Sensitive Content

I strive to someday escape Instagram. Yet it remains a platform for sharing my work, and for accumulating some tangible evidence that someone out there saw my work. While browsing Instagram, I came across another creative’s reel. It had a ‘Sensitive Content’ interstitial, one where I had to consent to seeing graphic material. As an observer, I assumed it was likely politically polarizing, or another atrocious image of the individuals in Gaza, Sudan, or any host of war zones in the world.

I try to witness these photos. I clicked into it. A post revealed itself with a playfully written message stating, ‘immigrants make the country great’. I don’t know what specifically about this post signaled ‘sensitive material’ to the Figma algorithms. I dealt with my own complex feelings about this post, but in reviewing my work, it’s not nuanced nor all that complex. I just need to remind myself that there are powerful technologies pushing to obscure our perception of the discourse and diversity of thought.