2022-07-13-instagram.Rmd (28622B)
1 --- 2 title: "Post types and sentiment from my Instagram feed" 3 description: "Does Instagram spark joy? A look at what I'm seeing and how I feel while using this platform." 4 date: 2022-07-13T12:28:22-04:00 5 draft: False 6 knit: (function(input, ...) { 7 rmarkdown::render( 8 input, 9 output_dir = file.path(Sys.getenv("HUGO_ROOT"), "content/posts") 10 ) 11 }) 12 output: 13 md_document: 14 variant: markdown 15 preserve_yaml: true 16 --- 17 18 ```{r setup, include=FALSE} 19 knitr::opts_chunk$set( 20 echo = FALSE, 21 fig.path = file.path("figs", 22 sub("\\.Rmd$", "", 23 basename(rstudioapi::getActiveDocumentContext()$path)), 24 "") 25 ) 26 knitr::opts_knit$set( 27 base.dir = file.path(Sys.getenv("HUGO_ROOT"), "static"), 28 base.url = "/" 29 ) 30 ``` 31 ```{r packages, include=FALSE} 32 library(dplyr) 33 library(ggplot2) 34 library(forcats) 35 ``` 36 ```{r data} 37 ig_dat <- tibble::tribble( 38 ~date, ~medium, ~sentiment, ~poster_category, ~poster_followed, 39 "2022-07-09", "Video", 1L, "Business (Friend's)", TRUE, 40 "2022-07-09", "Photo", 2L, "Friend", TRUE, 41 "2022-07-09", "Video", -2L, "Ad", FALSE, 42 "2022-07-09", "Image", 1L, "Meme account", TRUE, 43 "2022-07-09", "Photo", 2L, "Friend", TRUE, 44 "2022-07-09", "Video", -1L, "Suggested post", FALSE, 45 "2022-07-09", "Video", -2L, "Ad", FALSE, 46 "2022-07-09", "Photo", 1L, "Friend", TRUE, 47 "2022-07-09", "Video", 0L, "Suggested post", FALSE, 48 "2022-07-09", "Video", 0L, "Meme account", TRUE, 49 "2022-07-09", "Video", -2L, "Ad", FALSE, 50 "2022-07-09", "Video", -1L, "Suggested post", FALSE, 51 "2022-07-09", "Photo", 1L, "Meme account", TRUE, 52 "2022-07-09", "Video", 1L, "Suggested post", FALSE, 53 "2022-07-09", "Video", 0L, "Ad", FALSE, 54 "2022-07-09", "Video", 1L, "Business (Friend's)", TRUE, 55 "2022-07-09", "Video", 1L, "Suggested post", FALSE, 56 "2022-07-09", "Image", 1L, "Meme account", TRUE, 57 "2022-07-09", "Video", -1L, "Ad", FALSE, 58 "2022-07-09", "Video", -2L, "Suggested post", FALSE, 59 "2022-07-09", "Image", 0L, "Meme account", TRUE, 60 "2022-07-09", "Video", -2L, "Suggested post", FALSE, 61 "2022-07-09", "Photo", -2L, "Ad", FALSE, 62 "2022-07-09", "Photo", 2L, "Organization", TRUE, 63 "2022-07-09", "Video", -1L, "Suggested post", FALSE, 64 "2022-07-09", "Image", 1L, "Business (Friend's)", TRUE, 65 "2022-07-09", "Video", -2L, "Ad", FALSE, 66 "2022-07-09", "Video", -2L, "Suggested post", FALSE, 67 "2022-07-09", "Photo", 0L, "Artist", TRUE, 68 "2022-07-09", "Video", -2L, "Suggested post", FALSE, 69 "2022-07-09", "Video", -2L, "Ad", FALSE, 70 "2022-07-09", "Photo", 2L, "Friend", TRUE, 71 "2022-07-09", "Video", -1L, "Suggested post", FALSE, 72 "2022-07-09", "Image", 2L, "Artist", TRUE, 73 "2022-07-09", "Video", -2L, "Ad", FALSE, 74 "2022-07-09", "Video", -2L, "Suggested post", FALSE, 75 "2022-07-09", "Photo", 1L, "Organization", TRUE, 76 "2022-07-09", "Video", -2L, "Suggested post", FALSE, 77 "2022-07-09", "Video", -1L, "Ad", FALSE, 78 "2022-07-09", "Photo", 1L, "Organization", TRUE, 79 "2022-07-09", "Video", -2L, "Suggested post", FALSE, 80 "2022-07-09", "Image", 2L, "Artist", TRUE, 81 "2022-07-09", "Video", -2L, "Ad", FALSE, 82 "2022-07-09", "Video", -1L, "Suggested post", FALSE, 83 "2022-07-09", "Photo", 0L, "Organization", TRUE, 84 "2022-07-09", "Video", -1L, "Suggested post", FALSE, 85 "2022-07-09", "Video", -2L, "Ad", FALSE, 86 "2022-07-09", "Photo", 2L, "Friend", TRUE, 87 "2022-07-09", "Video", -2L, "Suggested post", FALSE, 88 "2022-07-09", "Photo", 1L, "Meme account", TRUE, 89 "2022-07-10", "Image", 2L, "Artist", TRUE, 90 "2022-07-10", "Image", 0L, "Meme account", TRUE, 91 "2022-07-10", "Image", 1L, "Meme account", TRUE, 92 "2022-07-10", "Video", -2L, "Ad", FALSE, 93 "2022-07-10", "Photo", 1L, "Friend", TRUE, 94 "2022-07-10", "Video", 1L, "Friend", TRUE, 95 "2022-07-10", "Video", 0L, "Suggested post", FALSE, 96 "2022-07-10", "Image", 0L, "Meme account", TRUE, 97 "2022-07-10", "Video", 1L, "Suggested post", FALSE, 98 "2022-07-10", "Image", 2L, "Friend", TRUE, 99 "2022-07-10", "Video", 0L, "Suggested post", FALSE, 100 "2022-07-10", "Video", -2L, "Ad", FALSE, 101 "2022-07-10", "Photo", 1L, "Friend", TRUE, 102 "2022-07-10", "Video", -1L, "Suggested post", FALSE, 103 "2022-07-10", "Image", 1L, "Meme account", TRUE, 104 "2022-07-10", "Video", -1L, "Ad", FALSE, 105 "2022-07-10", "Video", -1L, "Suggested post", FALSE, 106 "2022-07-10", "Image", 1L, "Friend", TRUE, 107 "2022-07-10", "Video", 1L, "Suggested post", FALSE, 108 "2022-07-10", "Video", -2L, "Ad", FALSE, 109 "2022-07-10", "Photo", 1L, "Organization", TRUE, 110 "2022-07-10", "Video", 0L, "Suggested post", FALSE, 111 "2022-07-10", "Photo", 0L, "Business (Friend's)", TRUE, 112 "2022-07-10", "Video", -2L, "Ad", FALSE, 113 "2022-07-10", "Video", -2L, "Suggested post", FALSE, 114 "2022-07-10", "Photo", 1L, "Meme account", TRUE, 115 "2022-07-10", "Video", -2L, "Suggested post", FALSE, 116 "2022-07-10", "Image", -1L, "Ad", FALSE, 117 "2022-07-10", "Image", 1L, "Artist", TRUE, 118 "2022-07-10", "Video", 0L, "Suggested post", FALSE, 119 "2022-07-10", "Photo", 2L, "Friend", TRUE, 120 "2022-07-10", "Image", -1L, "Ad", FALSE, 121 "2022-07-10", "Video", 1L, "Suggested post", FALSE, 122 "2022-07-10", "Photo", 1L, "Organization", TRUE, 123 "2022-07-10", "Video", -2L, "Suggested post", FALSE, 124 "2022-07-10", "Video", -2L, "Ad", FALSE, 125 "2022-07-10", "Video", -1L, "Organization", TRUE, 126 "2022-07-10", "Video", -2L, "Suggested post", FALSE, 127 "2022-07-10", "Photo", 2L, "Friend", TRUE, 128 "2022-07-10", "Video", -1L, "Ad", FALSE, 129 "2022-07-10", "Video", -1L, "Suggested post", FALSE, 130 "2022-07-10", "Image", 1L, "Artist", TRUE, 131 "2022-07-10", "Video", 1L, "Suggested post", FALSE, 132 "2022-07-10", "Video", -2L, "Ad", FALSE, 133 "2022-07-10", "Video", 2L, "Friend", TRUE, 134 "2022-07-10", "Video", -1L, "Suggested post", FALSE, 135 "2022-07-10", "Video", 1L, "Friend", TRUE, 136 "2022-07-10", "Video", -2L, "Ad", FALSE, 137 "2022-07-10", "Video", -1L, "Suggested post", FALSE, 138 "2022-07-10", "Photo", 2L, "Friend", TRUE, 139 "2022-07-11", "Photo", 0L, "Friend", TRUE, 140 "2022-07-11", "Video", -1L, "Ad", FALSE, 141 "2022-07-11", "Video", 0L, "Business (Friend's)", TRUE, 142 "2022-07-11", "Video", -2L, "Suggested post", FALSE, 143 "2022-07-11", "Video", 2L, "Artist", TRUE, 144 "2022-07-11", "Video", -1L, "Ad", FALSE, 145 "2022-07-11", "Photo", 0L, "Organization", TRUE, 146 "2022-07-11", "Video", -2L, "Suggested post", FALSE, 147 "2022-07-11", "Photo", 1L, "Organization", TRUE, 148 "2022-07-11", "Photo", 2L, "Friend", TRUE, 149 "2022-07-11", "Video", -1L, "Suggested post", FALSE, 150 "2022-07-11", "Photo", 1L, "Friend", TRUE, 151 "2022-07-11", "Video", -2L, "Suggested post", FALSE, 152 "2022-07-11", "Photo", 2L, "Organization", TRUE, 153 "2022-07-11", "Video", -2L, "Ad", FALSE, 154 "2022-07-11", "Video", -1L, "Suggested post", FALSE, 155 "2022-07-11", "Image", 2L, "Friend", TRUE, 156 "2022-07-11", "Image", 2L, "Artist", TRUE, 157 "2022-07-11", "Video", -2L, "Ad", FALSE, 158 "2022-07-11", "Video", 0L, "Suggested post", FALSE, 159 "2022-07-11", "Photo", 2L, "Friend", TRUE, 160 "2022-07-11", "Video", -2L, "Suggested post", FALSE, 161 "2022-07-11", "Video", -2L, "Ad", FALSE, 162 "2022-07-11", "Photo", 0L, "Organization", TRUE, 163 "2022-07-11", "Video", -2L, "Suggested post", FALSE, 164 "2022-07-11", "Image", 0L, "Artist", TRUE, 165 "2022-07-11", "Video", -1L, "Ad", FALSE, 166 "2022-07-11", "Video", -1L, "Suggested post", FALSE, 167 "2022-07-11", "Video", -1L, "Friend", TRUE, 168 "2022-07-11", "Video", -1L, "Suggested post", FALSE, 169 "2022-07-11", "Video", -2L, "Suggested post", FALSE, 170 "2022-07-11", "Photo", 1L, "Meme account", TRUE, 171 "2022-07-11", "Video", -2L, "Suggested post", FALSE, 172 "2022-07-11", "Photo", 1L, "Friend", TRUE, 173 "2022-07-11", "Video", -1L, "Ad", FALSE, 174 "2022-07-11", "Video", -1L, "Suggested post", FALSE, 175 "2022-07-11", "Photo", 0L, "Organization", TRUE, 176 "2022-07-11", "Video", 0L, "Suggested post", FALSE, 177 "2022-07-11", "Video", 0L, "Ad", FALSE, 178 "2022-07-11", "Photo", 2L, "Friend", TRUE, 179 "2022-07-11", "Video", 0L, "Suggested post", FALSE, 180 "2022-07-11", "Photo", 0L, "Meme account", TRUE, 181 "2022-07-11", "Video", -1L, "Ad", FALSE, 182 "2022-07-11", "Video", 1L, "Suggested post", FALSE, 183 "2022-07-11", "Video", 0L, "Suggested post", FALSE, 184 "2022-07-11", "Image", 0L, "Friend", TRUE, 185 "2022-07-11", "Video", -1L, "Ad", FALSE, 186 "2022-07-11", "Video", 0L, "Suggested post", FALSE, 187 "2022-07-11", "Photo", 2L, "Friend", TRUE, 188 "2022-07-11", "Video", 0L, "Suggested post", FALSE, 189 "2022-07-12", "Photo", 2L, "Friend", TRUE, 190 "2022-07-12", "Photo", 1L, "Meme account", TRUE, 191 "2022-07-12", "Video", -1L, "Ad", FALSE, 192 "2022-07-12", "Video", -1L, "Suggested post", FALSE, 193 "2022-07-12", "Photo", 0L, "Friend", TRUE, 194 "2022-07-12", "Photo", 1L, "Friend", TRUE, 195 "2022-07-12", "Image", 0L, "Meme account", TRUE, 196 "2022-07-12", "Photo", 0L, "Ad", FALSE, 197 "2022-07-12", "Image", 0L, "Suggested post", FALSE, 198 "2022-07-12", "Photo", 2L, "Friend", TRUE, 199 "2022-07-12", "Video", 1L, "Suggested post", FALSE, 200 "2022-07-12", "Video", -2L, "Ad", FALSE, 201 "2022-07-12", "Photo", 2L, "Friend", TRUE, 202 "2022-07-12", "Video", 0L, "Suggested post", FALSE, 203 "2022-07-12", "Image", 1L, "Organization", TRUE, 204 "2022-07-12", "Video", -1L, "Ad", FALSE, 205 "2022-07-12", "Video", -1L, "Suggested post", FALSE, 206 "2022-07-12", "Photo", 1L, "Friend", TRUE, 207 "2022-07-12", "Video", 0L, "Suggested post", FALSE, 208 "2022-07-12", "Image", -1L, "Ad", FALSE, 209 "2022-07-12", "Image", 0L, "Business (Friend's)", TRUE, 210 "2022-07-12", "Video", -1L, "Suggested post", FALSE, 211 "2022-07-12", "Photo", 1L, "Meme account", TRUE, 212 "2022-07-12", "Video", 0L, "Ad", FALSE, 213 "2022-07-12", "Image", 0L, "Suggested post", FALSE, 214 "2022-07-12", "Photo", 1L, "Meme account", TRUE, 215 "2022-07-12", "Video", 0L, "Suggested post", FALSE, 216 "2022-07-12", "Video", -2L, "Ad", FALSE, 217 "2022-07-12", "Image", 0L, "Organization", TRUE, 218 "2022-07-12", "Video", 0L, "Suggested post", FALSE, 219 "2022-07-12", "Photo", 1L, "Friend", TRUE, 220 "2022-07-12", "Video", -1L, "Suggested post", FALSE, 221 "2022-07-12", "Video", -2L, "Ad", FALSE, 222 "2022-07-12", "Photo", 1L, "Meme account", TRUE, 223 "2022-07-12", "Video", -1L, "Suggested post", FALSE, 224 "2022-07-12", "Photo", 1L, "Organization", TRUE, 225 "2022-07-12", "Image", -2L, "Ad", FALSE, 226 "2022-07-12", "Video", -1L, "Suggested post", FALSE, 227 "2022-07-12", "Photo", 0L, "Artist", TRUE, 228 "2022-07-12", "Video", 0L, "Suggested post", FALSE, 229 "2022-07-12", "Video", 1L, "Ad", FALSE, 230 "2022-07-12", "Image", 2L, "Artist", TRUE, 231 "2022-07-12", "Video", -2L, "Suggested post", FALSE, 232 "2022-07-12", "Photo", 1L, "Friend", TRUE, 233 "2022-07-12", "Video", -2L, "Ad", FALSE, 234 "2022-07-12", "Image", 0L, "Suggested post", FALSE, 235 "2022-07-12", "Photo", 1L, "Friend", TRUE, 236 "2022-07-12", "Video", 1L, "Suggested post", FALSE, 237 "2022-07-12", "Photo", 0L, "Business (Friend's)", TRUE, 238 "2022-07-12", "Video", -2L, "Ad", FALSE 239 ) %>% 240 mutate(poster_category = sub(" \\(Friend's\\)", "", poster_category)) 241 ``` 242 243 I've been critical of social media platforms (in spite of my continued use of them), but I've traditionally defended Instagram. I knew that it had major problems (most galling, [internal research showed that use of the platform was hurting teenage girls' body image, and Meta suppressed the findings](https://www.wsj.com/articles/facebook-knows-instagram-is-toxic-for-teen-girls-company-documents-show-11631620739?mod=article_inline)), but browsing IG has nevertheless been a pleasant experience for me. Photos of my friends' pets, children, and vacations are _nice things_, and being exposed to them _made me happy_. 244 245 Recently, Instagram instituted changes to the app's main feed, which were [announed by Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, on Twitter](https://twitter.com/mosseri/status/1521589403671355392). I feel like Instagram stopped being as fun for me shortly after these changes were rolled out, so I collected a bit of data. 246 247 ## Method 248 249 Over the course of four days (July 9–12, 2022), I only opened the app once per day, on my phone. I looked at the first 50 posts on my feed, and logged a couple features, described below, about each one. I also gave each post a subjective "sentiment score" using a five-point scale from -2 (for posts I actively disliked) to 2 (for posts I quite liked), with a score of 0 being neutral. 250 251 ## Results 252 253 What does Instagram show me? Let's first look at "poster category" counts, which shows who the posts come from. 254 255 ```{r poster_category, fig.height=4, fig.width=7} 256 caption_text <- "Data from 200 posts viewed over 4 days (50 posts/day)" 257 258 ig_dat %>% 259 mutate(poster_category = fct_rev(fct_infreq(poster_category))) %>% 260 ggplot(aes(x = poster_category)) + 261 geom_bar(aes(fill = !poster_followed)) + 262 geom_text(aes(label = ..count..), stat = "count", 263 hjust = 0, nudge_y = 1, size = 6) + 264 scale_fill_brewer(palette = "Dark2") + 265 expand_limits(y = 75) + 266 coord_flip() + 267 theme(panel.background = element_blank(), 268 panel.grid = element_blank(), 269 plot.title.position = "plot", 270 plot.caption.position = "plot", 271 legend.position = "none", 272 axis.line = element_blank(), 273 axis.ticks = element_blank(), 274 axis.title = element_blank(), 275 axis.text.x = element_blank(), 276 axis.text.y = element_text(size = 16, 277 margin = margin(r = -16))) + 278 labs(title = "Poster categories in my Instagram feed", 279 caption = caption_text) 280 ``` 281 282 Most of the 410 accounts I follow are my friends'. I also follow a few _artists_ (a combination of musicians, visual artists, and authors), _organizations_ (primarily political and community orgs), _businesses_ (all of which are run by friends—a couple bakers, a couple shop owners), and a small handful of _meme accounts_ (e.g., "dnddads"). Subjectively, meme accounts are over-represented on my feed; I follow hundreds of actual people and only around five meme accounts, but the latter account for over half as many posts as the former. 283 284 The biggest issue here is that the majority of posts come from _accounts I don't follow_. I understand that Instagram is an ad-supported business, but I see more ads than posts from friends. Worse still, I see almost twice as many "suggested posts" as I do posts from friends. 285 286 What types of content are represented by these posts? 287 288 ```{r medium, fig.height=3, fig.width=7} 289 ig_dat %>% 290 mutate(medium = fct_rev(fct_infreq(medium))) %>% 291 ggplot(aes(x = medium)) + 292 geom_bar(aes(fill = medium)) + 293 geom_text(aes(label = ..count..), stat = "count", 294 hjust = 0, nudge_y = 1, size = 6) + 295 scale_fill_brewer(palette = "Paired") + 296 expand_limits(y = 120) + 297 coord_flip() + 298 theme(panel.background = element_blank(), 299 panel.grid = element_blank(), 300 plot.title.position = "plot", 301 plot.caption.position = "plot", 302 legend.position = "none", 303 axis.line = element_blank(), 304 axis.ticks = element_blank(), 305 axis.title = element_blank(), 306 axis.text.x = element_blank(), 307 axis.text.y = element_text(size = 20, 308 margin = margin(r = -20))) + 309 labs(title = "Media present in my Instagram feed", 310 caption = caption_text) 311 ``` 312 313 Mosseri announced that Meta wanted to make video a bigger part of the Instagram experience, and they seem to have delivered. Of the 200 posts I logged, the majority were video. Photographs, which the app was originally designed for, account for a little over a quarter of the posts, with other types of image (drawings, illustrations, etc.) accounting for the rest. 314 315 What's the relationship between _poster category_ and _post medium_? 316 317 ```{r poster_media, fig.height=4} 318 ig_dat %>% 319 mutate(poster_category = fct_rev(fct_infreq(poster_category))) %>% 320 ggplot(aes(x = poster_category)) + 321 geom_bar(aes(fill = medium)) + 322 geom_text(aes(label = ..count..), stat = "count", 323 hjust = 0, nudge_y = 1, size = 6) + 324 scale_fill_brewer(palette = "Paired") + 325 expand_limits(y = 75) + 326 coord_flip() + 327 theme(panel.background = element_blank(), 328 panel.grid = element_blank(), 329 plot.title.position = "plot", 330 plot.caption.position = "plot", 331 legend.title = element_text(size = 12), 332 legend.text = element_text(size = 12), 333 legend.position = c(0.8, 0.2), 334 axis.line = element_blank(), 335 axis.ticks = element_blank(), 336 axis.title = element_blank(), 337 axis.text.x = element_blank(), 338 axis.text.y = element_text(size = 16, 339 margin = margin(r = -16))) + 340 labs(title = "Post medium and poster category in my Instagram feed", 341 caption = caption_text, 342 fill = "Post medium") 343 ``` 344 345 There's a tight correspondence between what medium is employed for a post and who's posting it. Videos are being pushed by accounts I don't follow, while my friends continue to prioritize photographs. 346 347 Since post medium and poster category are so tightly linked, I'll focus on looking at the sentiment by poster category—it would be difficult to tease apart how I feel about photos vs. videos and how I feel about posts from accounts I do vs. do not follow. 348 349 ```{r category_sentiment} 350 ig_dat %>% 351 mutate(poster_category = fct_rev(fct_infreq(poster_category))) %>% 352 ggplot(aes(poster_category, sentiment)) + 353 geom_boxplot(aes(fill = !poster_followed)) + 354 scale_fill_brewer(palette = "Dark2") + 355 coord_flip() + 356 theme(panel.background = element_blank(), 357 panel.grid = element_blank(), 358 plot.title.position = "plot", 359 plot.caption.position = "plot", 360 legend.position = "none", 361 axis.line = element_blank(), 362 axis.ticks = element_blank(), 363 axis.title.x = element_text(size = 16), 364 axis.title.y = element_blank(), 365 axis.text.x = element_text(size = 12), 366 axis.text.y = element_text(size = 16, 367 margin = margin(r = -16))) + 368 labs(title = "Instagram sentiment by poster category", 369 caption = caption_text, 370 y = "Subjective sentiment") 371 ``` 372 373 These box-and-whisker plots show the distribution of sentiment scores for each post category. The heavy vertical line indicates the median score, and the boxes extend from the first through third quartiles (the "interquartile range", or IQR). The "whiskers" cover the full range of scores, unless any observation is identified as a potential "outlier". Outliers are defined as observations with values more than 150% of the value of the IQR above or below the third or first quartile, respectively. For example, I was bothered by a photo of a dead bird which was posted by a friend, and gave it a score of -1. The first and third quartiles of sentiment scores for posts from friends are 1 and 2, providing an IQR of 1. Since -1 is less than 1 (the first quartile) - 1.5 (150% of 1, the IQR), that score is an outlier. 374 375 I'm not surprised that I like posts from the accounts I follow more than those from accounts I don't. It's disappointing that suggested posts aren't much nicer to see than ads; these are supposed to make the platorm more "immersive" and "engaging" and fail to achieve that. 376 377 In an attempt to quantify the "experience" of browsing Instagram, I looked at the cumulative sentiment scores across each of the four days. There's no doubt that the actual dynamics of my affect, to the extent that it can even be quantified, is more complicated than +2 + -2 = 0. However, this is a good first approximation of what it feels like to scroll through a feed. 378 379 ```{r cumulative_sentiment} 380 ig_sentiment <- ig_dat %>% 381 group_by(date) %>% 382 mutate(seq = row_number(date), 383 cum_sent = cumsum(sentiment)) 384 385 ig_sentiment %>% 386 ggplot(aes(seq, cum_sent)) + 387 geom_hline(yintercept = 0, linetype = "dashed") + 388 geom_step(aes(color = date), size = 1) + 389 geom_text(aes(label = cum_sent), data = filter(ig_sentiment, seq == 50), 390 hjust = 0, nudge_x = 0.5, size = 5) + 391 scale_color_brewer(palette = "Set2") + 392 theme(panel.background = element_blank(), 393 panel.grid = element_blank(), 394 plot.title.position = "plot", 395 plot.caption.position = "plot", 396 legend.title = element_text(size = 12), 397 legend.text = element_text(size = 12), 398 legend.position = "none", 399 axis.line.y = element_blank(), 400 axis.ticks.y = element_blank(), 401 axis.title = element_blank(), 402 #axis.text.x = element_blank(), 403 axis.text.y = element_blank()) + 404 labs(title = "Cumulative sentiment while browsing Instagram", 405 caption = caption_text) 406 ``` 407 408 Each of the four days has a negative cumulative sentiment score, which indicates that I see more posts that I dislike than posts that I like. There's also a suggestion of a pattern, in which my sentiment stays relatively flat and positive over the first 20–30 posts, and then drops. 409 410 I wonder if this is the result of an intentional design decision by Instagram. If they have an internal model of what posts I might like, they could certainly time them in such a way to encourage longer stretches of engagement, and they have the data to figure out what the optimal timing would look like. On the other hand, this is a purely subjective score that I didn't attempt to carefully calibrate, so it's worth considering that I might just get tired of my feed after a couple dozen posts. 411 412 ## Conclusions 413 414 I don't know if it's worth an attempt to use my experience to formulate suggestions to Instagram (or their would-be competitors). I'm approaching middle age, and I don't spend much money on the internet; Instagram can get stronger engagement and much better ad conversion rates from people who aren't like me. Perhaps I'm an unprofitable user and this is their attempt to nudge me off the platform? 415 416 However, this has been a useful exercise for me, because it suggests a few things I could change right now to improve my experience: 417 418 * Stop following meme accounts and organizations (these posts provide a neutral-to-good experience, but they potentially crowd out posts from friends and artists that I would enjoy more) 419 * Stop scrolling my feed after the first 20 or so posts (cumulative sentiment appears to begin dropping after this point) 420 421 Most importantly, it calls into question whether I should even continue using the platform at all. The maximum cumulative sentiment that I experienced was only six (which corresponds to seeing just three things that I really like), and that was only achieved on two of the four days that I measured this. As much as I enjoy seeing photos from my friends (and the data show that I really do enjoy this), it's hard to conclude that the experience of using Instagram is joyful.