masquerade” is emerging as
the new cultural dominant (McRobbie,
2009, p. 63). The explicit role-models
for this are female inuencers and their
self-presentation on Instagram.
Comparison between the
self-presentation of successful
female Instagrammers and girls
In the next step, the 300 images of
successful inuencers were compared
with the pictures of the girls from
the case studies. There were obvious
and striking similarities. Both present
themselves as very slim (in some ca-
ses editing with lters), always with
strategically selected poses and facial
expressions, with make-up, and with
no skin blemishes. Both inuencers
and “normal” girls show typical poses
in their self-presentation (S shape, ca-
sually crossed legs, hand in hair etc.).
If possible, the girls travel to the same
places as the inuencers and copy their
staged images down to the last detail
(Ill. 2 and 3).
Besides the pressure of always having to
present and edit themselves, what this
means for the girls is that most facets
of their self and most of their everyday
experiences are not given any space in
their self-presentation. Their own iden-
tity can only be shown within a very
narrow framework, which is shaped
by inuencers and thus (in part) by the
fashion and beauty industry, although
the girls are not able to discern this
connection. Are the girls from the
individual case studies an exception?
Representative survey
In a representative sample of n=846
adolescents aged between 12 and 19,
404 of them girls,
2
selected ndings
from the individual case studies were
tested to see if they were relevant for
adolescents in general and girls in
particular.
The result that emerged was that 3
quarters of all girls at least sometimes
upload pictures to social networks . In this
self-presentation, girls nd it particularly
import ant to show themselves as “che er-
ful” (90 %), at their best (87 %) and “as
slim as possible” (81 %), and at the same
time to look as natural as possible (88 %).
To achieve this, 49 % of the girls at least
sometimes use lter software, without
seeing any contradiction between this
and their desire to look “natural”. 69 %
touch up their hair, 70 % make their skin
smoother, and a third change the size
and colour of their eyes or make their
Screenshot from Instagram © ohohcouture
Screenshot from Instagram © female Instagram user
3
Ill. 2 and 3: The girls in the case studies travel to the same places as well-known inuencers and copy their
staged images
RESEARCH
11
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Maya Göt z, Dr. phil.,
is the Head of the IZI
and of the PRIX JEU-
NESSE INTERNATI-
ONAL, Munich,
Germany
THE AUTHOR
•
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1
https://d e.st atista.com/ infograk/14364/anzahl-
der-monatlich-aktiven-nutzer-von-instagram/
[7 March 2019]
2
Cond uc te d by Ico nk ids & Youth . Th e sam pl e, se le c-
ted at 150 BIK sample points, is apportioned by
quot a acco rdin g to the r esp ond ent s’ age , sex a nd
migration bac kground, sc hool a ttendance/ sc hool-
leaving qualication, distribution by federal state
and municipalit y size class, and marital status of
the mother, and is representative of the population
of all 12- to 19 -year-olds in private households in
Germany: 6.1 million, of whom 5.29 million are
in the former West Germany and 0.81 million in
the former East Germany. The representativeness
of the young people surveyed corresponds to a
probability sample of the same magnitude; at a
sign ic ance le vel of 9 0 %, th e cond ence i nter val
for n=846 is (in the worst case) ± 3.99 % as a
sampling error. The eld work was carried out
from 2 to 31 March 2018.
3
Permission has been given to use the pictures of
the respondents in an academic context in the
framework of this study; any further use and/
or reproduction without explicit permission is
prohibited.
NOTES
belly atter (33 % for each of these).
Here there are signicant similarities
with the people they are following.
There is a 94 % probability that those
following a model or YouTuber will nd
it important to look slim. Girls who fol-
low beauty YouTubers more often use
lters and more often touch up their
make-up. All those who follow Heidi
Klum at least sometimes use lters to
improve their skin, and most of them
whiten their teeth in their photos. So
the girls in the individual case studies
are anything but exceptions.
Conclusion
The study shows that girls who present
themselves on Instagram usually do so
with a very critical attitude towards
their natural appearance. Female inu-
encers have a signicant and demon-
strable role- model func tion for the way
girls present themselves. They accept
them unquestioningly as ideal gures,
and try to follow them in appearance,
gestures, expressions, locations etc. The
result is masquerade-like repetition of
the same poses, again and again. As the
girls’ own appearance normally does
not meet the standard, they use tricks
and lters to compensate, to make
their bodies seem “spontaneously
natural”. This leads to a distortion of
the understanding of “natural” and
“spontaneous”, and the masquerade
tricks
and filters
staging
appreciation
of individuality
perfect pictures
stage-managed
pictures
selfies, funny videos
detailed
comparison
detailed
comparison
+ feedback
comparison with
influencers,
likes/comments
experience
of deficiency
experience of deficiency
+ embarrassment
experience of deficiency
+ body dissatisfaction
experience
tricks
and filters
perfect pictures
stage-managed
selfies, funny videos
and filters
staging
of individuality
and filters
comparison
detailed
comparison
+ feedback
comparison with
influencers,
detailed
detailed
comparison
comparison
detailed
comparison
detailed
perience of deficiency
embarrassment
comparison
+ feedback
comparison
comparison
comparison
comparison
ex
tricks
perfect pictures
perfect pictures
tricks
Screenshot from Instagram © female Instagram user
3
Ill. 4: The development of self-presentation in increasingly stereotypical forms
becomes the unquestioned standard,
allowing no divergence. The edited
image seems more natural than the
real appearance (Kleemans et al., 2018).
In an ever-narrowing circle, the self-
presentation of the girls – but also that
of the professionals – becomes more
restricted and more identical (Ill. 4).
RESEARCH
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