Research in the Instagram Context: Approaches and Methods
Chen Yang
Abstract
Social media is not only an important component for mass communication but also a toolkit to provide people with various services. As the most representative visual-oriented social networking site in the world, Instagram enables users to take photos and videos, as well as share them on other platforms with its accurate target user positioning. There have been many researchers involving with studies on Instagram’s development from different perspectives. This paper conducts an extensive literature review of Instagram, focusing on the research methods that researchers use to collect and analyze data. Based on the review, it can be seen that most scholars collect Instagram data by capturing API data, designing questionnaires, and face-to-face interviews. Both quantitative methods such as data modeling and regression analysis and qualitative methods such as text analysis and context analysis are used to analyze Instagram features. Researchers also utilized advanced technical tools and analytical methods, such as face recognition, comparative analysis, and case studies, to gain a more insightful perception on Instagram.