If we were to play a game of word association, “Instagram” would definitely be the first thing that comes to mind when we think of social media. It’s the first thing we do when we wake up in the morning and the last thing we do before snoozing off at night. Even though more than 500 million people use Instagram daily to check and update their feeds, it’s surprising how many people mishandle it — we’re not talking about trolls, we’re talking about crappy pictures.
We live in a day where Instagram isn’t just a way for us to document our lives, it’s also to impress our friends and potential employers. Some of the richest youth live on Instagram, charging an upward of $10,000 per post depending on how many followers they have. And while there’s an abundance of quality aesthetic available on Instagram, there’s also an equal (maybe more) amount of lousily curated material that make us cringe every time we see it.
Note: the Instagrams we’re featuring are of people who’re doing by these trends right — no shade!
1. Showing off your beach-bod
If you’ve ever worked out in your life (we’ve done it… once?) you’ll definitely relate to the irresistible urge to whip out your phone and snap a picture of your abs or butt. Kudos to you if you’re a fitness trainer or want to show off some major weight loss, but if you’re a regular person like us and your picture doesn’t reflect any definition or consequence of your hours at the gym, perhaps you should save yourself (and us) the trouble of having to imagine them ourselves.
p.s. being naturally skinny doesn’t mean you’re fit or healthy.
Instead of chasing some hyper-sexualised version of your body, try exercising and dieting for the sake of being healthy. You’ll look much less narcissistic online and maybe actually achieve a better body that way.
2. Snobs aren’t cool, they’re snobbish
Ever wonder why some people have the audacity to comment “yaaasssss” on your pictures and act all into it without leaving a like? In social media terms, liking a photo is basically endorsing whatever’s going on in it, thereby pushing it into more mainstream attention. Because of the way this algorithm (and friendship) works, liking a photo really does benefit the reputation of someone’s Instagram account, and it’s common courtesy to like photos whenever possible. Liking photos also boosts your own social media profile, and before this gets too Black Mirror let’s just stick to saying it’s a good thing.
Don’t be stingy with your likes is what we’re saying.
3. Pretending to be an influencer
We live in the country of the buay paiseh, yet our Instagrams look like we’re always hanging out at the beach or sitting at the edge of tall buildings. What social media influencers post on their feeds of scrumptious brunches and never-ending vacations are either sponsored, meant to drive content for their websites or a blatant portrayal of their wealth.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bar51dCnm6m/?hl=en&taken-by=lanadelrey
Most won’t go out of their way to prove a point, so you shouldn’t either. It’s not enough to just be a spokesperson for ezbuy or Teatox, and much more relatable if you represented your true life instead of some idealised version of it. And it’s fine if you want to present yourself in the best light, but please don’t powder your images with filters.
4. When you post every time instead of sometimes
This goes out to all the sloppy users of Instagram. In case you didn’t know, setting your account to private doesn’t mean nobody sees what you’re putting out there (screenshot!). The structure of social media is such that we have control over what and how we’re sharing, so our advice is always to have two accounts — a main one that filters through the question, will my parents approve of what I’m posting?, and another that’s a private one where you use a nickname which doesn’t. And spare us rants unless they’re super salacious, don’t be complicit in contributing to useless information online.
5. A selfie a day keeps the followers away
We all have that friend who’s literally obsessed with themselves a day can’t go by without them taking at least a million selfies, all to find that one shot where they’re lips are puckered showing just the right gloss and their cheeks are tilted at just the right angle. We know you’re pretty, but maybe space out your selfie-streak with something less cringy, say the sunset outside your bedroom window?
https://www.instagram.com/p/BbL03qyHkDb/?hl=en&taken-by=arianagrande
Oh, and there’s more than the dog filter on Snapchat if you’re wondering.
Header image: Hypebeast
