This year, over the summer holidays, I deleted Instagram off my phone. It was an interesting experience. Here’s what I discovered:
My social media usage.
Though I’m never up to date with the latest Tik Tok trend, my Snap Chat streak will always remain at a steady 0 and even WhatsApp statuses get my head in a spin, I am no a stranger to social media.
My work background is in digital marketing, I’ve used social media throughout my time as a small business owner and I volunteer in the social media team for Parents for Future.
Over recent years however, and especially since we moved back to the UK from living abroad in the US, I’ve steered more and more away from using social media in a personal capacity yet used it more and more for work and campaigning purposes.
While I wasn’t scrolling endlessly for hours at a time, in an attempt to please the algorithm so it would show my content to more and more people, I was scrolling, liking, ‘reacting’, commenting, sharing, messaging and generally engaging. And so I was spending more time than I wanted on there.
Why I deleted Instagram.
When I decided to delete Instagram over the summer, I wasn’t entirely clear on the reasons behind it myself at the beginning. I just knew I needed a break.
What I’m about to say is written in absolute awareness of the many privileges I enjoy, and in full knowledge that there are many, many people far more in need of a break than I am.
With all that in mind, my journey from a high-level awareness of the environmental impact of my life and life choices, through feeling utterly dismayed and overwhelmed about the state of plastic pollution post-Blue Planet II, to fully digesting the Climate Crisis (not just change), through to understanding the need for climate justice in climate solutions, to being aware of, understanding, advocating for social justice across all issues, countries and walks of life… that journey has led to a social media feed that is VERY heavy. Throw into that my (white saviour, I’m sure) desire to ‘fix it all’ before dinner time, and every time I opened the app my heart would race and I would feel my anxiety rise, even before I even read a single post.
And yet I felt compelled to open it multiple times a day.
More than that, I would open it automatically, without even thinking about it.
In addition, my desire to communicate the reality of the climate emergency, my frustration at the lack of action of most people and my desperation to inspire everyday people (not just eco types) into taking some form, any form of climate action was meaning I trying to please the algorithm with regularly posting content six days a week. I really felt the pressure to create and post. It was intense.
I knew I needed to dial down my levels of stress and Instagram was one of the culprits that had to go (at least for a while.)
The 10 things I discovered when I deleted Instagram.
- I really missed that quick dopamine fix having a quick scroll would give me when I was in the middle of doing something boring – like waiting for the kettle to boil, sorting the laundry, doing some boring admin.
- To try to get that hit I would go to other apps instead: BBC News, Guardian, The Economist, WhatsApp, LinkedIn, my email, the weather, my Photos. I still found myself compelled to open ‘something’ to feel that feeling, even if it wasn’t Instagram.
- Those other apps didn’t / don’t provide that same feeling, and so aren’t as compulsive and I definitely reduced my ‘pick up and check’ reflex over the summer.
- I re-installed Threads for a while, which filled the Instagram-shaped void better – and it generally feels a friendlier, more positive place than other social media apps. However, after about 5 days or so, I noticed I was starting to have the same compulsive, anxious feelings towards Threads too. So I deleted that too, even though, looking at my screen time for Threads it was never as ‘sticky’ as Instagram. I now mainly keep Threads off my phone and install it for a few days and delete again for two to three weeks. That feeds like the right amount of time.
- I felt more present. Yes my mind would wander and think about the past, the future and various To Do lists. But when it stopped and paused, it was able to be here – to see the sights, hear the notes and just ‘time-stamp’ the here and now. I started feeling some of the same feelings I remember having as a child – not doing anything specific, but just ‘being’. I really liked how it made me feel.
- When I had a few minutes to fill, I would read a few pages of a book I was enjoying. THAT gave me the same shot of positivity and escape from reality I was missing and made me feel good.
- When I had long time-spans to fill while doing boring chores, I started listening to more podcasts, radio programmes and audiobooks. Somehow listening allowed me to both escape and feel present.
- Another thing I found myself doing more and more to get a dopamine hit,and felt very early 2000s, was to randomly text my friends to say hi, give them an update on our family and ask about theirs. And a bit more 2020s I would leave and receive voice notes. It was so much nicer being ‘social’ with my real friends and not random people on the internet.
- I could still access my Instagram account via my laptop and when I did check it a few times over the summer, I instantly felt that rise of adrenaline and cortisol, even just opening it for a few minutes. Instead of scrolling, I simply closed it, and felt good about not having it on my phone.
- As the end of the summer holidays drew closer, along with my return to work (which involves Instagram both for my own business and my volunteering), I found myself putting reinstalling it on my phone. I no longer missed it or wanted it.
How I use Instagram now
I have re-installed Instagram over the past couple of weeks and have managed for the most part not to experience the same level of stress when using it.
I feel like my seven weeks off the app have broken my addiction to it.
I have set a 45-minute limit both on my phone and within the app itself. Most days I don’t hit that limit.
I have decided not to care about the algorithm and interactions and reach. If people see me then great, if not, they don’t. I will find other ways to try to get my climate messages out to an interested audience, and inspire people to take action – both on climate and all social justice issues. It’s vital and urgent.
That said, I’m trying to keep a relative regularity, posting on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. And I reply to any comments that people make.
And I delete the app off my phone every weekend.
I’m glad I’ve broken that reflex, that compulsion I had with Instagram. I do miss those quick, sweet dopamine hits it can give you. But I don’t miss the rising stress I would feel. I enjoy feeling more in control, and I feel like I’ve broken its hold over me – like reassessing a friendship that wasn’t really healthy. I also really like the feeling of being present and clear-minded. That feels good.
I’m looking forward to continuing a low-Instagram-use life.
What social media do you use? How does it make you feel? Have you ever deleted any of your apps or accounts? I’d love to hear about your experience.
With love, low stress and a clear-mind,
Elena x
