Evelyn McCain | 2025 I.S. Symposium

Name: Evelyn McCain
Title: It’s Okay To Feel Lost: Young Adults’ Engagement With Aesthetic Motivational Instagram Content
Majors: Communication Studies; Studio Art
Pathway: Digital & Visual Storytelling
Advisors: Michelle Johnson; Bridget Milligan

The purpose of my study is to understand why young adults choose to engage with trendy Instagram accounts: @WereNotReallyStrangers and @WeTheUrban. These accounts post a niche aesthetic of imagery combined with thought-provoking quotes. To investigate this, semi-structured interviews of 10 college students were conducted. The participant responses were primarily analyzed utilizing the framework of the Uses and Gratifications theory. Major findings indicated that the Instagram content fulfilled participants’ needs for escape, identity support, and companionship. In addition, the participants focused more on the verbal content of the posts than the imagery. By applying interview findings, situating the Instagram content in artistic context, and including my personal thoughts, I created paintings that shared encouraging messages and explored nuances behind positivity. What led me to pursue this project was my interest in investigating the use of social media in a way that highlights some of the better parts of it or ways people have adapted to using it. Instead of focusing on cyberbullying, addiction, social skill loss, and so forth, my study examines how people use social media in a way that may benefit them and take actions to control their use in a society in which technology and social media is prevalent. I hope people who learn about my study are prompted to think just a bit more carefully about the messages and content they surround themselves with when they are on social media.

Posted in Symposium 2025 on May 1, 2025.