What Instagram Reveals About Inequality in New York City

Inequality reveals itself in many different forms. You can look at income distribution, compare crime rates, or even study the density of trees in a given neighborhood to see proof. Now, two researchers from the Graduate Center at the City University of New York are studying inequality through the lens of social media, putting to good use the tens of millions of photos uploaded daily to Instagram.

From one of the researchers who brought us Selfiecity—an analysis of selfies across multiple cities—“Inequaligram” uses 7.5 million publicly shared and geotagged photos taken in Manhattan to determine an area’s “social-media inequality.” This is determined by several factors, including how much attention some neighborhoods get on platforms like Instagram and Facebook—and how little attention others do. The photos are divided into two groups: those taken by locals and those likely shared by tourists.