I started using Instagram regularly just over a year ago and it's been quite the emotional journey. (I kid you not.) In all honesty, I still have yet to feel I have my style down... I flit from filter to filter and am no better at creating an "aesthetic" than I am at creating the perfect macaron au pistache...
But these musings are very much by the by; my purpose today is to break down my love-hate relationship with our old pal Insta and offer some suggestions as to why it leaves me so conflicted. Shall we?
Why I love Instagram
It forces me to take more photos
... and share them, something I find easier said than done! We all know that feeling of gliding through your feed to find snaps from a highlight; before writing this, I have just had to flit through a load of pictures from last summer and they've left me unspeakably nostalgic. There's something nice about seeing your memories slid neatly into a series of 1:1 frames.I think more about the little moments
Admiring the delicious smoothies I can't stop making. Capturing a landscape from a walk with my mum. Taking a cheeky snap on a day spent with my favourites. In some ways, Instagram makes me take notice, feel gratitude.It has brought me friendship
There are a number of people I only know through Instagram, something that makes me feel weird and excited at the same time. It's been so nice finding like minded people, who appreciate the simple beauty of a flat white (but you'll never find me actually drinking one. Coffee is not my bud.)WHY I HATE INSTAGRAM
It makes me shallow
Yes, my cactus in a teacup is adorable. But it's not actually contributing to my happiness, no matter what I tell myself. I also end up pining over other people's feeds, even though the odds of us all having these printed and stuck to our tombstones will (hopefully) remain slim. A picture is just a picture, and no amount of framing, editing or hashtagging will actually make me happy.I am boring to be around as a result
"Hang on... Just taking one for the Insta." Yup. That's me, all year long.I disconnect from the present
All that time spent liking and agonising over filters is the time I could spend in the real world, with people that I care about. I don't know how many hours I've spent on Instagram and I really don't want to know as it would probably make me have a breakdown. Stopping to take photos means stopping and stepping out of the moments that make me happiest.
I'm seriously considering returning with a post on how I manage my relationship with social media as by and large, I think I'm doing a lot better! What do you guys think of Instagram? Have you been bitten too?
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