After much consideration (about 6 months, but who's counting?), I chose to delete my Instagram account. To be honest, I hadn't posted anything since October, hadn't opened the app unless prompted to since December, and made the final decision in April. And to everyone's utter shock, I don't miss it or regret it one bit.
Unlike the rest of my friends and basically every member of my generation, I hadn't created an Instagram account until New Years of my senior year of high school. Everyone was thrilled about this because it meant one more like on all of their posts. I was never one to like taking pictures, so Instagram was never really my cup of tea. Don't get me wrong, I liked some aspects of the app, as I did keep it for a little over two years; but in the end, the bad outweighed the good and it was time to get rid of it.
I can't even count the number of times I've heard my friends say, "But think about the Instagrams if we went here," or "I'm planning my Insta already," while making plans. Hearing things like this drove me crazy! I could never like around the quality of a photo or post, and maybe that's where my generation and I disagree.
I never had the energy to plan out my next post like many of my friends do. They have designated albums in their phones of photos to post on certain dates, lists of captions to use, and some even have a calendar of when and what to post. People are so concerned with the aesthetic of their Instagram and more importantly how many followers they have. I never bothered to make sure that all of my posts coordinated and matched a theme, so I could never compete, and honestly, I didn't want to.
The most important and main reason I deleted my Instagram account was to stop comparing myself to others. While social media is a great way to stay connected with others in the world, it is often filled with fake images and unrealistic expectations, especially for younger generations. It can be difficult to see so many seemingly perfect bodies and try not to compare your own to them. I am a 20-year-old college student and I often do struggle with body image and Instagram only seemed to make it worse. I was so concerned with how I looked in my photos compared to everyone else that I would often delete them soon after posting or ask a friend to edit them.
On the other hand, people know how to contour their bodies, pose certain ways, and edit their photos in order to appear a certain way. No one is going to post a photo that they look horrible in! I often had to remind myself of this, since we only ever see the good or happy moments on social media, contributing to its fakeness and distance from reality. People use the app to brag about their lives, from lavish tropical vacations to Gucci belts, Rolex watches, and other materialistic goods, and I had come to a point where I didn't really care anymore to see it.
It has been two months since I deleted my Instagram account and I can truly say that I appreciate life's moments so much more. For example, I recently visited one of my friends from school (who also deleted her Instagram!) and found it so refreshing when neither of us was invested in our phones at any given moment. Still, to this day, people who I used to follow ask why I unfollowed or blocked them on Instagram and I can't help but roll my eyes.
