@article{article_1861437, title={Instagram And Perception Of Reality: How Visual Culture Blurs Boundaries Between Authenticity And Representation}, journal={Yeni Medya}, pages={20–38}, year={2026}, DOI={10.55609/yenimedya.1861437}, url={https://izlik.org/JA77NG26PY}, author={Devrim Eserol, Nehir}, keywords={Instagram, Gerçeklik algısı, Dijital kimlik, Medya okuryazarlığı, Toplumsal cinsiyet farklılıkları, Algılanan gerçeklik, Dijital benlik sunumu}, abstract={The research investigates how Instagram allows students to acquire practical knowledge by experiencing edited content and visual effects and algorithmic presentation in their actual encounters. The research uses Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis to study 20 heavy Instagram users (18–24 years old) who show how they understand Instagram as a filtered platform yet accept its perfect images as their life assessment standards. The research shows Instagram functions as a dual reality platform which shows curated content about beauty and success and lifestyle to establish new standards for user self-evaluation and life expectations. The research demonstrates Instagram modifies user reality through three distinct methods which include content editing and filter application and social comparison assessment. The research shows women experience more appearance-based stress than men who hold incorrect beliefs about female appearance and social expectations and status definitions. The combination of virtual and real elements creates emotional effects which include anxiety, self-doubt, identity breakdown, and decreased life satisfaction. The research adds new knowledge about digital selfhood and hyperreality and mediatized identity while demonstrating the requirement for media literacy education that teaches students to handle emotional and relational and aesthetic aspects of digital existence.}, number={20}