Instagram and Me: A love-hate story

 I've been in a love-hate relationship with Instagram for these past two years. I'll delete the app for a week or two, then reinstall it. The reason is always the same, I feel like sometimes I can't control the way I use it. I can waste my time scrolling through my feeds for hours, but at the same time, I got easy access to beneficial information.

At times, getting a glimpse of other people's lives through the app makes me feel a kind of uneasiness (anxiety or even jealousy), although I am well aware that we can't really judge someone's life through their Instagram posts. It can even be the complete opposite of how they actually live their life. But still...

The worst thing is that it then drives me to do things just so that I can show them to the world through stories or posts. And as far as I am concerned, this has to stop. So I did the only way I know how by muting every story and post of an individual account that I follow. I unfollowed some accounts that I think won't give some added value (skills or just knowledge in general) to me. I will occasionally go look for the accounts of people that I know when I want to say 'Hi', or when I want to have an update on their life. By doing so, I feel like I am in control of how I use my social media. Well, not entirely, but at least I see what I want to see, by choice.

Over the years, it's scary how social media changes our lives. Sure, it gives a lot of positive things, but it also takes away some part of our lives. I am not sure if what I did is the right way to live side by side with social media, because I don't think I can completely get rid of it. But at least it works for me now.