Instagram and Instaproblems

Does Instagram Create "Instaproblems?"

              "Which filter looks better?"    "I need a clever caption."     
                              "What do I put for the location?"
          "Look, I'm almost at 100 likes!" "Why did they unfollow me?"

          Welcome to 2015, where smartphones have taken over the world as we know it. Cell phones, and more specifically Smartphones, have a great amount of importance in our everyday lives. They allow us to make phone calls, send text messages, check our emails, search the web, play games, and constantly check social media. Yes, constantly. Social media can be a useful tool for a variety of reasons, however, there are far more negatives that out weigh the positives of social media. I introduce you with Instagram; an app both used and abused by 300 million people worldwide (Constine). Though Instagram can be a fun way to edit pictures to share with friends, there is a darker ideology that Instagram has created. Instagram is hurting our generation by distracting us from everyday life and degrading our personal self-esteem.

Do you ever find yourself scrolling on your phone, whether it be if you're bored, with your friends, or while eating dinner? Have you ever felt yourself scrolling out of pure habit because you feel the need to check on what others are doing? We are guilty of this, and it is becoming more and more common to see groups of friends sitting in silence because everyone is checking their phones.

It is sad, very sad. We feel consistently compelled to see what the rest of the world is posting on  social media. Instagram is one out of many forms of social media that is an app that many kids, and teens, and adults currently use. However, Instagram is distracting us and becoming an interference with our everyday lives. 

The initial goal of Instagram was to be "a fun quirky way to share your life with friends through a series of pictures." Users of the app are told to, "Snap a photo with your mobile phone, then choose a filter to transform the image into a memory to keep around forever" ("FAQ"). The problem is, are these "memories" really as great as they seem? Behind the filters and the editing, it is difficult to determine whether memories are truly as wonderful as they appear. And more importantly, are these "memories," being lived to the fullest?

Chris Gayomali, writer for theweek.com, wrote an article involving Instagram and suggests that, "sometimes we do get far too absorbed into capturing and uploading moments that we fail to relish them, whether it is singing along to your favorite song at concert, or — as the experiment suggests — absorbing the emotional gravity of a work of art” (Gayomali). With Instagram constantly distracting us and allowing us to "share" our "memories," we are not allowing ourselves to truly enjoy what is right before our eyes beyond the screen.

Now, tell me. Did you really have a great night out with your friends, at that concert, or on vacation? Or were too busy taking pictures? 

Our constant concern with how our photos are being perceived is another issue that goes hand-in-hand with the high level of distraction we experience through Instagram. Fatima Faisal, writer for Elite Daily, a well known website for young adults and teenagers, wrote an article describing how the app is affecting our own self-confidence because, "the app puts a disproportionately high priority on one’s personal image" (Faisal). All of a sudden, the popularity, or the amount of "likes" your photos receive has never been more important to a person's self-esteem. When we receive a large amount of "likes," or have a great amount of followers, we feel good about ourselves.

It is when we realize that we don't have as many "likes" or "followers" that we begin to judge ourselves and become unhappy with ourselves or with our own lives. 

"She looks so pretty in this picture"  "They probably had so much fun last night"

"I wonder where they went out last night?" "Why didn't I go out last night." 
"Why I don't get that many likes."

Since we are so concerned with how others view ourselves and our own lives, we constantly feel the need to share our "memories" and "good times" on Instagram to portray the lives we want to live, or to live up to the lives that we believe others are living. Thanks to Instagram, this generation has become to obsessed with the lives of others which has generated in an overwhelming amount of self-confidence issues. 
For some people, they could care less about what others post or how many "likes" they receive on their photos or how many "followers" they have. I believe more and more people are becoming aware of these problems that not only Instagram, but all social media sites are creating. It is important for us to try our best to disconnect from our phones so we do not allow Instagram, or other social media sites, to distract us and hurt our self-esteems.
I will admit, I am an avid user of social media sites, and Instagram is my favorite. Yes, I take pictures when I am hanging out with my friends. Yes, I take pictures at concerts, and yes, I will question which filter to choose every once and awhile, but I strive to use Instagram for a way to share the pictures I love taking. And rather than capturing my whole life on my phone, I am trying to live my life without the distraction of my phone. Though it is not easy, it is making me appreciate all I have and the world that is not affiliated with my phone. It is truly remarkable all that we miss out on because we are too consumed with social media and our phones. 

So please, I encourage you, do not be like Honey Boo Boo in the picture above. Take a second and put your phone down. Take a break from social media every once in awhile; you'll thank me later.  

Works Cited

Constine, Josh. "Instagram Hits 300 Million Monthly Users To Surpass Twitter, Keeps It Real                             With Verified Badges." Techcrunch. N.p., 10 Dec. 2014. Web. 15 Oct. 2015.

Faisal, Fatima. "Take It All In Without Your Phone: Why Instagram Is Ruining What It Means                            To Live Your Life." Elite Daily. N.p., 07 Jan. 2014. Web. 15 Oct. 2015.

"FAQ." Instagram. Instagram, n.d. Web. 15 Oct. 2015.

Gayomali, Chris. "Instagram Might Be Ruining Our Memories. Here's Why That's a                                              Good Thing." The Week. N.p., 12 Dec. 2013. Web. 15 Oct. 2015.