Instagram is ruining the world
1st July 2025
First things first, I am painfully aware of the irony of this post.
Now that's out of the way, I started writing some brief ideas in relation to this topic in July last year when I was in Bali and I’ve been meditating on it a lot in the almost year since.
My four-week trip to Indonesia really became the catalyst in my thinking about social media; in particular, its presence whilst travelling. All of this thinking led me to the conclusion that I still hold now, perhaps even more passionately so: that I think instagram is ruining the world.
July 2024: Bali
I had a discussion with a girl I met yesterday, where we both spoke about how many parts of Bali, in the touristic areas, have been curated for Instagram.
The end 'photo' has already been premeditated and is oftentimes the epicentre at which the activity or business is constructed upon. From the beach clubs and bars, the swings and waterfall trips to poolside breakfasts and flower baths, the list goes ON. Their design oftentimes lends little thought to the quality of the experience, with instead meticulous calculation to the quality of the end photo.
Instead of a photo capturing the experience, the photo has become the experience.
I see tourists everywhere going to extreme measures (in full glam, heels, the perfect yet completely impractical outfit) spending an unhealthy amount of time taking what appears to be several hundred photos, just to post a single one on instagram that will get viewed for, on average, 0.2 seconds. I don’t know these people, or anyone in their lives, but, and in the least offensive way possible, I can’t imagine any of their followers will care that much to see whatever they're posting.
I see traditional balinese culture being commodified for entertainment at every glance. Most authentic aspects of culture are glazed over by 80% of tourists or turned into a gimmick at best. And whilst I understand these are the fundamentals of global tourism, and call me a pick-me if you want to, I find this not only upsetting, but terrifying.
Yet I am, like many, a walking contradiction. As what am I doing about it? signing up for the activities, taking the photos and naturally, putting them on my story. I know there is no need to have a westernised cafe down every single street in Bali that serves avo toast and poached eggs, but what am I doing? ordering the damn eggs.
My perception of social media:
These ideas, however, are absolutely not singular to Bali. Bali is just a heightened example that epitomises this zoo-like, social epidemic: instagram in real life. I've been on several trips since this one, and have found that these constructs present themselves wherever you go, to varying degrees.
Wherever I travel, I try to involve as much authenticity into that trip as I possible, whether that's predominantly eating the local food, having genuine and long conversations with locals or embracing the nature without the need to capture it digitally.
I will unapologetically admit that I like to take a photo to capture a moment: a beautiful view or scenery, a good meal, a night out with friends. Have I gone somewhere thinking there were going to be photos taken, and I therefore needed to look half decent? absolutely yes. And have I been disheartened at not getting a good photo at said location? yes.
All of these ideas were prevalent when I was growing up, as a teenager I wanted SO badly to be the cool tumblr girl and whilst I grew out of this phase as I got older (marginally), the desire to still edit, use filters and create an aesthetic online didn’t particularly lessen - it just manifested in a different format.
And this is coming from someone born in the year 2000, whilst I had an iPhone from about the age of fourteen onwards, tiktok did not exist, and instagram was absolutely not what it is today. This makes me concerned for teenagers that are currently growing up in the saturated world of social media in the 2020's.
So it's pretty evident that this problem is only going to worsen with time.
My thoughts now:
This trip essentially made me realise that I need to shift how I perceive posting online - and that is to de-centre it.
I'm trying to reach a mindset where I treat instagram less seriously - it’s okay to want to take photos and post them, but this want should only be so far rooted. I'm trying, but I've still got a long way to go.
When I watch my friends, or even strangers on a train journey, using instagram, and the pace in which stories are viewed, discarded and instantly forgotten about has served as a bit of a reality check: none of my followers really care that much, or even at all. For the most part, as much as it pains me to admit, they are almost definitely scrolling past my story within milliseconds without giving it a second thought.
No one actually fucking cares, or at least never as much as you do.
Which is a hard idea to stomach when you've just started writing a blog. On a level, all I really want to do is write. I don’t have a desire to make tiktoks or reels or post on instagram and I sure as hell don't want to be an influencer. But I also know that in our current society, social media is really the only vessel which I can push my writing through. It’s a double-edged sword. So I'm trying to navigate the space between what I want to do and what I feel like I should do.
Ultimately, I’m really not saying anything new or revelatory here, we all know the harm that social media has and we all know that we are, to some degree, addicted to it, let's not lie to ourselves here. But we're complacent, not many people are actually doing anything about this issue - myself included. It’s hard, and at times impossible, not to view our life through the lens of instagram, or with it in mind at least.
I think the bottom line is that it’s fine to consume, use and think about social media regularly, but it should not and cannot come before what is tangible and right in front of you .