Quitting Instagram: travel blogger retrieves from mainstream social media

Out-of-reality landscapes, funny conversations, dances, or little pranks. The content swipes in front of my face. What has happened? Is Instagram trying to be TikTok? Is Instagram in need to meet the demands of the new generations?

I needed to break this cycle. I needed to quit Instagram. All of a sudden, photos become less important, and long captions aren’t as interesting as short entertainment videos. To pass the time, consumers spend hours watching mostly meaningless reels.

In this blog post, I reveal why I made the decision to quit Instagram. At the end of the post, you will find some tips in case you are facing questions about whether to delete Instagram or not.

Quitting Instagram as a Blogger – Inspired by my digital detox

Digital detox is part of my life. At least I’m doing it yearly (should be more often). It is a time away from the screen or social media. Sometimes I do this detox for a weekend, other times for a week or even a month. After those digital detox vacations, I’m refreshed, focused, and strongly connected with myself.

In the summer of 2022, when I was in Sweden, I remember a discussion I had with someone. He was curious about my digital detoxing. We talked a bit and then he asked a question that stuck in my head “Why do you return? After doing a social media detox, why do you return to it?” I did answer the question back then with the best knowledge, but I couldn’t forget it. Why do I really return to Instagram after spending weeks apart and enjoying this time so much?

Seriously, my Instagram breaks gave me so much clarity and took off lots of pressure. Especially when I do it while traveling. I don’t have to think about what I’m going to post. I’m just here at this moment. That’s how it should be when traveling. But could I really delete Instagram?

Let’s face the truth: Instagram isn’t healthy

As much as I liked to use Instagram, it is undeniable that it is not good for my mental health. In case I felt pressure to keep posting, be engaging, and stick to current trends (which I hated btw. I always liked to be original and not do stuff just because everyone is doing it). Along with that, the comparison kicks in. I believe it is something everyone does, most likely unconsciously.

Numerous studies back up that the usage of Instagram is connected with mental health issues. Loneliness, depression, anxiety, bullying, and fear of missing out are just some of the issues that arise with the high usage of social media. Funny that’s called social, is it can be highly unsocial.

Furthermore, an additional concern of mine was the switch from photo to video on Instagram. What does it do to my brain if I watch lots of short videos? I’m sure it can’t be healthy and messes up my attention and memory. I can’t imagine how it must be for teenagers and young adults. It could mean short time attention spans. Luckily, the school system never gets updated, so there won’t be 1-minute classes for the generations to come.

All joking aside, Instagram is made to be addictive. So, there were many reasons for me to step away from the platform. My decisions were easier because Instagram changed a lot (from a photo to a video platform). Instagram just adapted to the fast-paced world.

Writing is my focus now – people still read books

Being active on Instagram these times means I would need to produce a lot of video content. And not any reels, great video content. And that is time-consuming. I worked in video cutting in my early twenties, so I know what it takes. And decided that I simply don’t want to invest the time. Because I really want to focus on my writing.

Whenever I tell someone about my goals in writing, they often ask, “have you thought about doing videos?”. Yes, I have, often very often. Actually, I have considered studying multimedia art, with a focus on video. But I decided to study something else and let me tell you from the first weeks of my study program, I knew exactly I made the right decision.

Although my studies had nothing to do with writing, except for the academic papers I had to write. In the last couple of months, I felt the urge to put my focus on writing, to inspire people with my words.

There is this concept that it is better to focus on one task at a time. Travel bloggers are nowadays everything, writers, photographers, videographers, video cutters, marketers, and… have I forgotten something? It can be overwhelming. I took the pressure out, quit Instagram, and stayed focused on writing. Concentrate on one thing at a time. And yes, people still read books!

With my focus on writing and my goal in front of me, I want to minimize my time being distracted by tools that do not contribute to my growth as a writer.

Will I ever return to Instagram?

Seeing influential travelers taking also breaks from the platform just shows how easy it is to get trapped in this hamster wheel of it. With Instagram’s addictive nature and the pressure to produce content, right now I’m happy without Instagram. Thrilled without it. I don’t think I will ever return. But you never know what turns life can make.

How to delete your Instagram account

If you consider deleting your Instagram account, make sure you don’t do it out of an impulsive decision. You can deactivate your account and postpone your decision. Deactivation means your profile isn’t visible, but once you log in again, you can be found, and you still have your followers.

Or maybe you want to be healthier by the usage of Instagram and reducing the amount of time on it. What helped me is taking a break from it and having a certain time limit for it.

Here are my tips for you if you want to delete your Instagram account:

• Preparation time: prepare mentally, take breaks, and limited your time on the platform before you leave for (ever) a long time, turn off notifications
• Save content that is only on Instagram. Save your reels, photos, or stories that you don’t have saved anywhere else.
• Contact people with whom you want to stay in contact, exchange other social media accounts, and let your followers know you are going to leave
• Consider the options: deleting, your account is gone forever or deactivating your account, no one can see it, and you still have your followers and content when you login to your Instagram account.
• Delete the app – Just do it, log out from your device, log out from the browser, delete linked accounts
• After you left – find alternative platforms or more meaningful platforms (this is an option for those who still want to interact on social media but in a more meaningful or healthier way)

Travel blogger without Instagram 3 months recap

How is life without using Instagram? After quitting Instagram, I’m taking fewer pictures and videos for sure. When I was using Instagram, I often took many pictures, thinking about with which capture I can share them. I don’t feel this urge to photograph everything anymore. I take fewer selfies and no more talking in front of the phone camera.

The beginning of my travel life without Instagram felt a bit weird. I explored alternatives and came across Steller. But I don’t really use it. Nowadays, I’m mainly active on Facebook and Twitter.

I don’t feel I miss out on not using Instagram. Some may argue, what about all the awesome connections you can make via Instagram? Of course, I have met cool people via this platform, but I often think those connections are rather superficial. However, I did redirect some to Facebook or Twitter “to stay in touch.”

What I miss are my videos where I talk on camera, because over time I’ve become more comfortable doing that. I could just keep talking on camera without posting it anywhere I could.

All after all, I’m happy I left.

Instagram lost its authenticity – trying to be something you aren’t

Recently I came across an article about Instagram. They tried too hard to push for videos and now take a step back to embrace the photo content more. It is a perfect example of Instagram trying to be something else and losing authenticity, its values, and its focus. Of course, it gained more popularity through video content. However, I have read and heard many discussions where people were sick of it. I remember one girl on YouTube saying that she needs to post every day multiple videos in order to reach new people. Instagram became a full-time job.

There is something you, as consumers, can learn. Stay true to yourself! And for everyone who decided to take time off, happy social-media-free life. What will you do with all this free time now?

Title image by Sam 🐷 on Unsplash