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I deleted Instagram recently. (And Twitter, which I seldom used anyway.) My God, it feels so good to be free of it. But why did I do this?
Instagram is Time-Consuming
I’ve had Instagram since 2013. I had two accounts, a ‘general’ one and one for my hair. Between both accounts, I had hundreds of pictures. If I could add up all the time spent perfecting angles, filters, hashtags, captions — well. It would be a lot of time.
Imagine what I could have done instead. When I wake up now, the first thing I do is a crossword puzzle. Or I read a section of whichever book I’m reading. (Currently it’s the Dark Tower Series by Stephen King.) I wasted so much time cultivating images I was posting online for strangers. It became too much. So I deleted Instagram.
Notifications and Hashtags Galore
Oh my word, the notifications. Since I deleted Instagram (and removed Facebook and Gmail from my phone), I only get notifications from WhatsApp, Messenger, and text messages. Phones were designed to make calls and receive messages. That’s it. They were not meant to be a machine that constantly buzzes become someone liked our selfie.
Seriously though, it became a headache. The constant likes. Follower-updates. ‘So-and-so’ posted for the first time in a while. WHO THE FUCK CARES?! I don’t need to know this.
Anxiety Worsening
Many people who leave the app say ‘I deleted Instagram because it was bad for my mental health.’ I have anxiety. I felt like I was being sucked into my phone. I don’t feel that anymore. The constant updates and notifications pulled me in. People with addictive personalities really don’t need that. The dopamine overload fries the brain.
Comparing Lives
Stalking exes on Instagram. Looking at pictures of friends beautifully groomed. Celebrities. IT IS SUCH A WASTE OF FUCKING TIME. Not to mention, seriously depressing. Again, I know I’m not alone here. Everyone on Instagram makes themselves look perfect.
I remember one Halloween, I was sitting in bed eating Chinese and watching Jane the Virgin. Seeing other people dressed up and going out is just sad. (Funny thing is, I love Chinese food, and Jane the Virgin is a fantastic show. But Instagram makes you feel lonely and miserable if your life isn’t a constant party.)
Pointless Trends
Posts a ‘slip’ picture of oneself saying ‘until tomorrow.’ Black-and-white images are meant to spread female solidarity. A black square somehow stops African-Americans being murdered by cops.
I’m being harsh. I know it’s just a bit of fun. But again, it’s time-consuming, and made me feel sucked in. Plus, if you don’t join in the trend, you naturally feel left out. Even if you’re the most content loner on the planet. You still feel like stuff is happening without you.
Instagram hasn’t helped me sell books
This is the biggest reason why I deleted Instagram. In the last two years, I’ve turned to Instagram as a platform for promotion. I posted clips of me playing music. Images of my book covers. I had a set of automated hashtags. And strangers within seconds of posting ‘liked’ my images. Some random bot pages said ‘great job!’ or ‘nice picture!’
I got random DM’s from pages saying ‘hey, love your content! Want to help grow your Instagram followers to six-trillion? Message me for only four-hundred dollars!’
Here’s the thing. You may use Instagram honestly to promote your work. But then it gets lost in the stream of hashtags and other people’s work. People on Instagram look at images for about 1.3 milliseconds.
Hardly anyone engages with the content being posted (unless it’s part of a dumb trend).
In all honesty
Instagram is not a place where people engage with each other’s work. Fundamentally, it is a popularity app. It’s about making your life look the most glam. It’s about gaining likes and followers and noteriety.
Yes, once again I’m being harsh and dry. (I’m like that.) I’m not saying you should delete Instagram too. Maybe it works for you. I did some great work with a finance blogger last year whom I met on Instagram. (Well, technically we met on a Facebook thread where bloggers were encouraged to follow each other’s Instagrams.)
Social Media is meant to work for you, not the other way around. And Instagram was not working for me. It was making me exhausted. I want to cultivate a genuine audience. I have moved my blog to WordPress. I’m editing all my posts, with Yoast Premium for search engine optimization. This is driving blog traffic. I have a mailing list you can join here. (You get a free copy of my poetry book upon sign-up.)
Once a month a newsletter goes out, offering giveaways and cross-promo with other authors. And I have a Facebook group. (Facebook has actually been a useful author networking tool for me.)
But Instagram has not been useful for me. So I deleted Instagram, and I don’t plan on returning.
These are the main reasons why I deleted Instagram. Do you use Instagram, or do you spurn it? Let me know below!
