Visual Identity in the Digital Age: A Qualitative Study of Generation Z on Instagram
Abstract
This study explores how Generation Z constructs and performs visual identity on Instagram through a qualitative methodology grounded in visual ethnography using digital diaries. As digital natives, Gen Z's everyday life is saturated with visual communication, were platforms like Instagram function not only as tools for connection but as dynamic arenas for identity negotiation. The research investigates how Instagram's algorithmic logic, aesthetic conventions, and social feedback mechanisms shape visual self-presentation and interpersonal dynamics in both personal and professional contexts. Drawing from Identity Theory, Performativity, Visual Culture, and Semiotics, the study unpacks how cultural signifiers, symbolic imagery, emotional cues, and platform strategies coalesce to create a hybrid digital selfhood. Thematic analysis of 100 participant-generated Instagram posts reveals key patterns: the strategic use of narrative identity through visual storytelling, the blending of local cultural aesthetics with global digital trends, and the emotional ambiguity often encoded in symbolic visuals. Participants actively engage with platform features hashtags, filters, algorithms to optimize visibility while negotiating tensions between authenticity and aesthetic expectations. Findings highlight Instagram's dual role as both a space of creative freedom and one constrained by algorithmic visibility politics. Gen Z users respond with hybridized forms of expression that reflect both resistance and adaptation to platform norms. The study offers new insights into how visual identity is not merely a personal construct but a collaborative, performative process deeply embedded within socio-technical systems. It calls for a critical re-examination of how platforms mediate cultural participation, emotional expression, and digital well-being. By focusing on non-Western perspectives and symbolic strategies, the study contributes to decolonizing digital identity discourse.
Keywords: Visual Identity, Generation Z, Instagram, Digital Ethnography, Cultural Hybridity
