Like most teenage girls in this day and age, I love Instagram. I say “most” because I’m well aware that some girls may not love or even use it. Personally, however, I really enjoy it. For me, editing pictures is relaxing. Plus, I love keeping up with my friends and family by viewing pictures that say more about a moment than a text ever could. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words, right?
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Despite my unending love for the app, over the summer I began to realize that it was taking over my life. It would be the first thing I checked when I woke up and the last thing I saw before I went to bed. This was a getting to be a huge problem.
Growing increasingly frustrated with how much Instagram was affecting my life, I deleted the app. Immediately after doing so, I texted one of my best friends news of what I had just done. She predicted that my absence from the social media platform wouldn’t last…
She was right.
I re-downloaded Instagram the following day, but I learned how to turn off my notifications. It seemed like a fitting compromise and a better alternative than deleting the app altogether. So that’s what I did and this is what happened:
1. My Battery Life Doubled
It’s a no brainer that when you stop getting notifications as frequently, your screen will cease to light up, therefore saving your phone’s battery. I never realized how much battery was being drained automatically and unnecessarily. Now, I can go a whole day without charging my phone, simply because I no longer receive those annoying notifications.
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2. I Stopped Checking Instagram Constantly
Maybe I’m the only one, but whenever an Instagram notification would pop up, I would automatically swipe right to check my feed. Notifications made me more prone to endless scrolling. Without them, I only check Instagram when I want, instead of feeling like I have to.
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3. I Stopped Feeling Pressured to Post
With notifications no longer blowing up my phone, the constant reminder to keep up with the rest of the world no longer consumed me. With notifications, I was always looking for something to post or an “edgy” picture to take. Without them, I can live my life without that pressure. Now, I post when I feel like I want to, instead of when I feel like I need to.
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4. I Stopped “Doing It For The Footage”
Instead of doing things in order to post a picture about it on Instagram, I began to do things because I thought they were fun. Sometimes, watching a movie on Friday night and having an all-nighter with your best friends sounds more appealing than anything else in the entire world. I started to do things that made me truly happy, instead of doing things because I felt like I had to for a good picture.
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5. I Stopped Letting Instagram Define Me
A lot of people will come up to me and say, “Your Instagram is SO GOOD.” A few months ago, that would’ve been awesome to hear and sometimes, it still is. But, that’s not my favorite compliment. I want to take pictures that allow me to strike up a conversation about more than just aesthetics. I want my pictures to represent who I am as a person, but not be who I am as a person. I agree that “a picture is a thousand words,” but I am so much more than even that.
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I will never stop taking pictures; I love capturing memories in order to have something to look back on. However, I have stopped letting Instagram control my happiness because of one simple step. This decision has made a huge difference in my mind and my life. I encourage you to do the same.