4 Reasons I Deleted Instagram as a Gen Z
For the record, I was born in 1998. I don’t remember dial-up internet but there is a room in my parents’ house we still call “The Computer Room” where we all shared one chunky, beige computer. My early baby pictures were printed and mostly stayed in the Costco envelopes they came home in. My brother was born in 2001 and most of his baby pictures are burnt onto CDs. I’m kind of a cusper.
This isn’t my first attempt at deleting Instagram off my phone. My account feels necessary for a multitude of reasons, but it does not need to be on my phone. In the past, every time I deleted the app I would tell myself it was exam season or I wanted to do more reading or reach a certain goal. In all honestly, this made welcoming the app back onto my phone much easier.
This time, there is no measurable finish line.
All I know is I’ve still spent about 5 hours on my phone every day this week and I don’t know where that time went.
Quitting social media is a far-sighted goal for me. It’s like how I follow a vegetarian diet even though I had to try the homemade beef jerky when we got a dehydrator… and those hot chicken wings that one drunken night.
I first became a vegetarian at 17, somehow surviving two years on garlic bread and French fries before crawling back to meat for a few months. I gave the vegetarian diet another go, this time with not only a more adventurous pallet but a more urgent why — the climate crisis. I’ve pretty much stayed on track ever since.
I’ve hit a similar renaissance with social media. It’s not about perfection but the effort and ideas behind it.
The 4 main reasons I deleted my social media apps:
1. Time is a limited resource
For me, Instagram is the worst contender in the wasting time department. My thumb finds the app without consciously looking. I spend upwards of 3 hours a day on Instagram. And what do I remember of those 3 hours yesterday? Not much.
There is some great content on Instagram though. Content that makes me laugh and forget hardships.
Instead of seeking content to simultaneously make me feel and let me forget how to feel, a better use of my time would be making meaningful human connections. As for funny content, there’s really no shortage of that on the internet I’ll just have to find that elsewhere. Sometimes I need to remind myself that the internet pre-exists social media.
2. Too Much Unnecessary Information
What’s my high school bestie up to? Is her sister is having a baby? Is that her new boyfriend?!
Don’t get me wrong, information is power. I connected with other people’s lived experiences, which I wouldn’t have been able to do without social media. I’ve learned how to change my mind when I receive new information and what can happen when you refuse to complicate your ideas.
But this random information takes up space in my mind and only makes social interactions harder in person. What is an appropriate amount of information to have about someone you haven’t seen in 8 years?
3. Comparison
I can’t help but compare my drab life to the highlight reel.
I want the people in my life to achieve everything they work for. But knowing nothing about some kid I sat close to in the fifth grade other than the fact that they have a great job, a lovely relationship and a cute dog, weighs on me.
4. Consumerism
It’s everywhere. People are making money off other people’s attention. I am not saying people who make money this way don’t deserve it. What I am saying is that somewhere along the way, Instagram started feeling more like an Avon catalogue rather than a social network.
Every bit of attention I give to technology translates to data that can be bought and sold. There is no way of being on the internet without consuming and being consumed. That makes me pretty uncomfortable.
Instagram will no longer be on my phone. It is just too easy to get distracted and I need to be able to eliminate distractions that only interrupt me.
I hope that by staying off of the app, I will be able to spend more time on “distractions” that energize me and make me feel fulfilled. Focusing on hobbies that give me a sense of accomplishment, like reading, drawing and baking, instead of scrolling, scrolling and scrolling is no doubt a better use of my time, bandwidth and money.
