What they don't tell you about Instagram

What does Instagram do?

Basically, it takes people’s attention and resells it to others. Your attention (read: information about your persona, your “likes and dislikes”) these days is money. Social media sells this information about you to other corporations, brands, so they could know how to get to their target audience.

Why do brands need bloggers, social media influencers?

Because brands go to wherever the audience is. That’s the law. They pay for the viewership. First, your attention goes to the person you follow. Second, when that person shares his new, cool headphones, your full attention is on that product. Moreover, if you follow that person, you must like him at least a little bit. Might even consider him to be your virtual friend. So his advice about a certain product, movie, anything becomes almost as valuable as your real friend’s advice. And you wouldn’t expect him to lie about it, would you?

What is the cost of 30 minutes on Instagram per day?

It’s 3,5 h spent on Instagram in a week. Each one of you can convert it to whatever you value most. 3,5h with loved ones, time spent improving yourself (sport, intellectual pursuits, hobbies), etc.

Should Instagram have age restriction?

“Pff, of course not”, - was my first thought. But then, have given it a second thought, would I want my teenage kid having an account on Instagram? I don’t know. Does a kid know what he’s entering into when signing up on Instagram? There is an opinion that schools nowadays have to have a class where children would be taught about relationship with social media. Children need to have tools to know how Instagram impacts on them and how to distance themselves from social media when needed. One can only imagine what impact can Instagram have on a kid, whose emotional and psychological awareness is still forming.

Can one be addicted to Instagram?

Absolutely. First, you form a habit. Then it becomes an addiction. When you scroll through Instagram, observe life of a certain person you follow, you get this chemical dopamine released in your brain and you become addicted to it (like when you drink alcohol or smoke weed). But then again, to say that addiction to Instagram is bad, one need to recognize negative effect of Instagram in his life. If your other parts of life suffer because of time spent on Instagram, if your emotional and psychological well-being is being damaged because of illusions you get from Instagram, then it is a bad addiction.

Who is “social media influencer” and why he has appeared?

The easiest way to define “social media influencer” is to say that it’s the one who influences on other people: the way they think, live, and so on. But is it really so? How can one compare the influence DJ Khaled has and the influence Martin Luther King had? If these social media influencers are the influencers we have these days, well… If there is nor Instagram, nor YouTube tomorrow, will these bloggers still influence on other people’s lives? Will their influence be good? Will it really change anything in the world?

But on the other hand, it shows us how desperate people have become. People have so much free time that they don’t know what to do with themselves, so they need guidance. They need someone to tell them what to do with their lives – how to motivate themselves, which product to buy, which restaurant to go, how to speak and what words to say. They need a successful example they feel attached to and hope that one day, if they follow the influencer’s suggestions, they will be the same. It is so much easier to rely on someone’s opinion then to spend some time with yourself in silence (or not, up to you) and to discover your own needs and desires. It is so much easier to look at the other person’s “ideal” family pictures and avoiding trying making an attempt to improve or build happy environment in your own family.

What can I say, people just want to be famous and share “the talent of being a personality” with the world. Me myself I enjoy Instagram. My only wish is that we bring a little more consciousness to this social media rollercoaster. And not treat social media as a quick substitute of our own real needs.