This article was translated by AI. Please forgive any mistakes.
Since September of last year, I’ve opened Instagram maybe three times.
During that time, I felt like I had to check Instagram, even though I didn’t actually want to.
Eventually, I stopped opening it—and it felt freeing.
(By the way, I originally started Instagram to post content, so here I’m reflecting on how to engage with social media when I’m not posting.)
I wondered why I wasn’t opening Instagram. At the core, I questioned what meaning seeing other people’s lives really had for me.
Sure, social media can be a way to build community and interact. The biggest benefit might be being able to see, “Are they doing well?”
It’s also a valuable source of information.
Yet, social media is designed to extract your time while entertaining you. Algorithms are crafted to trigger your curiosity.
So even if you don’t really want to see something, you end up clicking anyway.
We’re tricked into thinking “I gained something by seeing this”.
Before you know it, it feels like missing out if you don’t check. Even without realizing it, your brain develops this habit and tries to avoid loss. And that’s how it becomes addictive.
If you catch yourself unconsciously opening the app and scrolling for more than 10 minutes, that’s a warning sign.
Users may think they’re freely getting or sharing information, but in reality, they’re exchanging the most valuable asset of all—time.
The longer we stay on an app, the more ads we see, and the more the platform profits. We might think we’re using social media for free, but in reality, we’re spending an irreplaceable part of our lives.
With the widespread use of social media, many people have started commenting on other people’s lives and thoughts.
Even without being “anti,” some overstep boundaries, questioning or lecturing the poster under the guise of righteousness. It’s unsettling and unnecessary. Praise and encouragement are fine—but giving unsolicited opinions to strangers? Irresponsible and unpleasant.
Even without seeing it directly, I could feel that energy, and I didn’t like it. I may write more about this separately.
Some say, “Social media is just a place to show off,” or, “It’s for narcissists seeking validation.”
My response is: So what? Go ahead and show off if you want. Seeking approval is as natural as the survival instinct—it’s human, and everyone experiences it.
If seeing it unsettles you, the target shouldn’t be someone’s bragging or desire for recognition—it should be examining your own true feelings.
Back to the main point:
The key is that I didn’t really want to see more, and if I had that time, I wanted to use it for myself:
- To daydream.
- To read.
- To paint.
- To write.
- To send messages to loved ones (my messages are famously long, haha).
- To improve the quality of my own courses or sessions.
- To work out.
- To plan content for audio streams.
- To watch or listen to creators who share passionate, high-energy content.
In other words, rather than observing someone else’s life, I want to actively live my own.
Because social media involves interaction, I used to feel obliged to like and comment in return—it seemed polite.
Follow someone, and they follow back—that’s another example. But I don’t need that kind of systemized, fake interaction. I likely won’t use Instagram in that way anymore. I’ll still like posts I genuinely enjoy and leave comments, of course. But I want to engage with Instagram purely as a tool to express parts of myself.
If others respond and interact, I welcome it and will genuinely enjoy it. And yes, I might even peek at your posts.
So, moving forward, that’s how I intend to use Instagram.
Oh, and by the way—Facebook? I don’t even have the app on my phone.
