The Pressures Of Social Media: Making Instagram Casual Again?
If you’re anything like me (or majority of society) I am willing to bet most of your free time is spent scrolling on Instagram. Social media addiction is at an all time high with constantly changing trends, memes and an overload of information. How could we not spend all day on an app that lets us see everything happening in the world 24/7? While all social media has its benefits, it of course adds a lot of extra pressure in our lives. The pressure to be in the loop at all times, to post what people actually want to see and what will make them perceive you to be that “cool, hip and hot user.”
Instagram culture is constantly changing and what is and isn’t acceptable to post is a hard concept to keep up with. In late 2020, the newest Instagram trend was to “make Instagram casual again.” The days of fake modeling, crazy vacation photos and bragging were over and people decided that Instagram needed to be taken down a peg and posts needed to start becoming more “realistic.” This concept sounds appealing and seems like the perfect way to “detoxify” an app that creates envy in a matter of seconds, but did it only make it harder to fit in?
I’m no stranger to the casual Instagram world. When the trend first began I thought it was a fun way to choose random pictures from your camera roll and share your day to day life. But as I continued to make posts I found myself picking apart every single photo I chose. It’s a lot of pressure to come off “casually perfect,” especially when the perfect person doesn’t even exist. Pre casual Instagram made it so easy to make your life look perfect; filters, facetune, photoshoots etc. were easy to pull off because the harder you tried, the better your posts looked. When society decided to dial all of that back, I found it to be a struggle to find anything that matched the level of those “try hard” posts without making it look like I was actually trying. I found myself taking pictures of anything and everything around me hoping my life could look as scenic and beautiful as I wanted people to believe it was. I felt more pressure from the app than I ever had before.
The problem with making Instagram casual is that it’s never been less casual in its entire evolution. You need to post the perfect amount of pictures, with the perfect amount of relevance while looking silly but beautiful, friendly but cool, drunk but not too drunk, social but relaxed, the list of oxymorons goes on and on. If you're not constantly surrounded by the party lifestyle, the pretty friends, and the stunning locations, your casual instagram post is not enough. How is this trend any less painful & toxic than what Instagram was before? When life slows down there’s not enough to post, when life is at an all time high you spend the majority of your memories on your phone taking pictures or constantly posting. There is no happy medium in this casual concept.
I look at Instagram as a way to express yourself. However you feel is best to do that is what should be enough for your followers, friends and most importantly, yourself. Posting what you want, when you want should be the absolute and total goal of the app. Post your highs, post your lows, post what you think describes you best. Your art, makeup, fashion, or lifestyle. Whatever you think suits your interests is what people should see on their feeds. Social media has a long way to go before it can be a completely non-toxic and supportive outlet, but “making Instagram casual again” is not the answer.
Post carefully but fully, my friends!