Introduction
While I was studying abroad in Barcelona, my views and use of social media actually altered a lot compared to my time in the United States. As per usual, I would use social media every day in Barcelona. It was usually the first thing I did when I woke up in the morning. While I was studying in Barcelona, I found that I would use social media a lot less and only for one of four things, looking at what my friends are posting, posting my own content, schoolwork, and the news. I found myself paying less attention to social media and instead dedicating most of my time to exploring such a beautiful place in the limited amount of time I was there. Being in Barcelona, I was actually able to be present, realizing how much social media consumes me while I’m home and how sometimes it is for the best to just take a break from technology and pay attention to what is happening in front of you.
Postings
A lot of my time using social media in Barcelona was me sharing pictures of the amazing places I was able to visit. Social media was the easiest way for friends and family to be able to keep up with what I was doing and all of the places I was able to travel to. It is beyond obvious that Barcelona is one of the most beautiful cities in the world, so you can only image how many photos I took with my friends. I posted most of my content to Instagram and Snapchat, whether being a scenic photo or a photo of me and my friends enjoying ourselves. I always wanted to ensure that I kept my followers up to date!
Most Used Platform
The social media platform that I used the most during my time in Barcelona was definitely Instagram. This platform for me is where I have a bigger outlet when it comes to followers, so I was able to have more people see my content while viewing what my other friends and family are up to all over the world. I would post a lot of my pictures with myself or with friends to Instagram, along with posting Instagram stories of more scenic photos. I loved posting Instagram stories because even though they were only posted for 24 hours, I would pin them to my profile highlights. This keeps the story there for people to view after the 24 hours are up. I even categorized each highlight based off of the places I was in, so if followers wanted to look back on my stories, they where I was while the photo was taken.
Most Popular Post
My most popular posts were my Instagram ones that I took while I was in different cities. I tried to capture a picture at each location I traveled to, including Paris, Florence, Switzerland, London, and a few other places. I think these posts were the most popular because my followers loved seeing me in all the places where I was traveling. Before going to Barcelona, I expressed to so many people about how excited and grateful I was to have the opportunity to travel to all of these places while being in Europe, so I think it was cool for them to actually see me there.
The Expansions of My Digital Identity
I think that the two months I was in Barcelona definitely helped in constructing my digital identity. I made a lot of friends while I was abroad and was able to connect with them on multiple platforms. Coming back home, I am still able to keep in touch with all of the people I met due to social media. Additionally, I posted a countless number of images and videos to my social media platforms. These all have continued to construct my digital identity by adding to my digital footprint and appearance and making my presence online even bigger.
My Abroad Social Media Narrative
I think the posts on all of my social media platforms definitely follow some sort of narrative. As a talked about earlier, I posted a lot of Instagram posts and Instagram stories everywhere I went. With every place I was able to explore, I would post the photo and then put the location of where the photo was taken at the top. I also pinned all of my different Instagram stories to the highlights on my profile, making a different highlight for each new place I went to. Along with Instagram, I would post to a lot to my Snapchat and use the different geotags to show all of my followers where I was in the world. From this, my social media followers were able to sequentially follow my abroad experiences and get a glimpse of the incredible time I was having.
Brooke's Blog 