I’m going to be the one to say it, social media can RUIN people. Personally, I have experienced this for almost two months now, with myself, through Instagram. To say that I became obsessive might be a tad of an understatement. I was wasting quality time with friends, and family, to be on my phone. LOTS of quality time, time that I will never get back. I like the idea of being able to make money through your phone, but if it comes at a cost like this then I am not interested. Let me tell you about my story and why I am cutting back my Instagram usage drastically.
So, in case anyone hasn’t noticed I have been getting hella likes on my pictures on Instagram, I kind of grew in less than a month. I was super proud of myself. I had just had my stomach removed, I beat cancer, and I was lowkey becoming an Instagram public figure. I have had over four companies send me free items to promote on my Instagram page, and who doesn’t love free stuff right?? I started out with 840 followers, not I am almost at 1300. Remember, this all happened over the course of about a month and a half, basically once I returned to Tennessee after my surgery. Don’t get me wrong I always loved Instagram, but this love was different, I was obsessed.
If you don’t know Instagram is against the use of “promotional groups” to get more likes and comments on your photos. Basically, what these promotional groups are is a “like for like” or “comment for comment” type thing. I did not know these were not allowed, and at one point was a part of about 11 groups. Imagine that, ELEVEN groups that I had to keep up with daily just to get likes from people I don’t even know. And those people definitely don’t care about me. This morning I received a temporary like ban, meaning I was unable to like people pictures because I was using Instagram so much, they thought I was a bot. THAT’S WHEN THINGS REALLY CAME INTO PERSPECTIVE. I was using a site so much that they thought I wasn’t an actual human…. WHAT. I admit I had no idea it was against the rules to use these groups, and I have deleted myself from all of them since finding out this morning. But like I said, I didn’t know this was against the rules. And trust me when I say I won’t be using those groups anymore.
So, why was I so obsessed with Instagram? I have put a lot of thought into that question since I started using it all the time. I think a part of me wanting something to commit to, something to keep me occupied, something to motivate me. With Instagram I would do my makeup just to take pictures, even if I didn’t want to put makeup on. I would get out of bed to do mini photoshoots, even if I didn’t want to. But in reality, I should want to do all of those things regardless of my social media impact. I mean I started posting more on Instagram to promote my blog, and if you haven’t noticed my blog posts have decreased and I haven’t been advertising them on Instagram. WHICH WAS THE WHOLE POINT.
I guess what I’m trying to say it yes, Instagram can be fun. You can have really fun mini photoshoots with your friends, and get all dressed up, and get a lot of likes. But those people don’t care about you like the ones you love. At the end of the day your picture is just a picture to like. I intend to make a point of spending a lot less time on Instagram. It can easily consume you, the rush I got when one of my pictures had 800 likes was insane. I couldn’t believe that many people liked my picture. But those people were not my friends, they were strangers I don’t even know.
I’ll still be on Instagram, if you care to follow and like my pictures that’s great! If not, that’s fine too! But I no longer want to be the person that sits around constantly looking at their phone and missing life. I could have died from cancer, and I don’t want to waste the second chance I got through social media.
