Instagram, spamming and oversharing Is it really a form of Self-expression? Posting on Instagram, or as I like to call it ‘Constructing a fake persona online’ has changed the way we look at ourselves and the world. You could say that this app is a form of self-expression but is it really a platform to express? or to show off? Yes, of course people have the right to post whatever they desire, but is that really self-expression that is bursting out in the form of sharing on social media or is it just another way to show that we are at constant competition with the world and sharing on social networks is one of the ways that we can show that ‘My life is still happening’. The point is, sharing things on Instagram is not wrong, but I guess, some of us or most of us, may be using the app for a wrong reason. Let us take an example of people posting for their friends’ birthday. It is really nice to see a birthday post and the person is probably very touched that they got an Instagram post/story dedicated to her/him. Person A could have wished Person B separately via message if A really wanted to genuinely wish B, but no, an Instagram post is mandatory if you are close friends. Here come the haters – who say “BUT, instagram is meant for self expression!!”. Of course, it is, and Instagram posts are not completely devoid of emotion, but that has become equivalent to getting gifts on your birthday. To show that you really care, do you have to post a story/post about someone? Maybe your first priority is to express yourself which is all good, but the fact that your followers need to know that you adore someone on their special day- I think that thought always stays with us when we need to share something online.’ People want to express, for the wrong reason. Everything has become so public. Relationships, outings, places, people, travel spots, vacations, the movies you watch, the books you read, the posts you relate to – people nowadays feel the need to make these things about them public. And that is not a bad thing, and I guess I’m neutral towards this behavior pattern, because that has become ingrained in our personality. Sharing things we like, is putting ourselves out there, so others know what kind of people we are. And that has become natural. But there is oversharing after a point. Yes, you went to this show, and if you tell me you went I will believe you. We have reached a point where if you do not post what happened in your life on social media, did that interesting thing that happened to you, really happen? This reminds of the time I went for a stand up comedy show. Kanan Gill – a popular personality in this circle, was performing. When he got onto stage he immediately saw a sea of mobile phones cover the faces of all the people. He got a little annoyed and said that “You’re friends are going to believe you even if you do not post it on social media. If they do not believe you, I must say they are pretty bad friends!”. Yes, social media is meant to share. Why do we want to share? Maybe we are good at something like photography or music or art and Instagram is a rising, excellent platform to showcase our skills. It’s also fun. The validation, the likes, the comments – it’s easy and fun to get caught up in such superficiality, but when you do not get the likes or the validation, you sort of spiral downwards. It’s alright to want those things, but to what extent and at what cost? The fact that we openly admit that ‘this won’t get a lot of likes’, shows what we really think of ourselves and people around us and how much we are in dearth of validation. Showing others what we are doing, not in a way to inform, but to sort of rub it in their face – just to make them jealous – this attitude has become increasingly popular. If someone hates on another person, he or she will not express her feelings in person, rather, he or she will put a story on their account, and express their emotions on this platform. I understand if this is about an important issue, that we need to be aware of, but petty fights take place on this medium, and Instagram has become an ugly place, where we have collectively decided to put others down. In a study conducted, it was found that Youtube, out of all the social media, had the most positive effect on the viewers and Instagram had the most negative effect. Because you constantly compare other people’s lives to yours, this leads to major FOMO – or fear of missing out, and Instagram was also related to concerns about body image and sleep loss. Also, the ever- growing segment of population who act as guerrilla marketing figures and are considered conventionally very attractive has led to internalization of unrealistic body standards and body comparison. It is not the fault of the influencer, but the fault of the public here, we put these people on a pedestal, and treat them like they are Gods. This makes us think that these influencers are correct in what they do and this leads to Idealisation of certain body types and obsessive body as well as attitude surveillance. The issue with discussing such topics is that, we are all guilty of this oversharing behavior. We are all hypocrites, and that makes us a part of this mainstream, millennial crowd, which I’m not sure is a good thing or a bad thing. The tendency has spread like a parasite and we all deal with the problems of this trend in some form or the other. What we do have to remember is that even though Instagram has had a history of bringing about negative vibes, it all falls down to how we want to use the apps and how genuine we really want to be. Maybe we can focus on positive exploration, rather than things that we know will bring us down. Use this form of media to inspire, create and ignite your curiosity, rather than using it to show off, make others jealous or hurt others. I hope this made sense to you, thank you for reading!