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by Puer 2748 days ago
I don't care about how many likes or how many followers I get. I use Instagram to share my photography which is my hobby. I only follow my friends and people whose posts I genuinely want to see. Through Instagram I've been able to connect with other likeminded photographers that inspire me with their work and support me in mine. I also find it a great way to keep up with old friends that never used Facebook in the same way.

If your happiness is dependent on the attention you receive on these social media apps, there are likely deeper problems that you should address beyond simply deleting the app and telling everyone else who uses it to do the same.

There's a certain irony to all of these posts that have been cropping up lately on how "I deleted (insert social media service here) and it made me happier". Many of these posts cite the cessation of the race for validation as the reason for their increase in happiness. If you weren't expecting the same validation that you got from the service you just left, would you have really made the post? Couldn't you have simply just quit and be done with it? Deleting Instagram may temporarily improve your mental health, but it isn't a cure for a deeper underlying problem.

2 comments

> I use Instagram to share my photography which is my hobby.

But Instagram has horrific resizing and compression algorithms that make good DSLR photos look like artifacted junk. They're designed to plaster over the smudgy quality of phone photos and when you feed them a 20MB 100% JPEG it all falls apart.

I realised this when IG photos from my ancient 350D beater were less artifacted than photos from the 1Ds3...

And they do something to colours, red-shifting blues to purples; presumably for more POP on mobiles.

You'd be better using a proper gallery site.

that no one would visit
This is true, I probably have a deeper underlying problem, but IG definitely wasn't helping me.

I guess the problem is that they actively try to addict you to get you to use the app more, you may have a stronger mental fortitude than I do, which is why you don't succumb to this.

If it were just a photography app like 500px, things would be a little different, since it's social, a lot of things get conflated that shouldn't.