The Observations of a Latecomer to Instagram

I celebrated 6 months on Instagram recently to which I commemorated my non-achievement with an indulgent OOTD filtered with Snapseed and Lightroom. I gaily wrote about my feelings about the shallowest social media platform ( in my opinion) until I realized that Instagram and its superficial trappings wouldn’t allow me to post beyond a certain word count.

And so I shortened my post and saved my true feelings for this platform – a writer’s platform. My opinion is based on never being on Instagram all these years so I expect some people to find my thoughts overly obvious. But just imagine a person going into a coma in 1920 and awaking in 2019. That’s how I felt. Instagram is a whole world by itself.  When I started my account in November 2018 ( shocking I know), I was taken aback by the avalanche of gloss and presets that hit me. I couldn’t stop ranting about it to my friends and I wish I could be more positive but I see more negatives and plenty of addictive triggers in Instagram.

People who have been on Instagram for years have become immune to how Instagram has conditioned and changed society. People don’t realize how similar they have become. Fashion lacks ideas because everyone dresses the same. Captions on “being yourself” or “love yourself” are aplenty on Instagram but it’s just lip service and a “deep-sounding” caption to justify narcissistic photos. The embodiment of “being yourself” hardly exists in Instagram. There are sheep everywhere. Baa baa!

So here goes my observations, the negatives and positives.

Disclaimer: I asked my friends to contribute their Instagram photos for my article and in no way am I associating them to my negative pointers. These pictures merely break up the text and show off a snapshot of their lives depicted on Instagram :D I am grateful to each of them 

Downers

1. It’s all a SHOW! 

Malaysia's top hip hop dancer Kim Superbism is a passionate and spiritual soul committed to giving back to society. Follow him at @kimsuperbism

I was astounded by the level of fakery and putting-on-a-show that Instagram was. This was my biggest grouse that I spent weeks ranting to my amused friends who were permanent residents in Instagram Land. “Errrr yaaa!” they all said.

The level of effort and obsession made into taking a photo has reached critical proportions. The amount of filters to manipulate a person’s body and face are epic lies. When there is hardly any truth behind a photo, isn’t it a disservice to society? Do influencers feel productive orchestrating a photo shoot for one photo to receive all that likes? What kind of deep and meaningful relationships are you actually forming from Instagram for you to go all the way in getting that breathtaking and time-consuming photo? For those who reply, “Well I’m so well compensated,” it’s still not justifiable. Money as the benchmark to success is incomplete and this has been proven again and again by those who have it. What about the story and message you’re telling people? Is it fiction? Don’t you feel like a hypocrite?

I’m immune to the artificiality now but I remind myself of my initial impressions so I don’t fall slave to the gram, because hell, it’s so easy too.

2. The Unhealthy Symbiosis Between Influencer and Follower

Former Muay Thai champion and current instructor Visaet Artram finds great joy in teaching. His style is nurturing and never unkind.  Follow him at @visaet

I can see why some influencers get a big head, think they are Queen B and start living for the Gram instead of the real world. Who wouldn’t when you’re told a thousand times a day how pretty you are and how much you are “loved.” And all that replying to hundreds of banal comments to engage with followers? “Thank you babe,” “Love you too,” “You slay xxx” “Blablabla.” Stimulating, to say the least.

Followers are like guerilla forces.  They slay and defend anyone who trash talks their Queen B. When a bully comes about and throws a nasty comment, it’s okay for them to be guerillaed because bullying should be stymied from the get go. But many times, it’s just constructive feedback or a different opinion. These rebels get trounced and the platform becomes an unhealthy symbiosis between influencer and follower. Influencer loses sense of reality and eventually lives for the validation of her fickle followers.  Followers just become like sheep without much critical thinking and parlay all that behavior into the real world.

Yes, being an influencer with a million followers is no easy feat and I salute you! But let’s be honest, it’s not exactly something noble either. I follow many popular influencers and I find myself unfollowing after a few months. Not that I want too, but it’s because they are so boring and one-dimensional. The thought that teenagers want to be like them makes me feel queasy for the future of the world.

3. Living for the Gram.

Malaysia's treasured artisan and movie director Mior Hashim Manap is known for his high standards, a relentless work ethic and a vision to help correct society through movies. Follow him at @miorhashimmanap

Many people have started living primary lives on Instagram, and relegating real life to the secondary world. All that effort for glossy pictures and sitting in fine restaurants are just to fill up stories and feed. Real life is dull and less glamorous and the contrast off and on camera is night and day.  Everything is built to create that ultimate life on Instagram. Well, easy for me to say, because I don’t have their 300K followers. So I pledge to stay strong and fight the Insta-doctrination.

Whenever I see more than 10 stories on someone’s story feed and people-pleasing captions, I know that person has started losing marrow in their backbone and the real world is disintegrating. They no longer live in the present moment, and are in a perpetual state of restlessness that needs their followers to see. Everything in the real world has to be transmitted to the Gram Matrix. Going out with friends? Awesome, so I can post it on my story and spend 15 minutes thinking up a caption while you, my physical friend in front of me watches and wait. Pretty insane right? It’s an easy problem for regular people to have, so imagine what it’s like for Instagrammers? I see so many “suffering addicts” on the Gram.

One influencer I follow has some 20-30 stories per day. I honestly wonder how she lives. Every moment is recorded for the world to see. Every banal moment, every daily routine and every family time. She’s addicted without realizing. The other day she had a date night with her husband and out came the IG story. Is this what they tell themselves? That it’s so compulsory for the world to see? It’s just an excuse for a severe addiction. The gratification of views and likes are the millennium’s coke, marijuana and sugar.

4. Intelligence is not Valued.

My godbrother Jun is a young doctor who loves going to the gym. He is that guileless, very kind and child-like human who makes the world a better place. Follow him at @junsonchew

The Kingdom of Instagram is populated by countless pictures of girls and guys sipping coffee, posing in alleyways with captions like “When you didn’t wash your hair,” or “When bae got my fave chips,” or “green tea plus pumpkin tea.”

Looks, a great body, a beautiful partner, exotic vacays and fine restaurants rule the world of Instagram. These are the check-offs you need to be considered a winner in Instagram. I know this is a picture platform but there are hardly any cerebral tendencies within the walls of the Gram. Mindless captions, the mindless activity within the beautiful. It’s all just posing for the camera. It’s not a dynamic shot where an actual activity or event is taking place. Photos are beautiful but dead, lacking in life and vibrance but masked with VSCO and Facetune. Yet more and more influencers are making a living in getting followers based on nothing else but the inane dailies of life.

Everything is geared to making the subject look extremely beautiful and sexy. Talent or anything remotely introverted is not prized. Being beautiful without a genuine personality and measurable intelligence is the norm. Appearing wealthy without having achievement is the new default. Oh golly! The policy of Gram Nation may need the intervention of its superpower neighbour Facebook.

5. La-La Gram is about Creativity but it Breeds an Eerie Conformity.

Khairul al-Bakri is a Malaysian producer and film director. Khai is that rare human who is hardworking, compassionate and utterly selfless. He's my BFF. Follow him at @alkhairul

Same pictures, same poses, same Insta-boyfriend, same captions, everything is homogenous. Nobody is original anymore. Everyone is just so keen to be popular that they do the same things not to be left behind. Nobody knows what they want and who they are because Instagram is that giant influencing force that seems to determine your placement in society. The end result is a homogenous society and a copycat creativity. Sheep aplenty. Sometimes when I speak to friends, they start the Insta-speak, and the realization that Instagram is taking over the real world becomes truer than ever.

Yet the conformists are very validated. The friend with 8000 followers and her predictable Instagram fashion walks with her nose a little higher in the air while me and my 300 followers? I’m considered a leper in the caste system of Instagram.

6. The Peer Pressures of a Boyfriend and a Hot Bod

My girlfriend Jo is intelligent, perceptive and has the ability to do things she fears. I respect her for that. Follow her at @fivefeetjo

Rare is the girl (except me haha) who can resist these things in a society that has already plunged women to new levels of neediness. There’s a lot of swooning and pedestaling one’s partner on Instagram.  It’s all a bit indulgent and cloying at times. Nobody feels complete by themselves.  In Planet Instagram, completion is having a partner. In fact, you sometimes get the feeling that the pictures posted are for the benefit of a man. From the baby voice on a video, to the sexualized poses and the coy captions. I roll my eyes at all these. Even girls who hug other girls in their photos and proclaim girl-friendship…….. it’s like a ploy to tempt men into their all-girl tryst.

There’s a trend in fashion videos where an influencer changes into clothes starting from her underwear. I think it’s rather stupid and unnecessary unless there’s some other functional motivation I’m unaware off. Sometimes, the end result of the outfit is so basic and simple. I’m like what? I wasted 15 seconds watching you change to see that??? A photo would have sufficed girl! But you just wanted the extra views cause sex sells!

Am I sounding too negative? I have positive feelings about Instagam too. After all, I am now complicit to this fame-fueled platform in where I am contributing unnecessary OOTDs and pictures of my Jack Russell. So let the good tales begin, short as it is :D

Positives

1. Showing your Art to the World.

Me and my beloved Jack Russell Bisky in our favourite park. He's the love of my life, if I dare say so myself :)

I derive so much pleasure posting my OOTDs and it is a serious joy in my life. Is it dramatic if I say it gives me a fashion purpose in life? It’s that creative outlet to showcase your thing, whatever your “contribution” to the world and draw in others. This was probably the initial Instagram idea until conformity began breeding.

I love fashion. As a very latecomer to Instagram, I used to post my OOTDs on Facebook, until I started feeling that it was unnecessary for my audience there. I began to feel guilty about posting a photo that was for fashion’s sake and nothing else. I don’t get those feelings on Instagram. I post guilt-free and because I don’t have my usual circle of contacts following me, I post with no reservations and feelings of “What would they think?” Instagram is where I unabashedly post my fashion side without annoying people ( I hope). For this creative outlet, I am extremely grateful to Instagram :D I do feel I deserve more than 20 likes but bots maketh my followers. I've noticed the tendencies of recent Instagram accounts to attract bots. Yo Insta algorithm! What's goin on?

On a separate note, now that I follow many fashion influencers, I’m hell up-to-date with trends. Though because of my very strong likes and dislikes, I skip many trends. No bike shorts for me and seldom will I wear a jacket expect for denim. But following Chriselle Lim, Naomi Boyer and Anikateller have upped my fashion game tremendously.

2. Connecting with Faraway People. 

I loved the Netflix series "Bordertown" and was drawn to Katia (far right), played by Lenita Susi. She's a talented and beautiful actress and an advocate for women empowerment. Follow her at @lenitasusi

A few months ago, I started following a Finnish actress after watching her series on Netflix. I found her so attractive and vulnerable. Perhaps because she was Finnish, she didn’t have the universal popularity an American actress has and it was easier for me to be visible. I liked her and started commenting on her posts. She noticed me. And when I found out she was a dancer, I sent her my dance video to which she generously replied “Yeah, you go girl!” I was so happy. Instagram has made it possible for us to connect with people so distant from us. I’m pretty sure she is a little more aware of Kuala Lumpur too after my consistent appearance on her feed :D The world is a bit closer so for this, thank you Instagram.

I like David Goggins because of his intensity, introvert tendencies and his strong sense of self. It's not the physicality even if that is distracting :D

On yes, I’m also always sending cloying messages to David Goggins telling him how wonderful he is and how much I love him. In my defense, it’s utterly sincere. The one-sidedness is testimony to my no-benefit sincerity :D bahaha.

3. On the Very Rare, You Make a Good Friend.

NavEdits has what I call Spatial Intelligence and it's evident in his breathtaking pictures that he creates through  Snapseed and Lightroom. This photo was taken in Punganur, in the Andhra Pradesh state of India. I've learned so much from him. Follow him at @navedits_

The chances of making good friends on Instagram are slim to none in my opinion. But I’ve been very lucky to have fostered a bond with YouTuber NavEdits through Instagram. We both have a mutual respect for each other and appreciate each other’s talents. It’s not a shallow “Hey hello,” sort of friendship and we’re both helpful to each other in areas where we can.

Nav is an Editing Spatialist and when I needed help with Lightroom, he patiently explained processes to me via DM. He doesn’t ask me for help but I’m the one volunteering him horoscope and love language info, all which he accepts with an emoji smile. He’s intelligent and thoughtful and we’ve learned about each other’s countries. He double taps my photos which I appreciate so much, and of course I double tap his gorgeous pictures back. Depth does exist on Instagram and for this, I am extremely grateful to Instagram.

Follow me and my adventures at @karmagirldreams :) Or don't, if you don't feel like it teehee. But drop by and say hi sometimes.

Instagram, the world of bots, fickle followers and narcissism. Love it or hate it, you don’t have to be on it if you don’t want it. Social media has its advantages and benefits if you don’t let it swallow you whole.

If you’re not careful, you start thinking of yourself in the way people see you, instead of you just being you. Plenty of Instagrammers and YouTubers have developed addictive behaviours, and more and more are opening up to talk about depression, restlessness and social isolation. Many have said that the glamour of the Gram and Youtube are just that; on screen. The reality is an empty room with props for the world to see.

I’m guilty of being beholdened to social media as well. I’ve spent hours lying on my sofa scrolling only to feel utterly unproductive and worthless after. I’ve since made a key pact with myself to replace my social media time with reading time. Social media comes in after I’m done with my daily checklist. I do not want to be obsessed with taking a photo and missing out on the present moment of a new experience.  I do not want to be easily distracted and want to be able to focus for long periods of time. I want to be able to do work without checking on my phone. I’m determined.

Spending 40 minutes on a book gets you somewhere. Spending 50 minutes on a podcast gets you somewhere. Spending an hour in dance class gets you somewhere. Spending all that time on Instagram gets you nowhere. It regresses you in fact. That thought helps me break the addiction of social media.

Handle social media well and you reap the benefits of better branding and it opening doors. Let it handle you, and the walls start to disintegrate and into the Gram you go. If you’re not careful, one day you wake up and you discover paws and fur on your body. Bleat bleat!

This article was written in 2019