Is it worth it?

re-evaluating my take on Instagram

Last month I was scrolling on Instagram (ugh) and came across a reel where someone recommended that if you don’t feel your glutes engaging during a bulgarian split squat, you should try hinging forward at the hips. I save so many workout reels and never look at them again but for some reason I did remember this one, re-watched it at the gym later that week, tried it, and oh my god did I feel it right away. Honestly, it kind of blew my mind that this 10 second video was a game-changer and solved a problem I didn’t even know I had (I previously felt these only in my quads and then couldn’t walk for 2 days).

This got me thinking about the benefits of Instagram, and social media more broadly. It makes pretty much every kind of information easily accessible. It’s also a great platform to maintain friendships with people that I don’t see regularly or who don’t live close by; posts and stories offer a little window into my friends’ lives and reactions serve as a low effort way to keep these connections alive.

This train of thought was a major plot twist for a social media/big tech hater. They’ve engineered these apps to be addictive, don’t care about negative mental health consequences on kids or adults, exploit our personal data, and strip us of privacy. Regardless, the bulgarian split squat video got me thinking about if the positives outweigh the negatives for anyone who’s on social media. I brought this up to friends who use Instagram to a varying degree, here’s what they said:

Was there anything from your time on Instagram this past month that made the negative aspects worth it?

• Positives: posting my own content, I like displaying my photos via the app. Negatives: too many ads. - browser, 34 min daily average

• Positives: someone unexpectedly dming me, finding out about professional events. Negatives: addictive, I lose control over my time, social comparison, lower self esteem. - active participant, 50 min

• Positives: seeing pretty art and pictures. Negatives: wasting my time, fomo, wanting to buy things. - browser, 21 min

• Positives: spending time with other people and messaging, finding exercises to strengthen my body. Negatives: brainrot, comparing myself, fomo, being fed content that is toxic or makes me think in toxic ways. - browser, 40 min

• Positives: Msging friends, health and exercise tips, fashion inspo. Negatives: life updates from people I don’t want to think about, unwanted self-help content, astrology. - active participant, 40 min

So… it is worth it. (?) (based on this statistically invalid poll)

Someone did ask me last month (literally 3 days before I saw the bulgarian split squat video) if I thought social media could be beneficial and I immediately blurted out “no, it’s not engineered to be used in a healthy way”. But, after hearing my friends’ answers and thinking more about my own, I’m not so confident in my knee-jerk response. I still think Instagram bombards us with content which is sometimes harmful, fuels anxiety and dopamine addiction, and makes data cows* out of us. But after seeing how different the above responses are, I’m realizing that it’s impact on an individual might be more so shaped by how it’s used and a user’s relationship with it. Maybe Instagram isn’t inherently harmful, and we just need to be more conscious and critical when interacting with social media content.

How do we do that?

• Be intentional! Focus on your positives from being on the app, what keeps you on Instagram? Then actively choose your content. I recognize this is limited given the explore feed and ads but we do have some say, like unfollowing people we don’t want to see, using the “I’m not interested in this content” button, and not watching stuff we shouldn’t. I have tried resetting my algo and it didn’t seem to work - anyone have luck with it? Ex: one of my friends only checked Insta 3 times this month to verify gossip and kept the app off her phone otherwise and she felt no fomo.

• I’ve mentioned before that I delete Instagram when I’m not using it, this has been a great way to prevent default scrolling when I’m bored.

• Everyone I spoke with overrides their app timers…. but what if we didn’t? I too am guilty of this and am not sure how. I did hear of someone who locked the app and only gave the password to 1 friend who then had to be around when they were on the app, that might be an option but it also gives child on a leash. I also have heard from many people that only accessing the app from a laptop tremendously lessens the appeal of scrolling.

• Reclaim control! Do not go on the app in the morning so that you don’t start the day with a dopamine spike. It will make the rest of your day shitty, which is truly devastating !!

• Any other ideas ?

Author’s Note: I was on the verge of deleting the app permanently when I started working on this essay so please take my current opinion with a grain of salt.

*shout out to my friend Andoeni for coining the phrase “data cow”