So I just did the unthinkable. I deleted Instagram. I know, crazy right? Instagram seems like this big perfect world that everyone wants to a part of at all times. First thing every morning I would check my feed. What had I missed while I was sleeping?! I had to scroll through the pictures until I’d seen every single one. Then I’d look through some stories of people I cared about like my close friends and my favorite celebrities. That was when the FOMO would really kick in. If one of my friends had gone out without me and posted about it I would immediately feel left out and jealous. That’s no way to start your day!
But Instagram was still a huge part of my day. If I was in an uncomfortable situation, I’d just pull out my phone and scroll through the photos, ignoring my surroundings. Instead of chatting with my co-workers while work was slow, I’d escape into this other world. Finally, at the end of the day before bed, I always made sure to do one more Insta check in order to be totally caught up on my friend’s every move.
If I had posted a picture, I’d feel pumped up for a few hours seeing the likes pour in. Then, once they slowed down I’d start to notice that the cute boy from my English class didn’t like my picture. Or that my friend got 56 more likes than me. Was it because I looked fat in the picture? Was my edit not good enough? Did people not care what I had to post? Did people even care about me?? No matter what I did on Instagram, there was always someone with a cooler picture or more likes.
So I deleted Instagram.
In awkward situations, I can’t retreat to my comfort zone. I have to actually talk to my peers! Instead of staring at my phone until I fall asleep, I read or listen to music. Without Instagram in my life, I don’t have to pretend to have a perfect and fulfilling life all the time. I can actually work on having the best life possible because I’m not spending my days pining after other people’s feeds.
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