PARTICIPANT 1 — ANALYTIC MEMO
Participant 1’s Instagram use clusters into short “micro-moments” (morning coffee, commuting, queues) where the emotional tone is typically flat-to-calm. The platform is framed as background filler—something that runs alongside life rather than a purposeful activity. Across the two weeks, a repeating comfort–guilt cycle emerges: Instagram soothes or distracts in late-night and “Sunday scaries” moments, but often ends with irritation or guilt about time lost.

Banking app use has a different emotional logic: it repeatedly functions as reassurance and resolution. Quick checks (rent transfers, card payments, subscriptions) close an “open loop,” producing relief and a sense of mental clearance (“one less thing in my head”). Importantly, banking isn’t only verification—P1 uses it to create constraints (caps, “cheap day” thinking, meal prep, skipping takeaway), positioning the app as a tool for self-control and boundary setting. There are explicit moments where banking is used as a grounding pivot after Instagram—described as shifting from “noise to reality”—suggesting banking serves as a self-regulation reset. Socially, Instagram becomes a shared object (Reels at lunch, Stories on nights out), whereas banking remains private and practical (splitting costs, negotiating cheaper options). Advertising is mostly tolerated as noise, rarely prompting action. Overall, Instagram sessions often land in ambivalence, while banking sessions more consistently produce a clear state-change and are framed as useful rather than draining—giving banking time a sense of legitimacy that Instagram time lacks.


PARTICIPANT 2 — ANALYTIC MEMO
Participant 2’s Instagram use is strongly structured by boredom and idle time—metro/bus rides, cafés, and bed-time scrolling. A key pattern is that boredom often persists even after extended scrolling, which supports a “time-passing” interpretation rather than a mood-changing one. There is also a repeated push–pull dynamic: enjoyment during use followed by disappointment or boredom after, especially in bed sessions, where the pull feels addictive but the outcome can be a let-down.

Instagram also shows moments of social glue: sharing Reels with friends, DM exchanges, and watching content with parents are associated with clearer positive states, suggesting co-present use changes the emotional payoff. Ads are noticeably salient in P2’s account—sometimes sparking genuine interest (events, films, clothing drops) or even motivation (workout-related prompts). Banking use, by contrast, is typically brief and transactional: sending money, paying bills, quick balance checks. When these actions confirm completion (bill paid, transfer done, allowance notification), the emotional effect is relief through closure. However, not all verification reassures—salary-check disappointment stands out as a negative banking moment where checking amplifies impatience rather than reducing it. Overall, P2’s data shows Instagram as primarily a boredom-management tool with occasional inspiration/goal priming, while banking functions as an “open loop” closer—effective when the outcome confirms control.


PARTICIPANT 3 — ANALYTIC MEMO
Participant 3’s Instagram use includes a distinctive informational channel: finance and investing content appears repeatedly (alerts, investing media, seeking information), making Instagram partly a knowledge-seeking space rather than purely entertainment. This creates an interesting “productivity” framing—some sessions are justified as learning or informational, while other long sessions are still marked unproductive, suggesting that knowledge can sometimes operate as a justification layer for extended scrolling.

Banking use is strongly oriented toward management and investment identity. Rather than just checking, P3 describes exploring investment options, monitoring savings, and doing substantial “money management,” including end-of-day organisational actions that produce calm, pride, or gratitude. Moments of disruption are emotionally sharper: subscription notifications trigger anger; a card decline triggers shame and anxiety and shifts banking into problem-solving mode. A recurring mechanism appears across entries: uncertainty prompts verification, and verification triggers an emotional shift—weekend spending anxiety drops after checking; hunger shifts into happiness once the balance makes food feel possible. Socially, Instagram supports low-friction maintenance (family contexts, texting/DMs) alongside passive scrolling. There is also explicit self-control intent (“last time scrolling… want to be more productive”), but it coexists with very long bed sessions, showing tension between intention and behaviour. Ads are noted, but interpreted through affordability or relevance (too expensive, aligned with interests) rather than simple annoyance.


PARTICIPANT 4 — ANALYTIC MEMO
Participant 4’s banking use is high-frequency and ultra-short—often 1–2 minutes—anchored in routine checking (morning at home, walking to the gym, late-night). This makes banking feel habitual and monitoring-based rather than event-driven. The emotional payoff is often small but present: “better” or “relieved” shows up after checks, especially when money is confirmed. At the same time, repeated money-stress checks appear (weekend spending worry, two-week spending worry, post-game stress) where checking doesn’t always resolve anxiety, implying that verification can sometimes sustain worry rather than close it.

Instagram use is comparatively low-intensity and repetitive—commute and post-training car Stories that read as bored/neutral. It functions as background filler with minimal emotional movement, but is frequently evaluated afterwards as “waste of time” or “scrolled too much,” even when the during-use emotion is simply “normal.” Social Instagram use is more consistently positive: DM-driven sessions—often triggered by a friend’s message or Reel—end “happy” and act as a counterweight to the financial worry pattern. Ads are occasionally noticed (sports/concert/food items) but typically not acted upon; one instance includes price-checking then discontinuation due to cost. Overall, P4’s dataset is characterised by routine monitoring in banking and low-arousal filler use on Instagram, with the strongest evaluations centred on time spent rather than meaning or content.


PARTICIPANT 5 — ANALYTIC MEMO
Participant 5’s Instagram use splits into two clear modes. One mode is stimulation: Instagram is used for an “energy boost,” lifting mood and activation. The other mode is emotional collapse: doomscrolling when depressed, where “relatable” content deepens sadness and ends with a worsened state. Instagram is also strongly socially activated—DM-heavy use, notifications from friends, finsta dynamics, and story/like validation all point to connection and social feedback as major drivers, not just passive consumption.

Coping mechanisms are especially visible: external stressors (bus strike anger, noisy study-room overstimulation) lead to Instagram use that sometimes calms or reduces overwhelm. At the same time, Instagram can trigger self-evaluation shifts—social comparison in Stories explicitly produces feeling bad, contrasting with many relaxed/happy sessions. Banking plays a different role: it functions as decision infrastructure for everyday choices (shopping, snacks, coffee, lunch money) and as self-control enforcement (avoiding food orders, skipping tickets during exam periods). P5 also shows competence-building and investment identity: stock notifications and investment-section checks produce pride and a “knew what I was doing” feeling, including moments where banking understanding connects back to learning in lectures. Uniquely, safety anxiety appears—depositing birthday cash triggers fear, followed by relief—suggesting banking is entangled with situational risk perception, not only finances. Finally, the data holds a tension between time-loss awareness (“lost track of time”) and claims of “reasonable time spent,” indicating inconsistent self-monitoring. Instagram also serves as a discovery layer: ads and content frequently lead to off-platform actions (searching events/places, helping a friend with job ads), showing the platform’s role in prompting real-world follow-ups rather than only consumption.