The whole world seems to be engulfed in social media. We can find out any type of information about a person through their Facebook profile or their Instagram (and I mean everything, from their best friends to what they ate for dinner last night). The social media craze seems to be here to stay. I, too, am guilty of starting my day with a quick Facebook check, and I feel empty whenever I forget my phone at home and don’t have access to my social media accounts.
Obviously, social media has influenced all of us to form some pretty bad habits, from constantly procrastinating to mindlessly stalking our exes. On the other hand, I can’t say that I think social media is solely bad. I know that without Messenger, I would not be able to keep in touch with people who would have otherwise disappeared from my life. Plus, I can’t forget that networking on social media is also something that everyone can use to their advantage.
However, one social media platform I am staying far away from is Instagram. I know I’m a dying breed and everyone is on Instagram, from my classmates’ dogs to my parents’ friends. I definitely stick out when I tell people that I don’t have the app. I was never really big on photography. I didn’t like to take pictures, and I definitely don’t like to be in pictures, so getting a social media account that is solely used for posting and sharing photos seemed like a waste of my time. I am not an artist who needs to display my work and connect with other artists, and I definitely don’t want to promote myself in any way, so why would I even get on Instagram?
I used to joke that the reason I am not on Instagram is that I’m not photogenic (which is true), but, in all reality, I don’t want to be on Instagram because I overthink things way too much. The constant question of why did a photo get so few likes or what should I post to stay relevant is too much for me to handle. It seems like I am being a drama queen, however, feeling that I am liked by others has always been an issue for me. I am an introvert, so I don’t have a lot of close friends, I am not the chatterbox in the office and I am rarely the life of the party.
Instagram, for me, is a big high school where the popular kids get to have fun and the unpopular kids feel bad about themselves, except no one is graduating and we have to live with the reality of being unpopular for life. I don’t want to feed into the whole idea of validating oneself through likes and comments.
I hear numerous stories of people becoming Instagram famous overnight, but in reality, what are they actually famous for? I see Instagram as a tool for creative people to share their craft and to develop their business. I’m talking about the amazing make-up artists, painters, photographers and many others that actually have a place on the platform.
What I don’t understand is how posting ten selfies in a day can be relevant. This whole idea of displaying your life and pretending to have fun (even when you might not be) just to post something is ruining our generation. Experts have said that Instagram is  the worst social media platform out there for your self-esteem, yet no one seems to want to put the app away.
Why is it so popular? What is the appeal to constantly displaying your life? Unfortunately, I don’t have a better answer than the obvious one: to pretend we have a life that we so desperately want to have in reality.
Featured Image via Unsplash
