Religious Studies of the Media

Religious Studies of the Media

Study on the Influential Factors of Instagram on the Audience Based on the Cultivation Theory

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
maryam madanifard 1
ali asghar fahimifar 2
1 Master's student in Art Research, Department of Art History and Research, Faculty of Art and Architecture, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
2 Associate Professor of Art History and Research Department, Faculty of Art and Architecture, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
10.22034/jmrs.2024.210085
Abstract
Objective: The aim of this research is to examine and analyze the factors that attract users to Instagram, relying on the cultivation theory. This study is interdisciplinary and addresses factors such as psychological-social motivations, the existing environment, user addiction to dopamine, and the function of this hormone in the brain. 
Research Methodology: The research method is descriptive-analytical, with information collected through library research and compared with one another. 
Findings: The effective factors influencing Instagram include dopamine, the community of virtual democracy, and psychological-social factors examined within the context of the flood of information from social media, aligned with cultivation theory. 
Discussion and Conclusion: Based on the conducted research, Instagram users, by eliminating certain features and constructing a new identity to gain approval from others, avoiding judgment, and distancing themselves from social isolation, as well as the effects of dopamine disorders released in the brain, face a large volume of information without control over its dissemination. This leads individuals to self-censorship and gradually perceive their original identity based on their virtual identity, believing everything they observe in this space.
Keywords
Instagram
persuasion
social media
cultivation theory
dopamine
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Religious Studies of the Media
Volume 6, Issue 24
Winter 2024
Pages 79-108