As an Instagram user who
admittedly overuses the app and has been made to feel bitter about the way I
and others use it, I thought I would share my thoughts...
On any social media account it is
possible to create an image of yourself that is very different to real life,
controlling only what you want others to see. Yet, on Facebook and Twitter we
generally don't mind moaning about things that annoy or upset us, in essence
showing that we have weaknesses and are not super-human.
Instagram is different
because a picture is more powerful. A person's Instagram account - not solely but
for the most part - shows only the good thing that happen to them: the good hair
days, the holidays at the pool-side, the couple pictures and the happy surprises.
We don't upload the pictures of the rainy days, tear-stained selfies, the text
arguments or the things that have gone wrong. We upload at least the medioka
but primarily the good and very good. It's too easy to become absorbed in the
Instagram feed, niggling thoughts wishing you were 'that person' with 'their
lifestyle', 'their fashion sense' and 'their social life' craving what looks to
be an easier, happier and richer life. A life that isn't real. It's about
show-casing your life in the best possible light, editing it right down to
create the best possible image of yourself, an attempt to control how people see
and think of you. It shouldn't be forgotten that the overall person portrayed
by the app is only their life from one angle, fine-tuned, like a selfie with a
filter. There's no denying that some people have it better and easier than
others but no one's life is as flawless or as blemish-free as their account
boasts.
Instagram to an extent is also competitive,
why else would you post a photo (that you spent too much time perfectly
arranging) of your Christmas presents other than to show off? It becomes a game
of 'look I have it better than you' which is boring, annoying and thoroughly
self-centred.
Don't get me wrong, I do still
like the app. I love seeing what other people have been getting up to and
getting inspiration from it but I think that spending too much time spent
scrolling through fashion and travel accounts definitely gives you 'urgh' jealousy
feels. Furthermore, it's as much of an unproductive use of time as the next social network
and despite being the one admitting to using it too often, I think that it
would be much better to be out truly making something of life (without
wondering how it's going to look like on a screen later) than envying what
everyone else is up to.
Carpe Diem.
Seize the day, live for the
moment.
