So, I just finished my Instagram-free week, and honestly, it went way better than I thought it was going to go. I decided on April 2 that I was going to delete Instagram for a week, just as an experiment. I didn’t really take into account how often I was using the app until I didn’t have it. I knew it was going to be hard, but I wanted to see the effects of living life without one of the biggest sources of social media in today’s day and age.
During the first few days, it didn’t really register that I was without it until I actually went on my phone and clicked on Pinterest (12 times that day) instead, because that’s what I replaced Instagram’s icon with, haha. And it would be a little disappointing, but I would just continue to persevere. The thing I noticed, though, is that when this would happen, I would just turn off my phone and be present in real life. It genuinely felt like, without Instagram, I had nothing else to do on my phone.
It made me realize that it was never really about the concept of Instagram or the content, it’s just the motion of scrolling, filling extra time, mindlessly watching reels, and viewing other people’s lives through the screen.
In complete honesty, there were two times throughout the week where I logged onto my account on my laptop just to look, I didn’t view any stories or engage with any posts. I got on the app just to look, and the amount of media that was on my feed was nevertheless pretty overwhelming. It was eye-opening to see how much media and content I consume every day.
Obviously, no shame in using Instagram – because I am going to continue using it now that my experiment is over – but will definitely be limiting my usage, because over the course of not having it, I realized there really is no point spending so many hours on the app every day.
And as for the effects, I definitely felt freer in terms of the fact that I’m just doing my own thing and not letting others on social media impact my life and actions. Like… it is kind of fun and mysterious not knowing what is going on in other people’s lives. I also feel that I have been more present in my real life and just more productive overall, and I believe that is because I had to find other things to do instead of having that access to doom-scrolling on Insta.
If you feel like you are also somewhat addicted to Instagram, I suggest you also do a digital detox and see where it takes you.