"Do It For The Instagram" A Story of Gender and Social Status

The purpose of this study was to explore to social implications of Instagram, and the interaction between the online and offline worlds. I investigated gender displays on Instagram among men and women in two comparative groups: Greek Life affiliated and non-affiliated. The research included a content analysis of Instagram pictures of the Colgate class of 2016, as well as survey data from a questionnaire. The time frame was the month of October during the years 2013, 2014 and 2015. The major variables at play were gender, Greek life and self-presentation online. The central research questions were: 1) Does Instagram act as a free place of individual expression and boundary crossing or as a place where offline gender norms are reinforced? 2) How do college students, who live in an environment where substantial overlap between the offline and virtual communities exist, perform gender? 3) Does membership in a monogender sub-community in the real world shape those gender presentations on Instagram?