Thanks for sharing this! If you visit our Instagram page, you’ll see I haven’t posted in a while. Largely this is because the scheduling up went haywire and then I lost momentum. But if I look more deeply, it’s nowhere near as satisfying as engaging with my stack subs all waiting for me in my inbox without ads.
I haven’t made the decision yet because I want to make sure I’m promoting the creatives I feature and a lot of them are there... but each time I see a ‘suggested post’ I just want to throw my phone out of the window.
Thanks for reading! I totally get what you mean - the thing I liked most about Instagram was that it felt like a digital album and portfolio. I personally found it hard to part with this aspect of it... but I had a moment where I realized I was seeing my IG page as a "must do".
I enjoy Substack a lot more and getting to meet others who are into long-form content. It's also great that we get to pick *when* we want to read something :)
am in the process of cranking down my instagram usage, its always inspiring and motivating to read positive experiences of it! i can absolutely relate to not wanting to 'perform' anymore and not finding 'sharable' moments
Yes that's what we're here to do - share experiences! Not having to find shareable moments is really liberating; it's a different kind of freedom and I highly recommend it :)
I quit the 'gram 5 months ago to help my antidepressant work better (lol, to be a modern woman). Having been on the app for 8+ years prior, I too was feeling very out of touch with my taste and found myself framing events and places and people in terms of their share-ability, effectively losing my personal experience of and connection to them. As a creative, I find it hard to straddle the line between seeing the work of others as inspiring vs completely informative of what I 'should' or 'could' be doing/making. Instagram became a portal to lose myself in, rather than find connection as it was initially for me. Whether I'll ever return, I'm not sure - but I find it comforting that you & so many other folks are getting more honest about their relationship to it and taking time to sit with themselves again. Really is a wild time to be alive.
Thanks Kaitlin for being here and sharing your experience. I have to ask: how do you feel now that you're 5 months off?!
The underlying question of whether we're in touch with ourselves is real. Before I deleted the app, I remember thinking how I spent 10 years on there - can I even discern if I'm truly interested in certain hobbies or things? Or do I want them because it makes me feel more presentable? That's what i'm most excited to discover for myself.
From what I've experienced, being a creative on social requires a lot of discernment. Finding the balance between inspiration vs. comparison can be hard, but I believe that with devotion, we can always find out what feels best for our creativity and expression. xo
Thanks Suki, I’m happy to be here and feel this is a really relevant and worthwhile discourse.
Re: being off of Insta for 5 months now, I feel more in tune with myself and my tastes. I have more time in my day to check in, move my body, be creative or simply rest where before I would have doom-scrolled to no benefit.
I joke to my partner weekly that I feel like I’m actually having “original thoughts” again...which is funny, but also in a way jarring. That it’s normalized for us to onboard ideas, preferences and wants from our feeds, not from our inner intuitive voices is really concerning; I feel it actually underpins the themes of insecurity and lost-ness of our generation(s).
I like your consideration of pursuing pastimes and possessions for presentability vs. pleasure. I’ve been weighing this for myself in the time since quitting the gram - questioning my motives and the frameworks I have built around things. Eg. Do I actually want to learn to knit, or do I like the way other people present themselves when they are knitting? Do I really like this musician’s work, or am I impressed by their online presence and the feeling of being in on something cool I get by following them? Do I follow this influencer because I believe in her messaging, or do I keep her on my feed because I am addicted to comparison & having a metric to (unfairly) measure myself against? Etc. I’m more curious about what I reach for when I’m not having products, ideas and media pushed at me through my pocket computer - what feels organic and energizing rather than compulsory or optics-based?
I’m definitely feeling freer of these patterns these days, and am really excited about what it’s making space for in my life & my creative practice! And there’s been kind of a cascading effect - after quitting Instagram, I quit caffeine, and then alcohol a couple months later. Sounds dramatic, but I really did break away from the most addictive and perhaps unhelpful things in my life, and I’m happy to say that now that I’m no longer yo-yo-ing my neurotransmitters, my antidepressant works & I’m in a really nice space.
I look forward to hearing how your gram-free journey unfolds :) thanks for sharing! 🤍
This is so beautiful. I'm happy to hear that you feel freer and more yourself these days :) It gives me hope to know of the positive changes that took place in your life since leaving Instagram - so thank you again for sharing! I also like your interpretation of following our intuition as following "what feels organic and energizing" - it's definitely the feeling I'm reaching for.
This resonated with me a lot. I too have been on instagram for 10 years and have faced many ups and downs with my attachment to the platform. Once I decided I was only using it for business, I was able to set boundaries for myself around how I show up on the platform and how often. I feel like instagram is like a big shopping mall full of ads targeted to make you feel this sense of lack and scarcity. I'm glad you were able to make this decision for yourself and have stepped away from being a 'performer' so to speak. xoo
I'm happy that this connected with you, Tash! It sure has felt like a roller coaster ride for me too. I'm curious to hear your thoughts on how to set boundaries when it comes to using IG as a business platform; I know many entrepreneurs who also want to find this delicate balance :)
As for Instagram being a big shopping mall... spot on. I guess this is why I prefer online shopping now. Wouldn't it be cool if social platforms made money some other way, so that running ads are not their only incentive?
Thanks for sharing this! If you visit our Instagram page, you’ll see I haven’t posted in a while. Largely this is because the scheduling up went haywire and then I lost momentum. But if I look more deeply, it’s nowhere near as satisfying as engaging with my stack subs all waiting for me in my inbox without ads.
I haven’t made the decision yet because I want to make sure I’m promoting the creatives I feature and a lot of them are there... but each time I see a ‘suggested post’ I just want to throw my phone out of the window.
Thanks for reading! I totally get what you mean - the thing I liked most about Instagram was that it felt like a digital album and portfolio. I personally found it hard to part with this aspect of it... but I had a moment where I realized I was seeing my IG page as a "must do".
I enjoy Substack a lot more and getting to meet others who are into long-form content. It's also great that we get to pick *when* we want to read something :)
am in the process of cranking down my instagram usage, its always inspiring and motivating to read positive experiences of it! i can absolutely relate to not wanting to 'perform' anymore and not finding 'sharable' moments
Yes that's what we're here to do - share experiences! Not having to find shareable moments is really liberating; it's a different kind of freedom and I highly recommend it :)
I quit the 'gram 5 months ago to help my antidepressant work better (lol, to be a modern woman). Having been on the app for 8+ years prior, I too was feeling very out of touch with my taste and found myself framing events and places and people in terms of their share-ability, effectively losing my personal experience of and connection to them. As a creative, I find it hard to straddle the line between seeing the work of others as inspiring vs completely informative of what I 'should' or 'could' be doing/making. Instagram became a portal to lose myself in, rather than find connection as it was initially for me. Whether I'll ever return, I'm not sure - but I find it comforting that you & so many other folks are getting more honest about their relationship to it and taking time to sit with themselves again. Really is a wild time to be alive.
Thanks Kaitlin for being here and sharing your experience. I have to ask: how do you feel now that you're 5 months off?!
The underlying question of whether we're in touch with ourselves is real. Before I deleted the app, I remember thinking how I spent 10 years on there - can I even discern if I'm truly interested in certain hobbies or things? Or do I want them because it makes me feel more presentable? That's what i'm most excited to discover for myself.
From what I've experienced, being a creative on social requires a lot of discernment. Finding the balance between inspiration vs. comparison can be hard, but I believe that with devotion, we can always find out what feels best for our creativity and expression. xo
Thanks Suki, I’m happy to be here and feel this is a really relevant and worthwhile discourse.
Re: being off of Insta for 5 months now, I feel more in tune with myself and my tastes. I have more time in my day to check in, move my body, be creative or simply rest where before I would have doom-scrolled to no benefit.
I joke to my partner weekly that I feel like I’m actually having “original thoughts” again...which is funny, but also in a way jarring. That it’s normalized for us to onboard ideas, preferences and wants from our feeds, not from our inner intuitive voices is really concerning; I feel it actually underpins the themes of insecurity and lost-ness of our generation(s).
I like your consideration of pursuing pastimes and possessions for presentability vs. pleasure. I’ve been weighing this for myself in the time since quitting the gram - questioning my motives and the frameworks I have built around things. Eg. Do I actually want to learn to knit, or do I like the way other people present themselves when they are knitting? Do I really like this musician’s work, or am I impressed by their online presence and the feeling of being in on something cool I get by following them? Do I follow this influencer because I believe in her messaging, or do I keep her on my feed because I am addicted to comparison & having a metric to (unfairly) measure myself against? Etc. I’m more curious about what I reach for when I’m not having products, ideas and media pushed at me through my pocket computer - what feels organic and energizing rather than compulsory or optics-based?
I’m definitely feeling freer of these patterns these days, and am really excited about what it’s making space for in my life & my creative practice! And there’s been kind of a cascading effect - after quitting Instagram, I quit caffeine, and then alcohol a couple months later. Sounds dramatic, but I really did break away from the most addictive and perhaps unhelpful things in my life, and I’m happy to say that now that I’m no longer yo-yo-ing my neurotransmitters, my antidepressant works & I’m in a really nice space.
I look forward to hearing how your gram-free journey unfolds :) thanks for sharing! 🤍
This is so beautiful. I'm happy to hear that you feel freer and more yourself these days :) It gives me hope to know of the positive changes that took place in your life since leaving Instagram - so thank you again for sharing! I also like your interpretation of following our intuition as following "what feels organic and energizing" - it's definitely the feeling I'm reaching for.
This resonated with me a lot. I too have been on instagram for 10 years and have faced many ups and downs with my attachment to the platform. Once I decided I was only using it for business, I was able to set boundaries for myself around how I show up on the platform and how often. I feel like instagram is like a big shopping mall full of ads targeted to make you feel this sense of lack and scarcity. I'm glad you were able to make this decision for yourself and have stepped away from being a 'performer' so to speak. xoo
I'm happy that this connected with you, Tash! It sure has felt like a roller coaster ride for me too. I'm curious to hear your thoughts on how to set boundaries when it comes to using IG as a business platform; I know many entrepreneurs who also want to find this delicate balance :)
As for Instagram being a big shopping mall... spot on. I guess this is why I prefer online shopping now. Wouldn't it be cool if social platforms made money some other way, so that running ads are not their only incentive?