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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
Because Instagram is such a visually oriented social media platform, it is vital to
understand the influence that it may have on its users' perceptions of their own creative
abilities and potential. In part because of its scale, many artists now consider that their
presence on the platform is mandatory; yet, the network has also offered art enthusiasts an
unparalleled opportunity to get closer to these artists and their work. The purpose of this
dissertation is to investigate the impact of art-related accounts on Instagram on artists and
other followers who are not professional artists, especially in terms of their creativity. During
the research, semi-structured interviews with artists who use Instagram were conducted, as
well as focus groups with individuals who follow art-related accounts on the social media
platform. The findings revealed that both artists and the followers agree that consuming artrelated
content on Instagram has significant potential to aid in the creative and inspirational
process. While the artists and non-artist followers’ motivations differ in a few ways, which
are primarily related to artists' views of the platform as a tool for promoting and improving
their work, and followers' views of the platform as a source of entertainment or distraction,
they also share some motivations for following art-related content. The results also
concluded that there were possible negative consequences on creativity, such as comparison
and anxiety, that eventually discouraged artists, even while many were able to get creative
inspiration on Instagram.