Replacement

We’re obsessed with INSTAGRAM! Among us, I manage 4 accounts, Sara oversees 5, and Hope curates 3. As for Yumiko, she’s in a league of her own with 8 accounts.

What sets each account apart? It’s hard to say. By creating new profiles, I have the freedom to construct different identities for someone named “Yifan”—whether or not you know them in real life. I can present Yifan as an ambitious photographer with an eye for the arts, a quiet student blending seamlessly into campus life, or a social media enthusiast documenting every moment with 10 stories a day. It’s not about who Yifan truly is, or what they are capable of—it’s about the Yifan I choose to present.

This photography project was born from a curiosity to reflect on how social media has altered our sense of identity and how we perceive others. Cyber identity has transcended screens; it now replaces the impressions we once held of each other in memory. The image of You has become fragmented, dismantled, and reassembled, replaced by carefully curated personas. Through this project, I aim to explore how the digital world reshapes our authentic identities and, more fundamentally, challenges the question: Who are we?