I downloaded the Instagram app in middle school. Everyone was talking about it at school, and how you could post pictures for everyone to see. I was convinced that this was something I absolutely needed to have, so I made an account and followed everyone that I knew.
Most of us remember when we first made an Instagram account. The pictures were simple, there was no editing, no competition.
Recently, I scrolled back through my Instagram and saw that the first few pictures I posted were of me and my friends during spirit week. In one, we were all wearing pajamas, and in another, my friend and I wore matching plaid shirts and jeans for "Twin Day."
As time went on, I tried harder and harder to force my online presence into a perfect portrayal of myself, the shiniest, planned, edited, and filtered version. A few years went by, and I was invested in the app, in seeing what everyone I knew was up to, and being thoroughly obsessed with cultivating perfection.
According to Statista, a statistics portal in which large numbers of data is compiled, Instagram reached 1 billion active users as of 2018. That number represents 1 billion individual people, with unique, personalized lives, who share only small snapshots of them with the world.
That number also represents millions of people within that billion who are seeing image after image, account after account, of perfect people with perfect lives, or so it seems on a screen. These millions of people are then comparing themselves with these hyper-edited, picturesque paintings, which leads to feelings of worthlessness and jealousy.
While Instagram is not entirely harmful, inspiration and creativity are valuable and should be cultivated, it can be.
Instagram has power in our lives, whether we like it or not. If you have an account, you are being influenced by what you see on your screen. In short, scrolling endlessly is not a repercussion-less act.
This poses the questions… if Instagram has power, what if that power could be used in a different way? What if that power could be used for something more? More than promotions and corporations, influencers and celebrities, more than jealousy and comparison? Something more than the need to look a certain way, or have more material items? What if the real power of Instagram was that it could be used to spread a different kind of influence?
What if the power of Instagram was that it could uplift people across the world that need support, alert people of situations that must be addressed and changed, and ideas that are for the better of others?
Much of this is already being done on the app. Many news organizations are informing people of issues and important information. Celebrities are choosing to champion causes, such as Leonardo DiCaprio with climate change. Bloggers are spreading messages of kindness, hope, and motivation.
Instagram should continue to be used for inspiration and creativity, matters of importance, and messages of love.
The power of Instagram should be the power that individuals possess to inspire others, cultivate community, and spread messages that need to be heard. 1 billion people consistently use the app as of 2018. Instagram's power is real, and if people were motivated to influence others in a positive way, the app's power would be wielded wisely.
