Instagram, I bid you farewell
Well well, guess who just quit Instagram? For the longest time, I really haven’t got much out of social media. I’ve been entertaining myself with the idea of just deleting my account, but for one reason or another, I’ve always managed to convince myself that it might be useful somehow. Eventually I got just too exhausted of the whole algorithm worship, hollowness and toxic content so I just decided to let it go.
The early years of Instagram were honestly fun and it was especially nice platform for photographers. Those days are long gone now and I can’t remember the last time I’ve got actual enjoyment of Instagram (or any social media for that matter).
I deleted my Facebook account in 2022, which seemed like a big deal at the time. It was a surprisingly big decision, even though Facebook literally made me puke. Even back then, I always managed to convince myself that I might need it for something. How ever, each new post or comment thread that I encountered, just enforced the feeling that I can’t be bothered to spend any more time for such garbage. Then I just pulled the plug and to my surprise, it wasn’t such a big deal after all. I really haven’t missed Facebook.
Enter 2024. Deleting Instagram seemed just as big decision. It was perhaps even a bit harder to let go, because it has been a key platform for sharing photos. Times have changed though and it is really not a good platform for photography at all. I don’t know whether it has ever been. Whatever little interest I had left for Instagram, I lost the remaining bit when they started to copy TikTok and it became mostly a tool for influencers.
Just like Facebook, I really don’t miss Instagram. I actually just feel free.
For now, I’ll just continue maintaining my website. It might not be “social” because there’s no likes, comments or followers, but hey, is that any different compared to Instagram? During the past couple of years, I’ve been only losing followers and getting a handful of likes per post, so I don’t honestly feel like missing out on much. I still just want be a photographer, not a “digital content creator” or whatever is considered to be hot there days
At the risk of sounding a bit cheesy, I’ll just say that if I need social connections, I’ll call a friend or go talk to someone at a coffee shop. I don’t need the attention or fake comments by bots and I’m not going to pursue a career as an influencer to get likes. If I need worthwhile content, I’ll buy a photo book or watch a documentary. As far as I’m concerned, the days of mindless scrolling are over.
