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I like Instagram. The app steals some of my time, but I don't know what else I would do in those minutes. I follow people with similar interests, keep up to date with exhibitions, books, my favorite football players. Of course, I also follow my friends and acquaintances. I don't know why they do it, but I notice how many people ostentatiously post pictures of themselves enjoying luxury. They smile in front of laden plates in luxury restaurants, gaze over the edge of an infinity pool or show off their purchases. There's nothing wrong with that. I like luxury too. And unfortunately I indulge in it far too often. However, it would never occur to me to photograph myself consuming luxury. On the contrary, it would be embarrassing. Embarrassing because I know that I am incredibly privileged compared to the vast majority of people. But that's not the main reason. What hinders me is the nature of everything that falls into the category of luxury. By definition, luxury is something you don't necessarily need. Which goes far beyond what is essential for any life (that's why I wouldn't call art and culture a luxury). In my personal experience, luxury primarily serves to fill an inner void. When I feel the need for luxury, I am usually unsatisfied in some aspect of my life. And that's exactly what I don't want to externalize. So my aversion to this type of social media post is also a form of self-protection. I don't want to be perceived as the person who needs all this to be happy. It's actually quite a narcissistic trait.
(Sorry for grammar, I am not a native English speaker)
Feb 25, 2024
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I need a place to archive my thoughts in a dated manner, but also not on instagram. I used to post things pretty frequently on my stories and then have a 'highlights' of the year that I could go back to look at, but now, I am not so comfortable sharing on such a commercial soul sucking platform that is data mining and surveilling and selling. I also feel like I am not, in my core, a good person. There are very few people who, when I see their success and happiness, spark genuine joy for me. For the most, I have to take a deep breath and remind myself that their life does not affect mine and that I should not let the display of their wealth of happiness, opportunity and beauty spoil the pursuit of my own. Some days, I feel so engrossed in knowing and wanting to know the updates of all the people around me. Now, I just want to shrink and disappear, I do not want people to know what I am up to and I do not want to peripherally watch others either. I want to focus on myself. I feel like I need to cut the plug on instagram with a hard delete. Maybe I will just buy myself a photo printer and print out the 'instagram' shots with their memories and make my own photobook instead. But I need to find a new way to document and archive my life.
Feb 8, 2025
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I don’t even care, I should probably delete instagram anyway but honestly it’s where I hoard my junk drawer of photos. I’ve got an emotional attachment and a need for attention. Do I embarrass myself through posts, yes but I feel free in doing so.
Mar 12, 2025
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Lately I have been daydreaming about deleting Instagram, but everytime I get close to doing it, the same thing always pull me back.
I emigrated to London from Spain for university in 2017 and I haven't moved back since. The feeling of missing out on the goings on back home... It hasn't gone away.
Instagram has become my link to faraway friends. It's how I know when they change their hair, or get a new boyfriend, or get a dog, or break their ankle. Of course I talk to my closest friends now and then but converstaions can loose their informality when you don't see each other often.
The truth is that I don't want to have a deep conversation everytime I talk to friends from back home. The obligatory "How's work? How's your partner? When are you coming back? How's your mother?". It makes me feel that everytime I reach out to one of them they feel obligated to rattle through all these questions. I want to talk about stupid stuff, stuff that doesn't matter, what your Dad said, the fight you had with your sister, that weird thing you saw the other day.
On Instagram I can be a fly on the wall watching all that stupid shit they put on their story and feel like I'm still a part of their life and their a part of mine. But at the same time I know that these snippets I grab now and then are not connections of quality.
Does anyone else who moved away have the same feelings about social media?
Feb 14, 2025
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Understanding that mostly we are ignorant about many things leads to a state of mental bliss.
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And we criticize people. Strange somehow. try to do it the other way round. What an ugly tree (sounds ridiculous)! What a beautiful soul.
You will end appreciating people and nature.
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By Angelos Merges. It’s technically beautifully painted and slightly uncanny. The last remaining human beings gather after a apocalypse to discuss the questio: what should we do now?
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