For many of us young adults, envisioning a future without Instagram feels nearly impossible. In 2024, it is clear that this app is the main form of social media. It’s a fundamental contributor to our social lives, interactions, and self-perceptions. Therefore, imagining a future that’s free from Instagram certainly feels bizarre. But what about those of us who can barely even remember a time when Instagram wasn’t part of our lives?
I am going to call us Instagram Kids, those of us who got the app at an age many would consider far too young. And there are many of us out there. I, for one, first made an account at nine years old. As I am currently 19, this means I have had an Instagram account for the majority of my life. Wow.
Over 10 years, Instagram grew from its vintage logo to its vibrant pink icon, from its strictly singular posts to its stories, notes, and countless reels. All the while, I went from being a child to being a young adult. But, through all of this, there was a consistency: my toxic relationship to the app. From the very beginning, I used Instagram as a form of an alternate, digital self-identity and the way others perceived my account was always crucial to me, and it frankly still is.
As I look back on my pre-teen years, I realize I developed an addictive, comparative, and obsessive relationship with Instagram, which saddens me. So now, I reflect back and I ask myself, was my childhood ruined by Instagram?
I am conflicted because I do think there were some positive outcomes that came from my young start to the app. I gained an interest in photography, shared my art, and connected with friends. I certainly felt included in the circle of social life, which felt good. But was any of it worth it?
Since I am not sure, I decided to ask my friend. I’ll call her Jay, who is currently 19 and got her Instagram at only seven years old. I asked Jay to reflect on her very early start to Instagram, if there were any beneficial aspects to getting the app so early, and about any negative aspects of the platform.
Jay started by reflecting on the beginning days of her Instagram journey, which remains ongoing. “My first ever post was made on February 17, 2023 … it still exists and I’m still able to look back at it. There’s something kind of cool about having an archive like that, about being able to look back at what I thought would be interesting,” she said. She is grateful for her ability to look back at what she found significant enough to post as a young girl. Instagram serves as a time capsule for not only our memories in photos but also for the people behind those posts. But Jay doesn’t shy away from expressing her feelings of resentment as well. “Simultaneously, that first post represents the beginning of a long and treacherous relationship that I am still controlled by today.”
So on the one hand she feels as though her first Instagram posts are a form of a time capsule. But on the other hand, they mark the start of what she ultimately found to be a distressing journey with the app.
“I feel like it probably made me more insecure just generally,” she said. This is a fair response which I can certainly relate to. However, Instagram feels increasingly more addictive due to the addition of reels. “But I don’t think it was until the age of TikTok and short-form content like Instagram reels that it really started affecting the way I spend my time,” she explained. Instagram has become a hub of short-term entertainment, a completely different app than the one I experienced as a kid. Therefore, I can say I am grateful that I experienced the less addictive version of the app when I was young.
Jay expands on some of her gratitude for her early start to the app. She expresses that now she feels more confident navigating Instagram given her years of experience. “Getting the app so early means that I understand the kind of relationship I want to have with it now.” She has built up strong boundaries with how the app interferes with her life. Jay feels as though she has lost years to this app as a tween, but now feels that she has a more responsible relationship with it.
I finally asked her if she felt that Instagram ultimately affected her childhood. “Yes, but I think the worst part is that it became a norm for me, so early so life without it now feels crazy.” Despite feeling more in tune with the negative effects of Instagram, she also feels that her 12 years on the app caused her inability to imagine a life without it.
In response to if she had anything to say to other young adults who felt their childhoods were robbed of innocence from creating Instagram accounts at young ages: “It’s never too late to reinvent your relationship with it now,” Jay said.
This is the exact mindset I believe we should carry as we move into adulthood. And at the same time, it’s okay to be resentful of early exposure to a large social media app. Although there is no going back in time, we can move forward and foster healthy relationships on social media. No childhood can be ruined, only shaped.
*Name has been changed.