Alterations

As some of you probably noticed, I decided to unfreeze my Instagram account. The original reason why I unfroze it was because I was trying to look for this photo of me playing viola in my Aunt's garden & I couldn't find it on Facebook. Thinking that the only place it probably was was my frozen Instagram account, I reluctantly unfroze it.

Of course, once I found the photo, I didn't immediately freeze my account again & delete the app. I wanted to see what went on while I was gone; I looked at the new adjustments Instagram added, my closest friends' profiles, & my feed. But as I was going through my feed, it only reminded me of the reasons why I decided to freeze my Instagram account in the first place.

After I deleted my Instagram post last year, I wrote a blogpost called Why I Froze My Insta. Writing this blog post helped me come to terms with how this app has done more harm than good to me. Writing this article a year after has helped me figure out how much less I care about this app.

When I was in highschool, Instagram was unconsciously a huge part of my life. I never admitted it because I thought it was just an intangible social media page, but looking back, I realise that I was always thinking about my Instagram account. I have always been surrounded by friends & classmates who would somehow get 500-1,000 likes on a photo. I think the highest I ever got was 182. Months before I deleted my Instagram account, I always had this rule: If a photo doesn't receive at least 100 likes, you have to delete it. It crushes me to think that the approval of others determined what I decided to show on my profile. 

I would also be constantly worried about what my next big Instagram post would be, so I was always looking for photo opportunities-a habit that turned me into a person I never wanted to become. For example, if I was visiting somewhere spectacular with my family, instead of soaking in the moment, all I was thinking was, "okay, will a photo in front of the Eiffel Tower get me over 100 likes?'. 

Looking back, I am glad that I discovered that this app has done more harm than good to me. I have decided to challenge myself with the way I present my Instagram. The only photos that are going to have only me in it are going to be my Facebook profile pictures. Other than that, I will only post photos of friends, family (including Reese), & still life on my Instagram page. I feel like doing this will change me & the way I think about myself for the better.

I am no longer a highschool student. I am no longer stuck inside a building for eight hours a day with teenagers constantly comparing themselves to one another-& only showing off their strengths on social media. Most of the time, we never knew of the weaknesses hiding on the other side of the door. 

I am a college student. Yes, I am sometimes stuck inside a building for an hour or two, but we are adults. We have bigger things to care about than social media; we care more about becoming the best individual we can be through our majors. From now on, that's the type of person I will strive to be.