Blog #7 — Instagram Rant
Blog #7 — Instagram Rant 3/7/24
Social Media is stupid. You might be thinking I can’t say that as an avid social media user, but it is. Social media platforms have been growing exponentially ever since I made my first Instagram account almost 10 years ago. At that time, it was Instagram, Snapchat, and Kik, all with their specific uses. But now, new apps have been launched, and with old platforms not wanting to go out of style, there’s now this weird mix of every concept across multiple apps. Things like Pinterest, X, VSCO, TikTok, BeReal, and Meta all launched, and as people started signing up. But even with all this new development, Instagram has been able to stick around.
Instagram has undergone incredible development since its first launch in 2010. With around 25,000 users on the first day, it expanded to over 1.4 million profiles in 2024. In the early days, Instagram was so unprofessional. Users shared anything that was going on in their day without a care in the world. I remember when I was younger I posted about movies I was watching, where I was traveling, and even participated in those posts where you tagged your closest friends and left TBHs and rates in comments. Instagram was a wholesome place. It didn’t matter how many likes you got, if your content was engaging, or if your follower count was higher than your following count.
Today, Instagram has become a calculated platform. Brands and influencers use the app to continue to connect to their following and announce the release of new products. The algorithm of Reels forces you to keep scrolling on 15-second videos of things you like so you stay on the app longer. For GenZ, Instagram has become the place to go through the dedicated process of taking, selecting, editing, and tagging your posts to receive the most likes and the most engagement. As someone who was a part of that process in high school, it was exhausting. However, everyone else was putting their best self forward on social media, so why would I not?
Instagram’s future is trying to be like everyone else. They adopted stories, direct messages, and photo sharing like Snapchat in 2016. To compete with TikTok, Instagram added Reals in 2020. To compete with X, Instagram launched Threads in 2023. Instagram is constantly competing to be the platform that does it all, which I think is why they make it so successful. Even with the addition of stories, tweets, and videos, its main selling point is the photos, which I think is the most important. Users came for the photo-sharing app but stuck around with Instagram’s ability to adapt to the constant need for new content.
I don’t need social media. As I get older I find myself checking my Snapchat, VSCO, X, BeReal, and TikTok less every day. But what makes Instagram stick around for me? One probable idea is that Instagram is the only app where I can get instant validation when checking it. There will always be a new like, comment, or direct message notification waiting for me that engages me to keep coming back. Another aspect of it is the time and development I’ve made on my profile over the years. It’s hard to let something go that’s been a part of my life for so long. While new apps keep getting developed, I think Instagram will be the one to stay for a while, and I know I’ll be using it.
