Layer Zero: an approach for deepening self-reflection on Instagram shares

Abstract

Self-reflection is an essential part of personal well-being and development. One of the strategies to support reflective thinking is to revisit personal recordings. Existing and emerging social media platforms are powerful mediums for self-reflection. However, additional mechanisms may be necessary to support deepening reflective thinking through social media use. We explore the concept; Layer Zero, a tool that helps users record reflective logs when they share on Instagram through a question set, and present them later for reflection. This paper focuses on the data collection phase of Layer Zero. We conducted 2 user studies through Instagram with a total of 29 participants to understand the potential of Instagram shares for reflection and measure the effectiveness of questions on self-reflection. We found that our approach can help users engage in deeper reflective thinking about their motivations, actions and thought processes. The results indicate various design insights for future social media reflection tools.