When Instagram first became popular at my Jr. High and I reluctantly made an account, it was a very different experience than what Instagram has become now. I followed only my close friends and the pictures in my feed varied from awkward pictures with lockers in the back, to images of snowies or whatever snack my friends or I indulged in that week that for some reason, we thought we could take a “artsy” picture of. There was no “filter-ing,” definitely no intense editing, and no real thought process to what my friends posted or what I posted.
Now, I look at Instagram completely differently. I follow people from every category: Celebrities, friends, role models, you name it. I follow at least one person from each category. Why? Because it is a way of sharing. Sharing information, sharing passions and sharing the quintessential tips and tricks that help make life just a little easier.
In addition to following more people and accounts of higher quality, I also take my Instagram much more seriously than I used to and because of it, I tend to get a lot of criticism. I hear that it makes me shallow or that I am “wasting time” putting so much energy into an account just to gain more likes or followers. While some of that may have some validity, I think it depends on your motives and why you care so much. For some people, maybe they are a blogger and through their blog they are trying to send a message. Or maybe they are trying to start up a career in the media field, so their Instagram is a representation of them self and a way to market to a company.
For me, Instagram is my creative outlet. My entire life, my main focus has always been athletics and I have never really been creative. I suck at both art and music and I am so artistically in-ept that when I go to plays I find myself wondering when half time is— not intermission. It had always been a spot of insecurity for me, that is, until I became super into my instagram account. I loved trying to find, take and post pictures that I thought would appeal to my audience. I loved thinking and writing captions that my audience connected with. And how do you know if your audience is ‘liking what your putting down’ on Instagram? That’s right, the number of likes and followers.
I think this concept is hard for some people to understand. I, for a long time, felt the same way as a lot of people- that bloggers and people obsessed with social media were just looking to talk more about themselves and were undeniably shallow. Through my own transformation and interest in Instagram though, I’ve learned that that is not the case! Regardless of even how many followers and likes you have (I am by no means “Instafamous,” I consider myself lucky when I get even 200 likes on a photo), we have one goal in mind: To connect and please the audience that we are creatively marketing and writing to. So no, being obsessed with instagram does not make you shallow. It makes you expressive, creative, and willing to share your life in the hope of benefitting others.