For the average member of Generation Z or Zoomer, the majority of us have adapted to life as netizens. We’re one of the first generations to experience a different plane of reality that allows us to be hyper-connected and hyper-informed. We live in an age of information, and as technological advancements continue to take place center screen, I’ve often wondered and questioned about the politics of engaging with social media.
At its core, social media is a way to socialize and share with others on the internet. This is often in the form of photo sharing, blogging or instant messaging. One of the many common uses of social media with Zoomers is Instagram.
It is often a given that someone has an Instagram account in the same sense as one would have a cell phone number. When someone doesn’t have an Instagram account, there seems to be an air of confusion about why, alluding to an age where social media is just as socially significant as a cell phone number.
I’ve been on Instagram since I was 12 years old. I got it without my parents knowing in middle school because everyone else was on it. I used it as a means to connect with classmates and friends, and also to connect with fandom communities for television shows, bands, and musicians I enjoyed.
When I first joined Instagram, I hadn’t given any thought to the mechanics of how the app works. Things like the algorithm or surveillance or privacy–my parents would echo the tales of internet safety, but they wouldn’t be anything I’d really practice or give attention to and these applications had little to any practices or warning about the effects of their apps.
As a preteen and teenage girl online, I’d find myself entranced with selfies of gorgeous women twice my age on my feed. From supermodels to Kardashians to movie stars––everytime I’d open the app, it was only ever shiny, pretty pictures of people, or all of the high and happy moments of their lives.
In high school, I began to grow obsessed with my self-image, the way a teenage girl often does. I obsessed over my hair, weight, and the way my face came out in pictures. I grew obsessed with the number of likes on a picture or who would give it attention, and if they’d think I was pretty. I did this because at the time, that was how social media was marketed to me–a place where people posted solely the high and glamorous points in their lives.
It wasn’t until I’d left my hometown for the first time in high school to travel and live abroad for a year that I retrospectively considered my presence online. I remember being about sixteen and wondering why I was following someone like Kylie Jenner in the first place, why I knew so much about her life–this goes for a long list of random celebrities I had no interest in but followed because of Instagram’s recommendation feature and pop culture.
I felt troubled and annoyed by how an app could have such control over how I felt about myself. I decided to take a few months off from all social media and live life “off the grid.” This was the first time I’d ever intentionally done that, and still to this day, the longest time I spent off of the internet. I had no idea what was going on in the world of pop culture and amongst people who were not my closest friends or relatives.. It was surreal at times to be so out of the loop, but being outside of America and exploring a different place and world at the time helped me feel less disconnected.
When I returned to the internet, I purged my Instagram and unfollowed all the accounts I had no genuine interest in. I discovered that I was following a bucketload of people and businesses I had no care for. These were things that were taking up space on my digital landscape, and I had been unconsciously filling my digital plane with their lives and ideas that I didn’t even care about.
After that, I decided I was going to use Instagram more intentionally. This was in 2018, and I was 16 years old. I decided I’d post what I want—whether it be a selfie, an album, a movie, a friend, a fork, a spoon–I wanted my Instagram to be the portrait of who I was and a place I felt like I could at least enjoy my time on when I chose to engage.
These are some rules of engagement I came up with at 16 that I still follow today as I navigate my way through real life and the metaverse.
Rules of Engagement:
- Disable Notifications
I have notifications off for all of my social media apps and many others because I don’t believe a phone should nag you out of the real world and demand your attention. There was a time where the sound of a notification would instantly prompt me to check my phone and then I’d find myself sucked into the blue light for longer than just a mere check. I believe you should engage with the digital world on your own terms.
- Disable all likes on my Instagram
I haven’t been able to see the likes on any posts on Instagram in years– not how many are on my posts or others. There was a time in high school where the number on the screen meant something to me but realistically, it really holds no real weight. If I ‘like something’ is it really of my interest to know how many others like it to? And when I post something to my own account, I don’t really care to know how many people have liked it– I want to share it.
- Screen time limit
Instagram is the app I have the most difficulty with when it comes to getting lost in time online, so I’ve set time restrictions, and it’s helped with being more mindful of my time online.
- Curated feed
I know I’m not at a place to forsake Instagram so I make sure that if I’m going to be on the app, at least I’ll be enjoying what I’m seeing. When I start not to enjoy something ,I leave. I think there’s power in the unfollow/mute button. If I don’t like it, I’ll go. It’s my Instagram, and I want my digital plane to be somewhere that doesn’t leave me feeling emotions I’d be much rather off without.
- Question everything
I’ve always been a big “why’s that?” person, and I am especially so on Instagram. I follow a lot of news outlets, which can get a bit dreary, but I always make sure to ask myself the why question when I come across information online. It’s easy to fall prey to convenience culture, but it’s important to me to feel like the opinions and conclusions I come to are my own and not something being carefully crafted and fed to me.
- Have FUN
Instagram for young girls, especially, can be a plane of anxiety. So many young girls have gained self-esteem issues from the use of apps like Instagram. I like to use mine and encourage others to use it in a way that is beneficial to them. I like my Instagram because of the community aspect of it. I like documenting my life and being able to reflect back. I like just being able to authentically be and not have to curate myself and wonder what time works to be active and do this or that or post this thing.
To keep it short and sweet, Instagram is a massive world of its own, and it’s a plane that fascinates me. I love to share things online: books, movies, shows, music, art, ideas… I like connecting but the app itself must be used with intention. I believe as a netizen that one should create more than they consume and it is easy to fall victim to mindless consumption. I haven’t figured it all out yet, but in the meantime, I engage with these rules in mind.