The Implosion of Instagram

Social media has changed so drastically since our age demographic first registered accounts in the early 2010s. Back then, we would post whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted. Stupid text posts, blurry close-ups, whatever we deemed “artsy” or “random” at the time. Maybe, if we were feeling really active, even multiple posts in a day. Something we’d cringe at now, but didn’t have a second thought about in the moment. 

But since then so much has changed. Social media became colonized with social norms and expectations: a mold we still haven’t completely broken, no matter how hard we appear to be trying to. 

A few years ago, there seemed to be a push to make Instagram casual again. People went from posting outright posed pictures to pictures that were more candid and silly… yet still photogenic. To be honest, there are some pictures of ourselves in our camera rolls that we will take to the grave. Those real, raw photos are not making the social media cut. These days, that last photo slide often walks the line between tongue-in-cheek and socially acceptable to have others view. Yet still, it is preceded by an array of perfectly curated images, including some from days, weeks, even months ago. Does that really represent a true projection of ourselves at the current moment? Or really… is it even supposed to?

We’ve done a bang-up job at making Instagram casual again. If anything, those genuine moments we are so desperately trying to capture feel more forced than ever. It feels like middle school again, where you’re coordinating a twinning outfit with your friend the night before so you can take pictures after class. So unplanned! Such a spur-of-the-moment flick!

Since those middle school days, we’ve become better at moving, posing, and faking a laugh. So maybe we’ve made Instagram a little less stiff. Maybe even a little less serious. But we’re a long way from it being truly casual. Because there’s always that looming threat of being perceived with every post. It’s a constant battle between the climbing followers and the close friends you want to share these moments with. That’s certainly the reason we’ve resorted to “finstas,” unarchived posts, food Instagrams, travel Instagrams, gym Instagrams, baby Instagrams and even dump accounts. We don’t even feel comfortable posting the things we want to post on our main accounts anymore. It’ll disrupt the feed or the overall vibe. Or maybe we’ve just grown so addicted to posting in general that we need to satisfy that urge in every categorical capacity we can. 

There’s no other generation that interacts with social media quite like we do. And following these movements to dethrone influencers and take the pressure off of perfection, many have given up on it entirely. In this respect, there is certainly a revolution growing on these platforms at large, as they all frustratingly merge into one. As intimidating as it might be to freely post whatever you want, that is the whole point of the app. We control the culture. We feed what we want our feeds to be. So whether that is posting what you love or stepping away entirely, the future of these apps lies in the balance of our interaction with them.