Social Position (Still) Matters: A Digital Analysis of Class Differences on Instagram Communications

Abstract

In the digital age, the technological design of social media platforms has had a twofold effect on communication, diversifying the social conversation and intensifying the dynamics of social power and position. This study examines this duality through a qualitative analysis of 200 openly accessible Instagram profiles of Spanish traperas–young women whose fashion style incorporates elements of trap culture. The study aimed to examine how class position manifests in the digital communication practices of self-presentation among this sample of social media users. After identifying the communicative principles and aesthetic conventions of Instagram, the analysis explores the specific uses–appropriations–that traperas made of the visual tools and functionalities of the platform in their self-presentation, paying particular attention to class-related differences. The results indicate a digitally mediated repositioning of the elements that constitute social class, questioning claims for the dissolution of class boundaries on social media platforms.