Social media has evolved, and we are evolving with it.
Instagram was founded in 2010 by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, and started off as a photo sharing platform, where users could communicate through images that displayed their daily lives. Its simplicity lied in the ability to share images, follow other users, and like and comment.
Within the first 3 months of its launch, Instagram accumulated 1 million users, a much faster rise than its competitors, Facebook and Twitter. Instagram was influential in the rise of iPhone photography in the 2010s, offering its users fun vintage filters and settings at the swipe of a finger. However, the platform is not so simple today.
Facebook bought Instagram in 2012, and in the next year, and the app went from being exclusively for photo-sharing, to video-sharing too, and then introduced private messaging. In 2016, Instagram Live was launched, so that users can stream videos of their lives in real time. Now, with the addition of Instagram Reels, in competition with TikTok, Instagram is a whole other platform compared to how it started.
The early days of Instagram were about being creative with photographs, making a digital gallery of a person’s experiences and ideas. Sharing was a form of casual self-expression. Co-founder Systrom defended early obsessions with the platform in 2010, saying: “We’re visual beings and we love being stimulated visually.” He argued that images are universal, and a way to communicate with people without needing the same language. It seems that today, however, Instagram is less about creative exploration or communication, and more about consumption and false perceptions.
In today’s Instagram, the user is the product, and identity is informed by media, rather than pre-established. Now it is a platform that values popularity most of all, and creativity is a rare bonus. When comparing today’s Instagram with what the platform used to be, it is clear that the app did not dictate their lives. Today, Instagram is a mainstream communication platform with 2 billion monthly users and an advertising playground which is central to our modern world; when was the last time you went on Instagram?
Perhaps when our generation feels nostalgic toward 2016, what we are missing is the disconnect from technology, and a lack of dependence on false pretences and media-generated identities.
Instagram used to have a ‘home feed’ that showed followers’ photos in a strict chronological order. The platform had a minimal design, with no advertisements or sponsors; just images. When they switched to an algorithmic design, everything changed. Algorithms are manipulated by what users show their interest in, and create an opportunity for companies, news platforms and influencers to show their content; they are addictive and deceptive.
Today, users get bombarded with information daily on social media, and for some people, this is their primary source of news. 15-second video clips of war, breaking news, violence and crime are followed by celebrity interviews, edits from your favourite TV show, and funny cat memes. There is not enough time for our brain to process the information before our finger scrolls to the next. The fact that we can witness urgent issues around the world from our phone screens and then scroll away creates a desensitisation and separation, making them seem less attached to our reality. While Instagram does create a space to raise awareness about these issues, there is still a difficult margin between sharing them and risking them losing importance just because they are lost in an endless algorithm.
With the rise of Instagram came the rise of micro-trends and consumerism. Cow print. Chokers. The comeback of Y2K clothing. Iced matcha. Blind boxes. Social media algorithms speed up exposure to these trends and multiply it; one day, something is popular, and the next, it has faded into obscurity. Do you remember when everyone used to wear skinny jeans? Now, unless they are buried in the back of a closet or in a charity shop, you probably don’t see them very often. Without mentioning the extensive ecological consequences of fast fashion and micro-trends, what is also disturbing to me is the loss of identity and individuality caused by the media. Our generation was brought up on the internet; we are constantly fed images and information from around the world, shown to us instantaneously on our phones. This has led me to think— how much of our consciousness is generated by the media that we consume, and how much of it is based off of our real experiences and ideas?
The evolution of Instagram coincides with the evolution of societal norms. What do we favour more today: interaction with others, or aesthetics? And how do we lessen the burden of the sheer amount of information getting thrown at us on a daily basis? There is so much content out there that it can be difficult to know where to look. It is crucial, therefore, to step back from the chaotic realms of social media once in a while and observe the simplicity of the world without it. And when we go back online, remember that Instagram is what we make it.