sparked by my thoughts the other day about the reason for sharing things on Instagram, i started to question why i follow the accounts i do. the purpose of my instagram is not to see what others are doing, but to express what i'm both thinking and feeling. so why then, did i follow 300 odd accounts?
how many times have you logged onto facebook or instagram, only to spend hours scrolling mindlessly? and how many times have you seen something someone else is doing, or has done, and it made you feel like shit?
the latter happens to me frequently. i'll see what friends or acquaintances are doing and it'll either make me jealous, deflated, bitter, or annoyed. i had no qualms about muting friends' stories and posts - and i found this helped. it allowed me to create separation between the things that triggered me (things i am still healing from) whilst still 'following' those people. despite this, there were still hundreds of accounts in which i was filling my brain with mindless information that i really didn't care to know.
so, i unfollowed all of my contacts.
instagram for me is not a social platform - my life is. instagram for me is a form of self-expression. it's a platform for me to share my thoughts and feelings with others in the hopes that they might be able to relate. and now that i've unfollowed everyone, i know that those who are following me are doing so not because i follow them back, but because they're genuinely interested in my content.
so be intentional about who you're choosing to follow. do you really care what your friend from high school is doing with their life? or are you allowing social media to distract you from what's important, from being present with those around you? from those whose lives you do care to know?
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