Social media is progressively becoming more important and influential. It provides us with information, entertainment, allows us to keep in touch with friends, and can even bring about new business opportunities. As an ever trendier visual platform, Instagram has become an important marketing tool. Fashion bloggers especially are increasingly making very good use of the platform. The aim of this master’s thesis is to examine how Instagram can be used to develop brand identity and achieve self-promotion in the world of fashion. I will examine the concepts of identity, self-presentation, self-branding and self-promotion. The focus will be on the use of Instagram as a means of developing brand identity and achieving self-promotion, and on the concept of self-branding. In addition, I will explore the use and importance of fashion in digital social media as well as briefly examine personal fashion blogs. The research will be carried out in two parts–I will begin with a textual analysis of famous fashion bloggers’ Instagram profiles and conclude with a semiotic analysis. Based on the results of the research, the conclusion of this master’s thesis is that Instagram is an important marketing tool which can, especially in the fashion world, be used as a means of building one’s own identity, as well as achieving self-promotion and self-branding. It is an important social media network that provides fashion bloggers with many opportunities for self-expression, professional collaboration and personal brand development, and it also allows them to communicate with their followers.
|
