Paradoxical anonymity, power relations, and appearance policing on r/instagramreality

Abstract Appearances are unequally policed in gendered, racialized, and classist systems of power. Technological affordances, or the actions possible across different technological platforms, shape how these practices transpire online. Affordances can operate in gendered, racialized ways: the same platform capabilities can produce different use patterns depending on social contexts, uniquely reinforcing inequalities. I bridge a gap in sociological research by considering how technological affordances, alongside broader social contexts, shape oppositions, reproductions, or complications of dominant appearance norms. Reddit, a platform divided into standalone communities called subreddits, affords protective anonymity to historically disempowered groups, potentially facilitating resistance toward dominant norms. Paradoxically, Reddit's anonymity can foster toxicity and morally motivated harassment maintaining powerful groups' advantages. How do users on r/instagramreality, a subreddit calling out others' supposedly disingenuous, embodied social media self‐presentations, use Reddit's anonymity to challenge, complicate, or re‐entrench dominant norms of appearance? Applying qualitative content analysis to r/instagramreality posts, I find that while r/instagramreality users directly challenge and indirectly complicate constraining beauty standards, subreddit conversations also uphold norms privileging dominant groups. R/instagramreality assigns default morality to Whiteness, disproportionately criticizes women, and attributes morality through classist stereotypes. This study reveals how online anonymity, embodied self‐presentation, and surveillance coexist and operate across social contexts.