Highlight Reel

In the sphere of social media, a 'Highlight Reel' denotes the far-from-random high points that users choose to share with their audience. These chosen moments are what the user considers the best parts of their lives up until that point. They might be what the user has accomplished or experienced, and there's no denying that they are some of the most visually appealing and photographable aspects of a person's life. This is the sphere of aspirational content: what Instagram is dreamed to be before the stories are made real. And a 'Highlight Reel' is really no more than a term for describing the Instagram user interface for grouping and saving high points of stories to the viewer's profile as an archive that won't go away. It won't go away because this is another form of Instagram enigma. What is the use of Instagram if one cannot show off one's life? And if this is not a life that has any visual appeal, what could one possibly put on Instagram? This problem of porosity—that what one puts on Instagram is always subject to being shown off, even if what is being shown is one's making a photo of an unremarkable coffee—has led to this problem of Instagram being a socially impactive performing art.