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Designed to make you dependent on social approval.
You’re standing outside waiting for your ride to pick you up. They said they’d be there in five minutes. There’s no one you know around. What do you do?
A) Go to a random person and try to become their friend.
B) Pull out the book you’ve been reading.
C) Start scrolling through Instagram
Odds are, you chose C. (And if you didn’t then congratulations, you are in the minority.) In the twenty-first century, we humans have become so dependent on technology, maybe even addicted, and the worst one of them all is social media (in my opinion). At first, these websites and apps―Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, etc.― were created so people could stay in touch with more distant friends and family whom they couldn’t visit as often. Nowadays, it is a tool for stalking, comparing, starting fights, inducing jealousy, causing insecurities, and a lot more. Here are some ways social media, specifically Instagram, do more harm than good. These are all things I know from my own experience, another person’s experience, or through research.
Lowers self-esteem. This one is quite obvious since many people have talked about and experienced this before, but it really is a big deal. This study shows that social media use and depression are highly correlated. You must know about all the Instagram models, who literally get paid just to be pretty. (Okay, that was kind of an exaggeration, but you get the idea.) They are usually making a cute pose by the beach in their $300 bikini, showing off their flawless curves and tan skin as the sunlight hits their face perfectly. A photo like this would earn them around $3,000 to $5,000. Of course, the average female does not look like this. A study done by Clark University states that women who looked at images of slender models “produced lower self-esteem and satisfaction with their weight as compared to women viewing more robust models”. Constantly being bombarded with these supposedly “perfect” images of women will influence us to believe that this is how we are supposed to look. If are not a size 00, weighing 90 pounds, donning clear and glowing skin, and flashing a pearly white smile, then we are doing something wrong. Basically, this creates a false definition of beauty. One must look exactly like the models or celebrities on Instagram, or they are not pretty. If we check Instagram right when we wake up, right before we go to bed, and any other extra time in the day, that’s a couple hundred photos per day. Out of those, if about half of them are pictures of “perfect girls” that’s a lot of negative influence. (Unless you’re like me and only follow meme pages.) It’s basically becoming ingrained into our heads how we are supposed to look. Every picture of a girl with unattainable beauty standards is a message that says, “Look at this beautiful girl. It sucks you don’t look like that. Guess you’re not pretty.” I can say from my personal experience that after scrolling through Instagram for a few hours, I definitely feel a lot more insecure and unhappy with my life. It is very unhealthy to feel forced to conform to these false standards.
Causes jealousy. Another negative thing about Instagram is that it causes jealousy. “I can’t believe she went to the Maldives over spring break” or “Why did she get more likes than me? I’m way prettier than her.” The thing about social media is that you can see what everyone else is doing, what they have, who they hang out with, etc. Without social media, there isn’t much of a way to know these things unless someone actually brags about it. That’s what social media is. It’s just a socially acceptable way to brag about what you have or pretend to have. Just because someone is wearing an expensive outfit doesn’t mean they’re rich. They could just be trying on clothes in the dressing room and taking in a selfie in it with no intention of actually buying it. Just because they are constantly posting pictures of them with other people doesn’t mean they are popular or they have a lot of friends. A lot of it is staged. Yes, there are some genuine people and posts on Instagram, but from my experience, I can say that they are a minority. It sort of reminds me of KUWTK. A reality show that isn’t actually “real”. They act like it’s real, but actually, a lot of it is staged for attention. They don’t show you everything, they only show you what they want you to see. And obviously who wouldn’t want other people to think they are popular, pretty, and rich. Of course, I would like it if people thought of me like that. But that doesn’t necessarily mean I am actually like that. When you go on Instagram and see everyone having an amazing time, portraying a perfect life, that doesn’t mean their whole life is perfect. They are just showing random glimpses of when it is. Seeing all these false perceptions of perfect lives makes you feel worse about your own, and jealous of everyone you know. “Everyone’s lives are amazing. My life totally sucks compared to that.” If people posted everything that happened in their life, and not just what they want you to see, it wouldn’t be anything to be jealous of at all. Not everyone will look cute right when they wake up. Not everyone gets to constantly travel over the world. Not everyone gets to wear designer clothes with professionally done makeup. Everyone has insecurities and hardships. Nobody’s life is perfect, no matter how perfect it may seem.
Provides a distraction. I’m very sure you all know about this one without me having to explain it. Instagram is a distraction. So is all social media. The constant notifications of likes, follows, comments, direct messages, and more, the constant thinking about what your next post is going to be, the application just sitting there, constantly bugging you like a scratch that needs to be itched. You know that horrible feeling of regret you feel after scrolling through your feed for hours when you’re supposed to be doing something else. I remember when I was in middle school, being new to Instagram, I would come home from school and spend several hours scrolling through my feed, explore page, and stalking other blogs until I felt groggy and my eyes burned, not even starting my homework until after dinner. Now, I rarely ever check it, and I rarely ever want to check it. Partially because I’ve had it for a long time and it’s not as new and exciting anymore, but also because I made a conscious effort to take a detox from it after realizing this is such a horrible way to spend so many hours of my life. Not only is Instagram a distraction, but it is a bad distraction. Hanging out with friends, for example, is a distraction, but it is a way better distraction than scrolling through confidence-reducing, insecurity-producing, jealousy-causing Instagram. It’s a lose-lose situation. You’re wasting time and feeling worse about yourself.
Defined by a number. Nowadays, people’s worth is measured by numbers on Instagram. How popular you are depends on the number of followers you have, how pretty you are depends on the number of likes you get on a selfie, how amazing your life is determined by how often you post, and this is absolutely false. I know for a fact that at least two-thirds of my current Instagram followers are totally random people who don’t know me in real life. And only about 10 percent of my followers actually “like” my photos. Does that mean I’m unpopular or ugly? Not necessarily. People are constantly checking their photo right after posting it to see how many likes it received and deleting it if it doesn’t get enough. They try so hard to gain followers by asking random people to follow them for a follow back or promoting their account in the comment section of a popular photo. Have you ever looked at someone’s profile and thought “Wow they don’t have many followers. They must be a loser who doesn’t have any friends,” or do you think “Wow they don’t have many followers. They must not use Instagram very often.”? This shows that this fear of being judged by a number is an irrational thought that isn’t true at all.
Creates pressure. I’ve already partially covered this topic in the previous four topics because they are all forms of pressure. When a person has an active personal Instagram account, they tend to feel obligated to post constantly and update their followers with their lives. Now, with Instagram stories, users can give hourly updates on what they’re doing, similar to Snapchat. While experiencing a fun event or going to an aesthetic or picturesque place, they feel pressured to take a good picture to post. I am so guilty of this. Every time I go anywhere that has potential to make a nice Instagram photo I suddenly feel stressed out because I feel as if I have a 100-point homework assignment to take an Instagram worthy photo in five minutes and if I am not able to, I feel really disappointed like I wasted my opportunity. I have been making a conscious effort lately to relax a little more when it comes to Instagram photos and not stress out so much about visiting a place without taking a photo. Sometimes it’s healthy to just live in the moment instead of worrying about documenting it.
Those were a few of the many reasons why excessive Instagramming is unhealthy. Don’t get me wrong―Instagram is a great tool and it’s totally okay use it regularly, but in excess, it can be harmful. Moderating how much time we spend on this app, and how much we let it and the people on it affect us can help Instagram be just an app and not a source of stress and unhappiness.