Hello! Here’s a little bit about me and why I’ve started this blog.
I’m Amy, a second year Media and Communication student at Bournemouth University. I’m also a millennial: a part of the selfie centred, follower focused generation who are constantly “logged in” online.
I have a background in art and even spent a year at Arts University Bournemouth studying Visual Communication. Instagram is my favourite social network – it appeals to my arty side. It’s the one I check the most and I don’t even want to think about how much time I spend scrolling through my feed!
Instagram allows you to follow your friends as well as celebrities and “public figures,” whatever they are. There’s also the ‘Explore’ page which suggests hundreds of photos that you might like. With over 300 million daily active users, and over 95 million photos or videos shared every single day, Instagram is a hugely popular platform.
But I am a victim of Instagram.
I suffer from Obsessive Comparison Syndrome. As I’m scrolling through the endless photos of peoples’ perfect lives, I compare myself to them. To the fitness pros, to the fashion bloggers, even to my friends. Somehow everyone seems to have more interesting lives? And better clothes? And prettier faces?
Being a visual platform, Instagram is possibly more dangerous for social comparison than any other. We all know that magazines photoshop photos, but people don’t seem as aware of editing on Instagram. We are more accepting and we are far less likely to question the authenticity of the images we see. But, through our own experience of editing photos before posting, we know there are loads of filters and editing options available on the platform. So why do we accept other peoples’ images so easily?
With more and more people saying their low self-esteem is caused by Instagram, this is an ever important issue. We need to raise awareness of the fakeness of photos; to break down the facade; we need to open our eyes!
How does Instasham link?
Instasham will be looking at the way we all filter our lives to appear better than they are and how, by comparing ourselves to other peoples’ versions of their lives, we are damaging our self-esteem.
We’re not all toned, tanned and jetting off to Bali at the weekend. Beginning to accept the images we see as filtered is the first step. The next step is realising that we are good enough. Our lives are significant.
Join in the discussion on here and on our Facebook and Twitter pages! Let’s break down the facade together.