In a Bustle article, a woman de-constructed her Instagram pictures and explained them in two ways: how she hopes they come across, and the actual thought process that accompanied each post.

My interest in this app has waxed and waned over the years, but in my earliest days, when I was obsessed with getting followers and likes, I used to use 30 hashtags (I kid you not) hoping that my posts would trend just a little bit.

I’ve only admitted this to two people so far, so two thousand or so more can’t hurt, right?

I’ve come a long way, mostly abandoning the popular practice of hashtagging, but it’s time to be brutally honest.

I think the way people interact with their Instagrams is important, because this app is a visual representation (or so we hope) of ourselves, in a world where people have become increasingly obsessed with the way they are portrayed.

We care about the number of followers and likes that we get so much that we have websites dedicated to tracking and analyzing all of these things. (Don’t lie, you’ve visited Friend or Follow at least once.)

The editing that the latest updates allow, along with the variety of filters available has basically allowed IG to become our own DIY public Photoshop space.

Isn’t that exactly what social commentaries have been attacking for so long?? Continue reading →