Instagram Trends that Need to Die
By: Catherine Amoriello
Social media is a big way to fill spare time for people in today’s society. Waiting for class to start? Pull out your phone and check your social media profiles. Have a lot of homework to do but just can’t bring yourself to do it? Social media is an excellent way to continue procrastinating on your school work! But in all seriousness, social media has become a staple to our everyday lives. Although I do not have a Facebook or a Twitter, I do have an Instagram and spend a great deal of my spare time on it. I enjoy perusing through the site’s millions of pictures, but often times my browsing experience is ruined when I stumble upon accounts that are polluted with an obscene amount of selfies, hashtags or Man Crush Monday/Woman Crush Wednesday pictures. So, I have decided to express my frustration with Instagram clichés by creating my own personal list of Instagram trends that need to die.
- The Excessive Selfie
We all know that one guy or girl who averages at least one selfie a week. If nothing has significantly changed about your looks, why is it necessary for you to post a picture of yourself every week? Clearly we know what you look like, a weekly reminder is completely unnecessary. Now I am not slamming selfies altogether. There is nothing wrong with posting a selfie every once in a while, but nobody wants to see your face hogging their IG feed every week.
- The Fit Couple
Mushy gushy love posts are bad enough, but when they’re coupled with fitness fanatics, they seem to be even worse. If working out with your significant other motivates you and pushes you to be a better person, that’s great, keep it up! But please, for the love of God, do not post pictures of you showing off your muscles in the gym mirror together or engaging in PDA over by the dumbbells. It’s bad enough that the other people using the gym have to watch your mid-workout make out sessions, your followers on IG shouldn’t have to either.
- Overusing Hashtags
Nothing makes me click that unfollow button faster than an IG user who includes at least 20 hashtags with every picture. One to three hashtags are acceptable, but anything over that pushes my limits. What’s the point of having a load of hashtags on your picture? Are you just trying to gain more followers? Are you trying to write a small novel in hashtags at the end of your already super long caption? I have yet to figure out the answer, but I’ll include a few of my favorite, pointless hashtags here. #yes #model #followmeback #lookinggood #newyearnewme #girlswholift #fitnessjunkie
- #WCW and #MCM
The Woman Crush Wednesday and Man Crush Monday movements didn’t bother me initially, but the never ending sappy posts they have led to has severely disrupted my IG browsing. Posting pictures of/with your significant other is ok, but using #MCM and #WCW as an excuse to write a paragraph long caption that proclaims your undying love for each other every single week is NOT ok. We get it, you’re dating and really like each other. But nobody is interested in reading phrases like “I can’t wait to spend the rest of our lives together” or “You’re my whole world baby, forever and ever.” Barf.
This could possibly be the IG trend I hate the most. I will never understand the purpose of posting an absurd amount of pictures of everyday items, like books or fruit. I could maybe understand it if it was taken with a camera that produced really detailed pictures or a cool filter was slapped on it. But why would I care to look at a basic picture of your coffee mug when I can easily look at my own? You’re picture of your bottled iced tea does not excite me! I see iced tea all the time in gas stations and in my own fridge! The next time you go to post a picture of your piece of toast that you’re eating for breakfast on IG, please just really think it through and ask yourself if that piece of toast is important enough to share with your 300 followers. Like, is it really that important?