Rileigh Thomas
03/24, DAY 0:
As an eighteen-year-old young woman, I often feel the pressure of having a presence on social media. Everytime I open the Instagram app, which is more often than I’d like to admit, I am reminded of how many followers I have and how many likes I have received. In the overarching scheme of life, these numbers should hold absolutely no value or merit to me, and yet I cannot help but feel failure when I see my follower count drop or a photo receives less “likes” than expected. When I first created my Instagram in seventh grade (five years ago!) I genuinely enjoyed creating posts and seeing updates from my besties. Over time, however, the way in which I used Instagram changed. Suddenly, I was following more celebrities than people I actually knew. My posts no longer held meaning to me, rather, they were crafted to please whatever audience I thought I had. In general, I think that social media sites like Instagram have immense potential in being archives for creativity and sharing inspiration, but myself and many other young users are missing this mark. There is a ridiculous pressure on the app to appear perfect, and it has consumed too much of my time and energy. I decided it’s time for break from the app in order to determine what role I actually want it to play in my life, if any. And so, day 0, I deleted Instagram just before bed.
03/25, DAY 1:
Being in official quarantine, I find that I have a lot more stagnant moments throughout my day, and my automatic impulse is to fill them with screen time. I’ve found myself reaching for my phone multiple times today, only to realize that Instagram is no longer there and I really have no reason to be on it. These moments have forced me to consider what I actually want to be doing with my time… and it certainly isn’t scrolling through celebrity photos for two hours. Instead, I’ve focused on homework, cooking meals with my family, and going on walks. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss Insta, especially now. There is definitely a level of comfort in “seeing” what others are doing during these times of uncertainty. Instead of leaning on strangers for comfort, I’ve texted almost all of my relatives, including a few aunts I haven’t spoken to in over a year.
03/26, DAY 2:
Already, I am not compulsively searching for the Instagram app as often. I find that when I have downtime, like before classes in the morning, is when I most think about checking Insta. So, what have I done instead? Today, I went for a twenty minute walk in the woods behind my house. I’m still on my phone a lot, but mostly to continue conversations I started over text the other day. I feel a little more justified in being on my phone for this reason?
03/27, DAY 3:
I’m missing Insta stories a lot right now. I’ve been really relying on them to ease a lot of Coronavirus related anxiety. So today, I meditated instead. I wasn’t great at it… have you tried to sit in silence before?! My mind is VERY active.
03/28, DAY 4:
I really haven’t thought about Instagram today, and I certainly have stopped looking for it on my phone. Admittedly, I’m on Imessage and Snapchat a lot more now, but I think it still accumulates to less screen time compared to when I had Instagram. I’ve continued my morning forest walks and meditations. I’m still texting my Aunt. Life is feeling good.
03/29, DAY 5:
Hmmm. I had a few moments today in which I wanted to check out Instagram, because I wondered whether my friends or siblings had posted anything, perhaps regarding quarantine activities, the end of senior year, etc. I’m not missing too many celebrities, though.
03/30, DAY 6:
It’s funny how I unintentionally classify things as “Insta-worthy.” I made a yummy pancake breakfast today, and my brain compulsively screamed, “Snap a pic for Insta!” Of course, I couldn’t do that, and I’m glad about it. Why must I share my breakfast with a few hundred other people, who likely don’t (or rather shouldn’t) care about what I’m eating? Instead, I called my mom upstairs to share with her. This felt a lot more gratifying than any online message could have.
03/31, DAY 7: The Takeaway
It’s been a week already?! If I’m being honest, after day two, time flew by. This experiment allowed me to get at the root of why I spent so much time on Instagram. In the end, I’ve found that I reach for the app in times of loneliness or boredom. I believe it’s necessary to have other ways to cope with such feelings instead of mindless social media use. I’ve found that reading, drawing, movement, and cooking are more fulfilling and useful activities. So- am I going to redownload Instagram? Today, no. I have no desire right now to have the app on my phone. I likely will re-download it in the future, but will aim to limit my time, and follow individuals whose content I truly care about.