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Adapting social media to my

own interests and projects

» Instagram can be much more than sharing photos

Patrick Vaillancourt
Contributor

Awe who follows me on
social media will notice
that, for the past month, I
have been more active than
ever before on the Facebook-
owned photo-sharing network
known as Instagram. Those
who keep tabs on me on
Instagram will have no doubt
discovered my interest in
abandoned places, German
soccer, food, and most notably,
Korean women at the beach.
Tam quite surprised that no
one has commented on my
interests, especially the latter.

Regardless of your inter-
ests, Instagram hasa little
something for everyone. Its
Twitter-like tagging abilities
allow you to find users who
might be interested in your
images and, by extension,
your account. It also facilitates
communication within the
app itself, which is great for
reaching out to people.

While many users of
Facebook and Twitter are also
on Instagram, the photo-shar-
ing app hasa starkly different
set of values reflected in its

: users. The Instagram commu-
: nityis a warm and loving one

: for the most part—it does have
: its bad apples, but generally

: speaking, you don’t see those

: annoying Twitter trolls or

: Internet tough guys generally

: associated with Facebook. In

: addition, whereas the number
: of Facebook friends or Twitter

: followers one had used to be

: amark of one’s popularity or

: influence, Instagram stats

: tend to reflect one’s ability

: to use the app effectively.

Tadmit I'd like to get more

of a following on Instagram

: because this network was

: previously neglected in my

: portfolio of digital socializing.
: People who use Instagram

: want to let others in on the :
: personal, largely private side of :
: their lives—which is why you

: tend toseeso much interestin }
: the Instagram accounts of pub- }
: lic figures and celebrities. The
: natural start for me was to post }
: a few photos and “like” a ton of
: others, and followers started

: coming to see what I had

: posted. Iam now proudly over
: 100 followers-strong, and look- :
: ing for more. But the real bene- :
: fit of my Instagram-use wasn’t
: in seeing photos, but reaching

: out to people I ordinarily

: wouldn't have had the luxury
: of reaching out to—whether

: it be due to distance, social

: status, or a language barrier.

: fitness buffs—motivation.

: itates the creation of groups
: and other things to allow for
: someone like me to practice
: a foreign language, but these

into a group or asa friend.
: Instagram profiles (the public

In the next few months

: IT will be making a trip to

: South Korea. Having lived

: and worked there before was
: quite an experience, but it

: didn’t feel complete given my
: inability to speak the Korean
: language fluently. Instagram
: has allowed me not only to

: reach out to those Koreans

: on the beach, but for me to

: practice my Korean writing

: proficiency. I have adapted

: the social network to my own
: needs: that of learning and

: practicing a foreign language,
: and using the same time-

tested tactics that work for

Granted, some will say that
I could have done the same

> onanetwork like Facebook.

It is true that Facebook facil-

options typically only become :
available after one is accepted

Have an idea for a story? Let us know!
Contact: Sophie Isbister, Life & Style Editor
Mlifeandstyle@theotherpress.ca

www. theotherpress.ca

: ones, that is) can be seen by

: everyone, allowing for this

: interaction to take place.

: Facebook operates on a model

of interaction with those with

whom you are already familiar.

My goal was to reach out to

: strangers who would be happy
: to interact with me in their
: own language, challenging
: me to do the same. Some of
: these interactions have already :
: media presence, it could be
: somuch more fulfilling.

led to the beginnings of new

: friendships and interactions
: through other mediums.

 

If learning a new lan-

: guage isn’t your thing, maybe

: exchanging recipes would be

: more interesting, or beauty

: tips—Instagram’s features

: make the app highly adaptable
: to whatever it is you are trying
: to enhance in your own life.

: Some will use it as a means to

: store and share photos, but if

: you think about what you'd

like to do with your social

 

Let’s talk about masturbation

» The stigma surrounding girls talking about pleasuring themselves

Amanda Smith
The Peak (SFU)

G” we are not ashamed
to eat our breakfast in
the morning because we are
hungry, take our morning
wee, or go out fora run to
work out our bodies—so why
is masturbation still such
a big deal to talk about?
Considering the fact
that human sexuality is
an inherent part of almost
everyone’s lives, you would
think that it would have been
normalized and accepted as
just a bodily function by now.
But this is not yet the case.
For some reason, it

: seems like we are far more
: comfortable talking about
: asteamy hook-up thana

: little self-loving, and that

: doesn’t make sense to me.

: attitude is especially common
: among women, compared

: with men. I believe this is

: because women are still

: uncomfortable talking about

: female sexuality out of the

: context of being with another

: individual. This attitude

: isjust archaic, rootedina

: patriarchal society in which

: women are used as sex objects,
: not active participants in

: their own sexuality.

From my experience, this

Masturbation has been

: which cannot be true. We

: donot look at other animal
: species and make these

: accusations, so why do we

: put them on ourselves?

It is not like we as humans

: are special: masturbation

: is seen all over the animal

: kingdom. From dogs spending
: quality time with blankets,

: to dolphins, parrots, horses,

: and turtles, itis a widely

: observed behaviour.

This may sound like a con-

: tradiction, but the act of seek-

: ing satisfaction doesn’t have to
: be regarded asa purely sexual

: activity. We learn how to please
: ourselves simply because it :
: : feels good. Arousal doesn’t have :
: cast out as an activity reserved :
: for the perverse individual,

to be based off of porn, fantasy,

: or being with another indi-

needs to stop

: vidual. We know this because

: even as infants we are capable

: of masturbating without any of
: these thoughts in our heads!

I come from a really

: open family, so the shame and
: embarrassment associated

: with the mere thought of

: masturbation were not issues
: for me. But I know that my

: situation is not typical; I can

: recall several female friends

: who simply burst with joy at

: the chance to talk about their
: own experiences with mastur-
: bation when | brought it up.

This is because most of

them had never spoken about it
: before, and had always felt like

they were alone. Now, but espe-

: ever have to feel that way.

I know not every guy out

: there is ready to go out and

: talk about pleasing himself,

: but I think that society is far

: more comfortable with the

: idea of men masturbating than
: women. That needs to change.

Females out there should

: not feel like they will be

: judged for what they do with

: themselves to feel good. It

: is not only healthy to mas-

: turbate, it will also make

: any sexual encounter in the

: future a lot more comfortable.
: Masturbation is about learning
: to please yourself first, and

: that action should be neither

: : judged nor questioned.

: cially in high school, that isola- :

: tion can be scary; no girl should :