“A person browsing Instagram on an iPhone” by Jaelynn Castillo on Unsplash

WELCOME TO THE DARK SIDE, WE HAVE FOLLOWERS

Instagram is any high schooler’s religion. Scrolling through your feed dozens of times a day to check likes and follower account. Posting pictures with your friends equipped with expertly crafted captions and filters. It’s both a lifestyle and a science. You can be good at Instagram, or you can be bad, and that is directly equivalent to your popularity and social status in school.

I first made an Instagram account when I was twelve years old and in the sixth grade. My first upload was a captionless photo of a Klondike bar and I think I got about three likes. But then, I couldn’t care less. It fun simply to upload the most random of photos for my friends to see.

Now, as a sixteen-year-old in the eleventh grade, I can’t stand Instagram. What changed? Looking through my feed every day, it made me sad to see my friends and peers posting photos together, without me. Everyone had thousands of followers and got hundreds of likes per photo when I had less than half that. I spent hours analyzing my appearance in pictures just to make sure I looked okay, and then I had to run photos by my friends before I uploaded them just to double check. I spent hours just picking the perfect filter and coming up with a clever caption.

I lost my mind over social media and it had quite the negative impact on my mental health. As someone who deals with anxiety to begin with, Instagram only added to it. I got so stressed and worried about every aspect of the site. Do I look ok? What will people think if I post this? Is this weird? Did it get enough likes? Does it match my theme? Why didn’t I get invited to this? Do they not like me? Why won’t this person follow me back? The anxious thoughts were endless. In this low place mentally, I also began to get sad and could feel myself almost slipping into depression.

GOODBYE FOREVER INSTAGRAM

In fear of worsening my mental wellbeing, I decided to delete Instagram for one week. That was in February 2018. It’s now August of the same year and I still haven’t gotten it back. Getting rid of my account was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Goodbye forever Instagram, it hasn’t been nice knowing you.

For the first few days, I faced a heavy case of FOMO. I was afraid of missing out on different school events or keeping up with the latest drama, so I frequently texted my friends for updates when there were none. Sometimes I even checked Instagram from their phones and I fought the urge to download the app again. Without being able to constantly check my feed, I didn’t know what to do with my phone anymore.

But after about three days, I started to give up caring until I didn’t at all. Suddenly, this thing that caused so much negativity in my life was gone. Not having to worry or stress out was such an incredible relief. I could do so much more with my time and take the opportunity to make myself happy. I didn’t desire to share everything I was doing online and as a result, I could focus on being in the moment.

Less worrying. Less sadness. More time to be happy. After my Instagram-less week passed, I didn’t want to reactivate my account. My life was so much better without it, why would I want to bring that negativity back. So I haven’t, and I don’t plan to any time soon.

HAPPINESS > NUMBER OF LIKES

I know every expert ever has told you the same thing I’m telling you. And because of that, you may disregard this. But I was in the middle of Instagram experiencing its worst. I was so unhappy and so down all the time. Getting rid of my account genuinely improved my life. My happiness became defined by the memories and experiences I share with my friends and family, not about the number of likes and followers.

Think about how social media is affecting your life. Maybe you’re perfectly happy with being online, and that’s ok. However, so many people are unhappy and aren’t doing anything to change that. I know it’s hard and I know it’s scary. Without social media, it may seem like there’s no way to stay connected with your peers when you’re not together. You may think your friendships and social status will far apart, but I am nearly one hundred percent sure they won’t. And if they do, those relationships were not worth it. Once you leap past these hurdles, well, it’s only up from there.

So I challenge you. Get rid of Instagram for one week. See how it changes your life.