The psychology of instagram

[TheWitchIsBack]

I had a decent following a couple of years back and the pressure to post and the constant need for validation were a contributing factor to me having a mental breakdown. My mental health was shit and I spent a huge amount of time trying to hide it in real life and Instagram allowed me to take that facade even further. In the end I was posting 3/4 times a day and felt pressure to be doing aspirational things, pointlessly spending money and being the perfect wife/mother/friend when in reality I was balls deep in a mental health crisis and wasn’t even looking after myself never mind anything or anyone else. It makes me feel like shit thinking about it now because people would have looked at my account and thought I was super happy with a great life.

I barely post on Instagram anymore, have lost a large number of followers and am far happier than I was then. It’s a fucked up place, especially for those that are already emotionally or mentally vulnerable and it’s been a long road to recovery for me which isn’t helped by the amount of people posting their “perfect” lives online.

 

[EvieBaby]

I absolutely hate the new instagram culture now and especially scary for younger kids/teens. I have it, but dont see it as real life and can see through 99% of posts as being pretentious and fake. People are just honestly forgetting it's an app, it's not real life and it doesnt do your soul any good deep down I think

 

[insta(sham)]

I was reading the captions of a annoying slimming world instagrammed earlier and was just wondering what goes through peoples heads when they write them.... they are often doing boring mundane shit yet write long winded captions like they are addressing their adoring fans.... why is that? How many followers does it take before you start thinking like that? How much time out of their day much it take? Especially those who proclaim to be mother of the year, they must be constantly on their phones and ignoring their children.

surely you must be a massive narcissist to start with to assume that people want to read about this shit!

 

[TheWitchIsBack]

My account started as a weight loss account. It wasn’t massive but I was popular and got shout outs from some of the bigger SW accounts. Had a few freebies but nothing earth shattering. Spent more money on shite trying to keep up appearances than I ever get back in free stuff. I can’t obviously speak for everyone but it’s very competitive and pressured and it’s like trying to fit in with the mean girls at school I guess. I would be so envious of people who got more likes/comments than I did. I stopped posting regularly before stories really took off and I’m glad because I think if I’d have kept going I’d have ended up just talking absolute nonsense into stories for hours at a time and probably becoming more obsessed with it than I already was. My life is by no means perfect now but I have a good grip on reality and what’s important in life and things are no longer dictated by an app.

 

[Rosiepie]

The problem with Instagram is how it has allowed people to partner up with brands and make money from it. So accounts and posts have changed over time. Where they would once be original and interesting to follow, they become staged and full of affiliate links, ads etc. Photos become staged and some families use their kids to help sell products. They will do anything for engagement - it’s all about becoming popular and noticed so that brands approach them. Some have even recruited the help from PR agencies, and request free stuff from companies on Twitter! People stoop so low in order to gain recognition. Most of the accounts I have followed are already very wealthy, but the greed is on an all time high. Instagram feeds these people’s egos too - it’s like an addiction, they require constant validation. It’s really not good for mental health issues.

 

[insta(sham)]

Was talking about this with my husband this morning and wondered others thoughts, I have dabbled with posting on Instagram but am far more of a scroller than a poster, I’m just not about that talking pictures of my food outside whilst it gets cold life. To have a public page where you post regularly with long captions you have got to be fundamentally narcissistic right? Do you think serial instagrammers are psychologically different or are they just hoping to monetise? Maybe it’s both!

 

[Miss98]

Something I've found with these Instagrammers is the more popular their page gets, the more money they waste because they need to go and find something to be able to post on there (unless they get gifted items). You often see they buy things they don't actually need and I'm sure lots are in debt.

It can become addictive as you worry about losing followers or your page looking or becoming boring and more criticism but I actually respect the Instagrammers who actually have a life aside from their page.

Also as added above, it's the perfect place for fake IGers and narcissists to get internet fame from, many are low in self esteem deep down and getting likes, comments and freebies picks up their esteem but with the internet will come trolls and criticism which many can't take.

 

[tskiry56]

I haven't had social media for over 2 years. I found on instagram people can be fake and it's no reflection on real life. You can post what you want people to see. In many ways instagram can be positive but other ways it can harm people.

 

[cutethings]

I feel that instagram has made me question my friendships as well. I post pictures all the time and my friends ghost them, despite me constantly liking and commenting on theirs... makes me feel like shit when I see tons of comments on theirs telling them they're so hot yet when I post a going out pic ... nothing

I know this doesn't mean crap and people always tell me not to care but honestly, people are on their phones all the time and clearly could easily just boost their friends confidence if they wanted you know ? So it makes me feel like crap

Saying that , I post long captions on insta and dont give a crap. I actually would rather read someone's thoughts under a photo than a fake short caption like shows no personality at all. Mine are never advice captions or ones that are trying to sound woke or whatever they're just my thoughts for the day and I suppose maybe people find it conceited or arrogant then ? I never considered this this is maybe why no one likes my posts. But at the same time I comment on all my friends posts regardless of what it is

It's just kinda sad when you all go on a girls night out and everyone has comments from each other like saying how pretty they looked and mine has none, to outsiders of our friend group it must look really strange as if I'm disliked a lot

Ah this is why instagram sucks

 

[EvieBaby]

Yeah so true. I think all instagram users are guilty of only posting the good bits (me included - I sometimes travel abroad for work so post some great pictures and makes it look amazing but in reality I've had 2 hours sleep, cried all day and had about 5 minutes to actually take in the sights etc) BUT I've got a friend who posts pictures of her little boy and makes it look a great family life when she spends most of the time trying to get a babysitter so she can go out and shouting at him. I am conscious to not post any long, self indulgent captions or quotes as if anyone gives a shit and i dont believe in sharing my inner thoughts or opinions really as i dont think anyone really cares or should. I just think it's fake bullshit i always want to delete but feel I'd not be as in the loop with close friends/family. Also the face filters are just a new level of fakery shouldn't have got started on this topic

 

[F the dust.]

I see people posting a bottle of the latest cleaning phenomenon.. and getting 200 likes, it's a bottle of flash ffs! It's all false. I post every few days but I have gone weeks. I mean you can buy followers, likes and comments. Why? The more someone insinuates their life is perfect I believe the opposite to be true.

 

[Ohmydays]

Was talking about this with my husband this morning and wondered others thoughts, I have dabbled with posting on Instagram but am far more of a scroller than a poster, I’m just not about that talking pictures of my food outside whilst it gets cold life. To have a public page where you post regularly with long captions you have got to be fundamentally narcissistic right? Do you think serial instagrammers are psychologically different or are they just hoping to monetise? Maybe it’s both!

Most of the serial Ones I follow or ‘followed’ seem narcissistic, greedy,vain,lazy,self centred ,dishonest and unorganised .. but seem to be making a bloody fortune out of it .. TBH they think that is ( followers) couldn’t survive a day without knowing what they are up to !!!! I avoid IG pic perfect places now cos it’s spoilt by these vain creatures posing and preening moving chairs and items so they can get their handbag in the picture and taking pics whilst their dinner is getting cold !!! Worst still is then they all sit and ignore each other cos they’re looking at their phones

 

[insta(sham)]

Glad you are happier, and in touch with reality, and I hope your mental health is all good now I think the psychology of SM is quite fascinating. Would be a fascinating subject to study in great depth at uni now.

I did a paychology degree all be it a few years back now. One of my lecturers specialised in the psychology of fame and celebrity and did a lot of work with wannabe big brother contestants as it was in its very early stages. Would love to know what she made of all of this. My dissertation was about body image and media, unfortunately Instagram wasn’t a thing then........ would love to do it again now!

 

[Rosiepie]

I think that Tattle has allowed people to question the validity of certain accounts and that is needed. You can question on this platform without getting blocked. You can talk quite openly about the issues surrounding social media and we do need that. Certain ‘influencers’ will call people On Tattle ‘trolls’ or ‘pond scum’, but they don’t like what is being openly discussed. They don’t want their ‘audiences’ to read it, because it would portray them in a different light. Social media can be good, and can work well when it’s authentic, but when it’s faked it’s horrible, especially when it is done to make money. People are portraying their lives as ‘perfect’, and that’s simply not reality. They ‘influence’ others to envy their lives, to ‘buy’ in to everything they say or post. When they say they are ‘influencers’ you can’t really trust them because they are getting ‘paid’ to promote a brand. They become salespeople who influence others to buy. They rely on the psychology of people comparing themselves, and feeling inadequate if they don’t buy the latest product that influencers are talking about. It’s all a bit sad to be honest.i can’t see it changing yet - too many people are jumping on the bandwagon and trying to make a full time job from it, and whilst brands continue paying, this merry go round of consumerism, vanity and greed will continue.

 

[Justjonie]

I ended up coming off insta because I got fed up of all the fakeness, and I included friends' profiles in that. I set up a separate account so I could continue to follow my favourite music artists but that's it. I don't post anything myself and I don't follow any influencers either. It's all such a load of shit.

I think it's sad that kids these days live for likes and comments. But I think back to the mid to late 90s when the internet took off and I was at school (giving away my age now), and I remember the first time using a chat room. The buzz me and my friends got from chatting to other people anywhere in the world was kinda addictive. We wanted to be in the school library on the internet every day. I suspect that same feeling is what kids get today on insta, desperate for likes, comments and acceptance from other people, particularly celebs or influencers they follow. I'm old and wise to it now, but I can see the pull that it has for teens and kids, and I worry for my own kids when they reach that age of where they want a phone and to be on social media.

Personally, and as ironic as this sounds considering Tattle is a form of social media, I think social media is the bane of modern society. It's created a world where everything is fake, people are more obsessed with their appearance than ever before. It does have its benefits such as gives exposure to charity causes etc but for me the negatives far outweigh the positives

 

[TheWitchIsBack]

Glad you are happier, and in touch with reality, and I hope your mental health is all good now I think the psychology of SM is quite fascinating. Would be a fascinating subject to study in great depth at uni now.

This is such an honest post and everything you've said is the reason I dread my kids ending up on social media

Hope you're doing better now xx

Thank you. I’m doing tonnes better and sites like this really help me pick apart the “perfect” bigger accounts that I was so desperate to be. It’s crazy how all consuming it becomes, it literally took over my life.

 

[Dogleggedhat]

I feel that instagram has made me question my friendships as well. I post pictures all the time and my friends ghost them, despite me constantly liking and commenting on theirs... makes me feel like shit when I see tons of comments on theirs telling them they're so hot yet when I post a going out pic ... nothing

I know this doesn't mean crap and people always tell me not to care but honestly, people are on their phones all the time and clearly could easily just boost their friends confidence if they wanted you know ? So it makes me feel like crap

Saying that , I post long captions on insta and dont give a crap. I actually would rather read someone's thoughts under a photo than a fake short caption like shows no personality at all. Mine are never advice captions or ones that are trying to sound woke or whatever they're just my thoughts for the day and I suppose maybe people find it conceited or arrogant then ? I never considered this this is maybe why no one likes my posts. But at the same time I comment on all my friends posts regardless of what it is

It's just kinda sad when you all go on a girls night out and everyone has comments from each other like saying how pretty they looked and mine has none, to outsiders of our friend group it must look really strange as if I'm disliked a lot

Ah this is why instagram sucks

This post made me feel sad. Are you happy with the friendships irl? I am odd and don’t like following/being followed by friends and people I know irl as I find it more triggering if I see them doing something that looks great versus seeing a random stranger doing it. It does take two seconds to double tap a picture though which I would always do with someone I know-just as a little ‘hey,I see you’-often times I would comment as well

 

[chocolate choux]

I’ve never been a big social media user because it all seems so fake. I remember back in high school over a decade ago, my friends would have Facebook accounts and would speak to other people from school in comments as if they were best friends when irl they rarely interacted. Always found this so weird so I kept my own social media minimal and some of it anonymous (tumblr, Instagram)

I do think Instagram (etc) doesn’t have to be such a fake and negatively competitive environment. I created my anonymous Instagram to be part of the debt free/frugal community and it’s amazing and uplifting. Everyone is friendly and willing to help others out, we all share tips and freebies etc. Of course there’s some people sharing discount codes that benefit them too but most people are open about this and also post about stuff they don’t get anything from sharing. It’s refreshing to be part of something that’s about cheering each other on and offering support in what is often such a toxic environment

I do take social media in general with a massive pile of salt though. From an early stage I realised how fake it all was which has helped, but it's still difficult not to get sucked in at times. It’s a mindfuck because in the past it wasn’t as easy to curate a certain image, but these days someone can give the impression that they’re a very specific person online and if they’re particularly good at it most people will believe what they’re portraying

I know someone who has a toxic relationship (on both sides) with her boyfriend, but if I didn’t know her irl and had to judge only from her social media I’d be thinking they were the perfect couple. They only post selfies while doing something exciting so it makes their lives look cool, and they’ve been Facebook official for years yet their status obviously doesn’t show every time they’ve changed it back to single over those years, and so on. This woman is just an average person without any social media expertise or any advisors, so it’s scary to think what the bigger accounts could be hiding. No wonder social media is making people miserable

 

[Ohmydays]

I think that Tattle has allowed people to question the validity of certain accounts and that is needed. You can question on this platform without getting blocked. You can talk quite openly about the issues surrounding social media and we do need that. Certain ‘influencers’ will call people On Tattle ‘trolls’ or ‘pond scum’, but they don’t like what is being openly discussed. They don’t want their ‘audiences’ to read it, because it would portray them in a different light. Social media can be good, and can work well when it’s authentic, but when it’s faked it’s horrible, especially when it is done to make money. People are portraying their lives as ‘perfect’, and that’s simply not reality. They ‘influence’ others to envy their lives, to ‘buy’ in to everything they say or post. When they say they are ‘influencers’ you can’t really trust them because they are getting ‘paid’ to promote a brand. They become salespeople who influence others to buy. They rely on the psychology of people comparing themselves, and feeling inadequate if they don’t buy the latest product that influencers are talking about. It’s all a bit sad to be honest.i can’t see it changing yet - too many people are jumping on the bandwagon and trying to make a full time job from it, and whilst brands continue paying, this merry go round of consumerism, vanity and greed will continue.

Rattles my cage when all you see is positive comments by followers ie..
You’re such a lovely person.
You’re so honest .
You’re the best couple .
You’re such a good Mum ..
Etc etc
These followers have probably never met these people .
I’m beginning to seek out the ‘fake / liars’ There’s never a comment that disagrees with them ..
In the ‘real’ world you are not everyone’s cup of tea .. so why build this ‘fake world ‘ where all you want is to ‘believe’ you are perfect and THE BEST and for people to constantly fawn over you .
I agree it’s very sad and bad for Mental Health .

 

[insta(sham)]

I had a decent following a couple of years back and the pressure to post and the constant need for validation were a contributing factor to me having a mental breakdown. My mental health was shit and I spent a huge amount of time trying to hide it in real life and Instagram allowed me to take that facade even further. In the end I was posting 3/4 times a day and felt pressure to be doing aspirational things, pointlessly spending money and being the perfect wife/mother/friend when in reality I was balls deep in a mental health crisis and wasn’t even looking after myself never mind anything or anyone else. It makes me feel like shit thinking about it now because people would have looked at my account and thought I was super happy with a great life.

I barely post on Instagram anymore, have lost a large number of followers and am far happier than I was then. It’s a fucked up place, especially for those that are already emotionally or mentally vulnerable and it’s been a long road to recovery for me which isn’t helped by the amount of people posting their “perfect” lives online.

ooh, trying to think about who you might be... I’ve got a few ideas! I think it’s so true that the more people try to portray perfection the less likely they are happy and satisfied with their lives