Why I don't have an Instagram account

I deleted my Instagram account many years ago and still happy about that. Here are my points for.

I was one of the first users on Instagram when it had a different design and posts could be only square-sized. Even a limited number of filters helped create art. Good times! Eventually, I deleted my account many years ago. This improved my life. Here I’m sharing my points on why I did so.

Too many ads

Yes, of course, you can expect ads on the platform which is free of charge, but there were lots of ads before. Now paid ads are literally everywhere - every 3 stories or posts and the posts are themselves ads from sponsors or local guys. To get great ROI and show an excellent growth, the service requires serving more and more ads. By the way, I had an idea to develop a funny app where one could just scroll through various ads, but there is no need to develop a new one, just log in to Insta and that is not funny. Good to know that if the product is free, the product is you.

Online shopping mall

If I want to go shopping, I will go to a decent shopping mall which is quite focused on selling me something. Focused e-commerce is great. It is my choice to buy something, not theirs. Furthermore, your wallet will thank you because there are fewer triggers to spend money.

What is going on with Feed?

This one relates to ads too. In general, the Feed feature inherently implies you want to see the latest posts first. But it is being developed the way you can see more ads. Probably one of the reasons why people moved to Stories is that it has become unusable. Imagine your email inbox with such a mess.

Too much fake

How many accounts registered do you or your friends have there? 2-3? The first one is for friends, the second is for ??… recruiters or rich guys probably, no idea. Why do you need so many? Not mentioning dead profiles and bots…

What I actually noticed is that even though a person looks damn good and stylish on Instagram, posts photos from luxurious places - it is probably all fake. The photographs are touched up and perfect, but unfortunately life is not, so there is dissonance happening. Remember, many of these people usually spend most of their time lying on a bed and watching series on Netflix, or they spend a lot of time to make sure their post is perfect. Have you seen someone’s Photo Library on their phone? You will be surprised how many similar photos they have for one single post in attempt to publish the perfect one. Some of such people tend to be boring, as well. Certainly, there are different personalities and characters, but eventually true gems could be hidden behind less attractive profiles.

Facebook is watching you

The huge problem is that Facebook collects everything about you which is ever possible to collect and track: whom you watch, follow or like, even whom you see without leaving a sign, personal information, geolocation, relatives, contacts, financial info, network data, what websites you visit, etc. They also collect data which is not related to direct Instagram use. There are reports that they are listening to you with the microphone. They know exactly how you look because they use facial recognition. And everything for purposes of selling your data and showing you even more ads. The service has topped a list of ‘invasive’ apps that collect and share users’ data. It should not be difficult to find more information on that. I’m wondering who knows more - your bank or Instagram.

I got tired of how many Facebook/Instagram-related data breaches have been there. Here is a list, mentioning some.

The recent Facebook name change will not help. Following, the photo app too should change its name.

Mental health hit

Very briefly, while using Instagram (it applies to other social media to some extent), mind gets constantly disappointed by comparing reality with perfect picture. Moreover, social connections are an illusion on this platform because yes, you follow a person, yes, you watch their stories which gives a sneak peek in to their life but do you really know that person? Even with friends, instead of a meaningful conversation face to face at a cup of tea, you watch a story. But it is one way communication which takes your energy out of you.

Depression, lower self-esteem, appearance anxiety and body dissatisfaction are all associated with Instagram use.

There are already a lot of information and articles about social media fatigue or mental health issues, for example on Inverse, Forbes one, even some studies conducted, for example from Spanish authors.

Even more issues

Final words

I really felt better after deleting my account on Instagram. I don’t compare my own situation to others’. I’m getting better and better every day in every way by focusing on myself first. Likewise, I have more time for genuine conversations. I can choose wisely while shopping and do my own research because the Internet is bombarding me with less personalised ads, so I feel safer in the end. Maybe I have lost a few connections because of the deletion, but if they were not true, why care then?

Just give it a try for a longer time without Instagram and feel the difference. You will figure out how to communicate with your loved ones, anyway.

Life is here and now where YOU are at the moment. Enjoy!

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