If you’re an avid social media user like me, I hope someone relates to this issue. About two years ago, when I had significantly less followers, my occasional monthly post on Instagram would garner likes from around ⅔ of my followers. Mind you, I wasn’t posting anything professional: just typical pictures that a high school senior would post. It’s a different story now. When I make my obligatory monthly post, it does… badly, to say the least. At first I thought my posts might not be as aesthetically pleasing or trendy anymore, but after I told my friends about it, they confessed that they were experiencing the same issue. “Are we really that cringe?” This couldn’t be true: even my influencer friend was having the same issue. I don’t really think that it’s our fault: I think Instagram is starting to finally die off.
Think about it for a minute: fast-paced video sharing apps (like TikTok) really took off around 2020, especially during quarantine. I’m willing to bet that you’ve opened the app in the past hour. It’s well known by now that TikTok is super addicting. But I think it’s more than the dopamine rush that it gives us that’s pulling us away from Instagram. TikTok has plenty of short videos, yes, but most tiktoks I see on my For You Page are made really casually (or at least maintaining that illusion), often while the people aren’t quite well dressed or they aren’t wearing any makeup. If you think about it, it’s really not common to see someone looking unkempt on their Instagram. I think one reason why people are leaving Instagram behind is because it’s too formal, and it is not fun or thought-provoking. I know I get tired of seeing the same selfie pose, or the same latte art being posted time after time. With Tiktok, there’s something new for you with every swipe down the screen you make.
Going back to Instagram’s formality and Tiktok’s casual nature, I believe we’re shifting to more of a low-effort culture. It’s refreshing to see someone who’s got smudged eyeliner and an obvious hangover post the tiktok storytime of their drunk party antics, rather than seeing their polished pre-party photos on Instagram. We’ve seen so many photos in the same position, wearing the same dresses in front of identical clubs or frat houses that we’re tired of it. Give us the juicy details of the party night! Tell us what we missed! While TikTok is a breeding ground for insecurities and anxiety in a similar way that Instagram is, TikTok provides a deeper look into people’s experiences. Youth today crave relatability. We’ve gone through so many life-altering events, and exposure to so much world media that we want to see someone’s story that is similar to ours. Looking perfect on Instagram is not something that anyone can relate to 100% of the time. But a college student’s borg tutorial? That’s something I want to try, and know I can succeed at.