From cringe middle school accounts to rigid high school guidelines, to the era of the photo dump, why are the rules so strict?
By Claire Leibowitz
Instagram’s overall purpose is to share what people are doing with their lives but is any of it truly authentic and real?
The social media platform took over almost every adolescent’s social life once they entered middle school. Since its initial release in 2010, the app has served as a platform to share posts and stories about small day-to-day and big life-changing events.
It’s no debate that the Instagram everyone looks at now is insanely different from the Instagram that existed in middle school. Over the years, hypothetical societal rules have controlled the app, setting norms for what is and what is not appropriate to post.
For the sake of this article, the eras of Instagram will be divided into three distinct timelines: the 2010-2014 casual era, the 2015-2019 show-off era and the 2020-present day photo dump era.
Instagram’s earliest start had almost no basic rules as it gained traction. The initial posts were careless and whatever people felt: random memes, pictures with their friends, awkward selfies, actual photoshoots and overall randomness. This was the time period of the shoutout, of tagging friends in the caption, of only being able to post squares, of white borders around photos, of putting your friends’ names in your bios and other things that today, make no sense.
This Instagram was casual, though. No one judged each other for posting something that didn’t follow someone else’s rules. It was a light-hearted era that placed an emphasis on having fun and getting used to the app.
However, there was judgment in some cases. In terms of girls, there would be “beauty pageants.” Willing participants would submit a photo of themselves to an account. The account would make a collage of their pictures, post them online and users in the comments would vote them out. There would be multiple rounds and a winner who would get nothing but validation. This created an early precedent of a beauty standard on Instagram. Instead of sharing photos that people felt good in, the target was switched to appealing to others. This kind of “game” was disheartening, especially to the losers. Middle schoolers have no right to judge each other online, especially through bullying in the comments.
The early stages of Instagram were fun, but they set rigid social guidelines that would soon be followed once people matured. The tone turned towards insecurity and anxiety, wanting to receive the highest number of likes and only posting for validation.
The 2015-2019 show-off era was dangerous for mental health in general. People would post their best moments or big events that they wanted people to know about: homecoming, sports games, spirit weeks, birthday parties, special events, family gatherings, dances, holidays, vacations, times with friends, anything others would admire.
This facade was dangerous for any outsider. It fostered serious mental health problems, as people only highlighted the highs of their lives. Those
struggling with their own problems would scroll through pictures that reminded them of everything they thought they weren’t or everything they did not have.
Posts could have been heavily edited, altering bodies to look different from how they appear in real life. This was especially common with celebrities, giving their followers a false perception of reality, leading to eating and body issues for young and impressionable viewers.
Instagram in this era, however, was more flexible: the use of stories became popular, multiple photos could be posted in a slideshow and different features on the explore page opted for more specialized content.
The technological advancements do not make up for the problems Instagram created for teenage users. It is hard to remember that social media is fake. Everything was for the likes, and posts would be deleted if the owner wasn’t wholly satisfied.
The unwritten rules were unfortunately rigidly followed. There was no flexibility or fluidity in terms of content. Most posts seemed to lack originality.
Not until the pandemic began in March 2020 did Instagram make another turn. With everyone bored indoors, not able to see friends, the little, more realistic moments were captured. Slowly, through the months, posts turned into pockets of happiness that users would experience in their own days.
As time went on, Instagram appeared to grow more and more casual. The strict rules were abandoned, and people posted for themselves. With the pandemic, people learned to not take the little things for granted, which led to an increased number of positive mindsets, fostering individuality and self-confidence. Being able to sit and grow with yourself for months encouraged immense introspection and self-understanding.
Photo dumps can include anything the user wants to post: pictures of nature, themselves, their friends, food, family, something they saw on the street, a cool store, a reposted Instagram picture, absolutely anything. There is really no limit or set standard.
People have been more real with mental health and body struggles. Posts and stories encapsulate how someone truly feels, how they may have seemed fine at the time, but internally, they were struggling. And the best part is, no one judges anyone for their issues and problems. They can sympathize or empathize with the feelings others have faced in the past.
Today, Instagram feels less stressful. Turning off likes and comments is a really beneficial thing that users are slowly starting to adopt. Disabling these validation-forcing metrics makes
Instagram a collection of someone’s life. Having someone show their authentic interests online is infinitely better than hosting a facade.
There is one slight flaw: the photo dumps that are supposed to be original and thoughtless are most often extremely calculated and honed over for a very long time. The casualness of Instagram today can be superficial, taking away from the true intention.
Having societal standards for a social media platform is toxic and dangerous. Instagram has gone through many changes through the years, and who knows where it will go in the future? Hopefully, the direction progresses towards an even less rigid structure, and posts remain light-hearted and pockets of people’s lives.
For now, users should continue to post thoughtlessly and highlight the things that make them happy. It’s important to live for our own satisfaction, not external validation. Likes and comments can be a thing of the past. Instagram can be a collection of happy moments and memories that everyone can admire.
Social media would be a healthier place if people didn’t compare themselves to fake posts and moments. It’s time for everyone to adopt their truly authentic selves and live for the little things.
