Day 4 - 75D/Insta Withdrawals
Day 4 also happened to be the 4th of July! I started our morning with a walk and a stretch and then the rest of the day we spent working on various house projects since we didn’t have anywhere to be. Everything else went fine and aside of being more conscious of the things I need to check off the list, the challenge is going swimmingly.
INSTAGRAM WITHDRAWALS HAVE BEGUN
I don’t think it’s a secret that I have a love/hate relationship with Instagram. I used to have more of that type of relationship with Facebook and Instagram was the fun place to be but ever since the start of Covid..Instagram transitioned into becoming a place I loved and also loathed.
The reasons why are complex and nuanced of course (as are most subjects, let’s be honest) but if I were to try to sum it up, it would center around a general uneasiness around expectations. The persona you create is never fully 100% true or authentic, because we are all affected by the expectations of the people who follow us. Many times those people make up a wide variety of thoughts, opinions, and beliefs and as anyone who has any type of “following” knows…the mob is real and can have a massive impact on your life if.
The behavior and expectations occurring on instagram specifically could likely be the topic of many, many books and I might dive more into that later, but for me, it has really affected the way I use the platform and the level of enjoyment I get out of it.
This is of course one of the main reasons I wanted to include taking the break as a part of this challenge. There is a lot about the platform that I am not missing at all, but I do find that there are a handful of accounts that I DO miss and I find myself thinking about them and wondering what they are doing or sharing. Ironically, almost none of those accounts are those of close friends which I think actually says something about where social media (and Instagram specifically) is headed.
A couple of accounts are DIY home project type accounts that are very well produced and always offer a great storyline. Another couple of accounts are on the larger side as well when it comes to followers and they discuss topical issues related to politics/culture etc.. A few are faith based accounts that share interesting social commentary from a biblical perspective. And a few are people that I know in real life who share small tidbits about what they are up to.
Part of me is wondering that when I get back on the platform, should I just unfollow or mute pretty much every one else except for these accounts that I enjoy hearing from? Most of the content I enjoy the most is story related, not reels or posts. The part that keeps me hesitating on this though is unfollowing people who I am somewhat acquainted with in life who might feel sad if I don’t follow them any more or also those who might think that we are closer friends than I do. I’m sure we all have people like that and social media often blurs the lines of what actual friendship is.
Another thing I miss about the platform is having conversations with people. I know a lot of people like to chat through Insta DM and it is an easy way to have access to someone if you don’t have their phone number. I still don’t know if that is always a good thing though. Should we have such easy access to people we “follow” on the internet. It feels like social media has really blurred the lines between celebrity and regular people who happen to have large followings. Are those the same? Are they different? How do you define a celebrity anyway? I digress…I do enjoy chatting with people, but I also don’t have a very large following. I’m sure if I did, it would change that dynamic quite a bit and honestly I don’t know how the influencers do it. I’m guessing once you get past a certain point you just have to ignore most of what happens on your account, which at that point….what is the point of it again?
These are all things I’m going to be thinking/writing about over the next 71 days. I have a lot to unpack.
