Theorizing the Web Presents: For the ‘Gram

This episode of Theorizing the Web Presents, “For the ‘Gram,” features two new takes on visual culture in social media. In “The Secret Life of Pet Instagrams,” Dr. Jess Maddox demonstrates how pet content on Instagram provides joy and creates communities of care through a process of follower fragmentation. In “Century of the Selfie,” Emily Stainkamp shows that, while selfies may be relatively new, cultural anxiety about what a “self” should be is at least 100 years old—and is often connected to the emergence of new media.