Double-tap, scroll, double-tap, scroll, repeat, refresh feed; double-tap, scroll, double-tap, scroll, repeat, refresh feed.
For those avid Instagram users, this routine may sound familiar. And odds are, that’s most individuals, given the app’s enormous popularity. Instagram has become synonymous with today’s youth, as a ubiquitous and ever-expanding form of social media. Allowing users to share images and videos with their followers within seconds, who can then “like” that post, Instagram offers instant gratification and feedback to individuals. However, this feedback is not always positive, nor is the attachment the user gains to the app. So, ask yourself, is the relationship between Instagram and the user truly healthy?
Instagram has completely transformed the current generation’s perspective on sharing photos. The once-simple process of taking and uploading a picture has become almost painstaking with Instagram. In order for an image to be deemed “Insta-worthy,” it must exhibit good lighting, the “perfect” pose, and perhaps even maintain one’s “aesthetic.” Then, once the ideal picture is obtained, one must decide whether to filter it or not, and if so, then the question the question becomes “which one should I use?”.
But an Instagrammer’s work does not stop there. Then he has to think of a witty caption to go along with the photo, one that has not been already claimed by fellow followers. After this tedious and time consuming process, he waits for the likes and comments to flood in. The number of likes and comments on one’s photo can be one of the most dangerous aspects of Instagram. Many users place immense value on these numbers, and it breeds a sort of unspoken competition between peers, aligning a user’s number of followers and likes with his social status. The mindset that one’s photo or video has to top his peers’ – be bigger and better in every way – only adds to the daily pressure today’s youth experiences to maintain perfection and popularity, or simply just to fit in. What was intended to act as a fun and positive way to share photos and videos with friends has evolved into a popularity contest.
Through all of Instagram’s appeal and the value adolescents place on it, it is easy to fall victim to the app’s charm and develop an addiction to – and reliance on – it. In October of 2014, Mark Zuckerberg, shareholder of Instagram, told the “Business Insider” that the average user spends 21 minutes on the app daily. Instagram can manipulate one’s subconscious, being used not just as an app to post images, but as a place to mindlessly escape. The attachment the user gains to Instagram can be toxic, acting as a distraction which interferes with priorities such as schoolwork, as well as social interaction with others.
Even well-known celebrities recognized the evils of Instagram and chosen to temporarily abandon it – despite the platform it provides them with. Selena Gomez, the most followed person on Instagram, with 103 Million followers and the title-holder of the most liked photo on the app (over four million), recently took a several month break from what was practically her second world stage. Although this absence was credited to her hiatus on tour and in the spotlight, Gomez’s choice to distance herself from Instagram during her time of recovery suggests her possible negative relationship with the app.
The actress/singer’s recent acceptance speech at the 2016 American Music Awards offers insight into her reasoning behind this decision, as she stated that “[she] [doesn’t] want to see your bodies on Instagram, [she] want[s] to see what’s in [your heart]”.
Instagram breeds and promotes superficiality, with one’s feed and recommended page constantly populated with images of lavish vacations, lust worthy materialistic items, and scantily clad individuals. This often incites jealousy within users, spurring cyber bullying, and breeding potentially detrimental insecurities. Gomez’s message squashes the belief that one’s worth is determined by the number of likes he receives on an Instagram post, encouraging true self-love, something the app does not foster.
Social media superstar Kendall Jenner made a similar (though less explicit) statement when she recently deactivated her Instagram account, which sent shockwaves throughout the world. In an interview with talk show host Ellen DeGeneres, Jenner explained that she simply wanted to “detox”, because, like most Instagram users, she grew much too dependent on the app (“I would wake up in the morning and look at [Instagram] first thing, I would go to bed and it would be the last thing I looked at”).
Both Gomez and Jenner’s decisions to give Instagram a break prove the negativity the app nurtures. Instagram impacts our most important relationship: the relationship between one and himself. So, maybe all of us Instagram addicts should take inspiration from Kendall and Selena, and try breaking up with our companion, whether it be permanently or temporarily.
After all, no one benefits from a toxic relationship.
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