For approximately four years now, big food brands have enjoyed an almost ubiquitous presence on social media. This is not the run-of-the-mill postings of seasonal promotions and retweets of pictures of syrupy pancakes; rather, food and food chain brands have begun to base their online presence on relatable content and pop culture riffs, using direct interaction with social media users to spread dank memes and savage clapbacks. 

Discussions on the link between social media use and mental health are nothing new, but researchers at the University of Pennsylvania for the first time conducted a study based on experimental data that connects the causal relationship between social media use and mental well-being. What they found was that simply limiting social media use could be beneficial when it comes to better mental health, specifically when it comes to depression and loneliness. 

But in some respects, this may be among the least of the political impacts of social media. Above and beyond Trump’s tweets and his circumvention of traditional media, there is a much more profound but much subtler effect that plays upon certain psychological and social proclivities in America today and that is changing politics generally and has already changed our political leadership. And while this is by no means Trump-specific, it has a very strong affinity for the right wing. 

One of the possibilities that await Instagram users who are driven either by curiosity or boredom with their current feed is to take a chance on the “explore” feature.  Within seconds, a user who observed a fellow foodie’s dinner in Los Angeles can now be transported to such far-flung locales as Malaysia or Sao Paolo.  Spain-based artists Jorge Martinez Phil Gonzalez have now taken that feature one step further with the creation of the world’s first Instagram Gallery in Miami.