Motivation for Instagram-blogging: Self-expression or Earnings?

The study allows to see the emergence of the phenomenon of Instagram bloggers in Russia, leading blogs about their lives. The sample of qualitative research was formed from 15 popular lifestyle bloggers (with the number of subscribers more than 30,000 people and with involvement index of their audience starting from 2-3%)). The structure of this work assumes an overview of the situation in which the blogosphere exists to date, the main theoretical concepts and studies of bloggers, on which explained used methods, the sample and assumptions. The materials of semi-structured interviews allow us to consider the transition of traditional, personal, written diary into its modern online format, as well as the differences of these genres. The main purpose of the work was to identify the motives of conducting a lifestyle blog as a description of personal life on the public platform of Instagram. The results of the study answer the questions about the importance of Instagram for bloggers and meaning of blogging for them, and also find out what can be a turning point that will make the blog known among a large audience