The toxic culture of Instagram in modern society.
and everything wrong with it.
It’s been a while since I made my last post on Instagram.
And this is because Instagram got the better of me. It preyed on my psychological insecurity, the need for reaffirmation and validation.
It started way back when I was spending over hours each day, aimlessly scrolling through a never-ending feed, envious of ‘influencers living the good life’ or friends flexing whatever-it-is-every-different-day, garnering public attention. I couldn’t help but think: Interesting things are going on in my life as well, perhaps I could be like them? It is human nature to gain acknowledgment, after all.
Instead, I opted to do something counterintuitive, which is to delete myself from Instagram for a week, then two, then reinstall it back again; but this time with the controlled urge to observe, and not participate in producing content for participation’s sake. Since the beginning of my journey in Singapore, I know I’ve been a let down for not documenting the life my closest friends would wish to see, and I apologize for my inactiveness from time to time. But I knew, the very idea of me resisting the urge to share is an indication that I no longer needed public reaffirmation and validation about my choices in life, my whereabouts, and status.
I remember John Mayer’s Instagram caption that goes: ‘Make memories with the people in your life. You just don’t have to go posting them that night making a big thing out it.’ Gone are the days where I find the need to make a big deal out of anything to gain attention, I know what I need to do, and I’ll do it well, and once all is done and dusted, I’ll clap for my damn self.
‘Make memories with the people in your life. You just don’t have to go posting them that night making a big thing out it.’ — John Mayer.
The point is, not all of us out there would willingly admit that our desire for compliments or attention is the main reason for the hours spend on Instagram each day: Carefully curating our captions, filtering through our images, taking countless of photos until we hit the perfect angle. If you feel the slightest sting in these words, its probably because you’re one of them (as I would openly admit, I am one of them too). But it is okay to admit that you are, just ask yourself who are you doing it for? Them or yourself? And if you can find peace within your answer, then, by all means, go ahead and do as you wish.
Today, I’m still spending about 20 to 30 minutes a day on Instagram, the casual flip-out-your-phone when waiting for a lift; or stuck in an awkward moment when the friend you are walking with bumps into a stranger and begins chatting. But, with the extra one or two hours spared from Instagram, it evidently frees up more time for me to engage in more meaningful work or form deeper relationships with the people I meet physically. After all, would you not agree that social media today is more ‘media’ than it is ‘social’?
As I share this story on how cutting down on Instagram has made my life much more personal and productive, it is a daunting concern that Instagram is now a platform where most perfectionists thrive — on carefully curated pictures and content. In most cases, what ticks me off the most would be the depiction of a positive exciting life on Instagram and a depressing backstory behind closed doors is exactly what’s wrong with today’s society. To the avid content creators on Instagram, we only ever portray the best part of ourselves, the victory in a competition, the success in our ventures, the happiness in our relationships. But have we ever stopped to consider that every rose has its thorn? What about openly sharing the death of a relative, the arguments in a relationship, the shortcomings in our projects? We hardly hear of them.
Carefully curating our captions, filtering through our images, taking countless photos until we hit the perfect angle. If you feel the slightest sting in these words, its probably because you’re one of them.
In the chase for public validation and admiration, we shy away from sharing our failures as it deems us as weak, sensitive or vulnerable. To celebrate a timeline or content feed filled only with humble braggings, achievements, and nothing to discount our success; is this not a superficial representation of life with the white piano tiles that represent the ‘good parts’ without the dark tiles? Is this also the reason why interviewers would probably hire someone who says ‘yes’ to having all types of skills on their resumes rather than pick someone who is honest and vulnerable in expressing his weakness?
To wrap things up, the toxic culture of Instagram spreads by psychologically targetting our feel-good hormone also known as dopamine, which has a profound impact on our Frontal Cortex. Each time we post a picture and it receives a substantial number of likes, a burst of dopamine hits, we feel good about ourselves and proceed to get even more approval and public reaffirmation of our content; is in the best case being blatantly dishonest with ourselves, and in the worse case the reason why many guys and girls alike, are suffering from anxiety attacks because of the false image put up by many individuals out there, wanting to impress the world by sharing the side of life that is working out, but struggling to make amends in their personal lives, the one that happens behind closed doors that no soul has a clue about.
This is a call to everyone who is reading this now, ask yourself if you’ve been using your ‘influencing’ on Instagram for good, or are you part of a culture that promotes only the better side of life?
