This is a double-edged sword for me. On one hand I think that people are too consumed with Instagram and the life that we can portray in these social media boxes. We realize that we don’t ever have to show any of the negatives or the bad times. We can just show our beach photos and our lobster dinners. On the other hand Instagram can create careers, launch businesses, rekindle old flames (hey boo), and document memories.
However, because I don’t use my Instagram for personal use anymore and it is all directly linked to my blog, it is strictly a business tool for me. So all of my content is carefully curated, shot in advance, and organized to fit the schedule I need. As a business I can’t just shoot a look in a dimly lit parking lot, throw a filter on it, and post it whenever I feel like it. Everything I post has a meaning and is carefully planned. This is the case with a lot of people because Instagram has the highest engagement for any social media platform. The downside of this is people have stopped showing their true selves, stopped snapping pics on the go, and are living less in the moment.
What I mean by this is instead of going to the beach and snapping a pic because we’re at the beach, we’re going to the beach to snap a pic to show that we’re at the beach. And once we get to the beach we’re sitting on a cliff that is so ancient and dangerous it may fall apart at any given moment. All for a photo. The best photos on Insta used to be the ones our sister took catching us off guard with the wind blowing in our hair and a sandwich in our hand as we sat on the beach. Or writing in the sand, “Summer 2007”. Now we apply 14 pounds of makeup, match our bathing suit to our nails to our toes to our flip flops, pick a photo location 6 weeks in advance, break onto the beach before sunrise to make sure no one else is in the pic, and have our boyfriends snap it while we’re looking like we’re caught off guard.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not hating. I do the same things. What I’m trying to get across is that we need to stop living our lives for Instagram and start using it to capture our lives again. We need to stop doing things for the ‘gram and start doing things because we want to. So, next time you find yourself at a beach before sunrise maybe just take a moment to enjoy the sunrise. And if you still feel like you need to, go sit on that dangerous ass cliff. But just remember to enjoy the view.
