#instasnoop

[paigemindsthegap]

by Paige Watts

[mtv]

so now there’s an app that allows you to creep on people’s instagrams without the fear of accidentally liking something

brb downloading it and stalking my ex’s new girlfriend’s second cousin’s prom date from 2009

[emersoncollegeesm]

Well if you are going to be a social media creep, you might as well do it right.

All Instagram users have done it; You see a cute girl on the street, you ask all of your friends what her name is, you pull up her Instagram and just as your learning her life story through digital imagery, you fumble your iPhone and (insert expletive here) you’ve somehow liked the #TBT photo of her from seventh grade. Your chances are gone forever because now she only knows you as that complete stranger who randomly liked a 12 year old picture of her still in braces. If only you had downloaded Instasnoop, the latest in social media stalking technology!

Instasnoop is the newest social media app that allows its users to view Instagram profiles in safety, without the fear of accidentally liking a post. As described in chapter 6 of the book, Socialnomics, people act significantly different when engaging with social media. Most people would not follow religiously follow around a celebrity and physically stalk their every move, but social media sites like Instagram and Facebook enable users to access personal information at almost a stalking-like rate. Instasnoop demonstrates how users acknowledge this creeping as taboo but still continue to look at their boyfriend’s ex’s post without thinking about privacy barriers they are breaking. These people cannot even suffer the minor embarrassment of accidentally liking a stranger’s post, who probably won’t even think twice of your engagement anyway. Social media makes people feel and act as if they are in a different world, where they are safer to do things or make statements that they wouldn’t normally do in the real world. 

So the next time you post that “secret” picture of you taking a shirtless selfie in the mirror, think about who, or what, could be watching.