Who else has had an Instagram account since about the age of 12?
Even before 12-years-old?
I think it’s time we talk about what that coming-of-age download meant for us.
Instagram, a social media app I am sure we are all very familiar with, has been around since 2010. So, if you are 20, this platform has existed for over half of your life.
The use of this app is to post pictures from your life to connect with others.
From my understanding, Instagram has been trendier, more aesthetically pleasing, and youth-dominated. Instagram is the juniors section of a clothing store, whereas Facebook is the women’s section.
But amongst all of this stylish and fast-paced media that we have at our fingertips, have we ever stopped to think about what this is doing to us?
Or the scarier question, what has Instagram been training our brains to do since the age of 12?
It wasn’t until I came to college that I found out people really do live in a world without Instagram. The idea that not only were you not active, but you did not have an account at all really led me to mesmerize my fellow peers who did not succumb to Intsa.
Maybe it had to do with demographics, culture, or how one was raised, after all, this is what college is for, learning more than what you knew, but I could not stop thinking about how their life is so different from mine. And in that wondering moment, when I questioned the “differences,” I knew this app would never and could never be good for me.
It was as simple as wondering: “Whatever would someone who was not active on Instagram have to say about this?” I feel silly now looking back because, I guess, I thought social media was the world. But I have an inclining that many others think this way too. Or have once or twice had the thought process of, “You wouldn’t get it, you’re not on Instagram.” Like it is some type of elite group when just about over one billion people use the app.
That those who take the time to not be active on the app are the odd ones out.
In noticing my own thought processes, I found I have habits with the app. I would get lost in a rabbit hole of scrolling, liking, and looking at mindless things when I went to check some updates about a friend. Tasks that would take under a minute on the app turned into half an hour of looking at things that I would not remember the next day. I also realized that in an awkward situation, where everyone just looks at their phones, my go-to would be Instagram. I would just scroll to pass the time instead of taking an allotted minute that the day has given me to just be. This scared me.
Not to mention the negative effects it can have. When flooded with pictures of different lives, bodies, opportunities, relationships, and more, all you are left to do is compare. You are stuck comparing until you forget about the first comparison and move on to the next post in the feed. In my opinion, you can be the most confident person in the world, but when you see as much as you would on Instagram, your mind would wander to comparison too.
Or the pressure to post something when honestly, you have nothing “post-worthy” or as seemingly exciting as others to put to your profile. I write “post-worthy” in quotations because who came up with what is worthy to attach to your online profile or not?
The casual posting, which I feel started in 2020, helped mend these negative trends of Instagram, but I think we would all be lying if we said that we did not give in to that trend of the app as a cover-up for its negativity. Because “casual posting” is also a defining quality of what is post-worthy and of course, a cover-up of the same platform that Instagram has always been.
All of these realizations do not blame others for having the app or contributing to the world that it creates. If anything, Instagram is simply another explanation of humans being humans and enjoying the technology that we have discovered. We want to share and be liked and have friends. But I think that humans, at least sometimes, also need to realize when to remove themselves from constantly seeking the need to share, be liked and have friends.
And I am not the only person my age who knows and can agree about the implications of Instagram.
It leads me to wonder, is it an underlying theme that we know Instagram is bad for us?
After wondering for too long, I deleted it.
To see if I would explode or not, naturally.
I redownload from time to time to check something or post something, but the app does not stay on my home screen for long.
I am in no way saying that Instagram is completely and strictly avoidable either. It is hard living in the age of social media because of the connectivity of platforms. Even in modern jobs, you have to have Instagram. But just because I have it, it does not rule my emotions, feelings, habits, day, or what I think of myself. This power over what I choose to spend my time and energy doing makes Instagram a lot more manageable, and honestly ridiculous.
Once you delete it and realize everything the app implies, you will not look at your feed or how it affected your life the same way.