I have been on Instagram since 2013. I remember wanting to get it when I started blogging online. I was not au fait with the app, in comparison with my peers, and at the time I didn’t have a phone with a really good camera. So, my friend helped me to keep my account updated on her phone. I would send her pictures and she would upload them.
Since I wasn’t on the app, I didn’t quite understand how you could get sucked into the Instagram bubble. My first picture, a pair of black shoes, which was also heavily filtered, garnered about four likes.
Fast forward to 2019, and so much has changed with the ‘gram’ as it is commonly called. It now incorporates a story feature very similar to Snapchat, pictures can be uploaded in an album format, we can constantly monitor who is looking at us and the list goes on. Our reasons for using Instagram may vary from staying connected, inspired and to be frank to just do some plain old snooping.
In a way you can say its features changed us too. We may now long to acquire things we thought we wanted, to look a certain way or to even maintain certain lifestyles. Recently, Instagram proposed a change in its feature, which states that while you will be able to see who liked your photo other people will not. This feature is already on a trial run in Canada.
Some of us feel that Instagram helps us to be a more efficient and it is good for people, but some constantly battle self-esteem issues. While enraging for some, social media can be seen as digital currency especially when it is used to promote a business or talent. In addition, for people who are coming into themselves, it is also a space for them to share with the world without actually speaking in the beginning and more or less a space where they can fully test drive their confidence.
But Instagram also isolates us and somehow enables us to focus on the truly unnecessary. I would be glad for the like feature to be removed because I believe it has become truly unhealthy and results in us being lazy when it comes to developing real organic relationships. In addition to this, it enables us to view ourselves as commodities and garnering likes is somehow seen as validation.
I am actually happier when there are replies to my stories, because it means perhaps people are somehow interested in having a conversation/ dialogue.
While I understand be live in the digital era it is important to note there are people behind the screens. http://instagram.com/theonlinerunway
