I am recovering from an acute case of Instagram fatigue.

I am recovering from an acute case of Instagram fatigue. In recent months, after several years of being fully engaged in those bright little squares of feverishly curated content (both mine and others), I suddenly found the whole thing increasingly challenging and slightly depressing.  In these unprecedented times “challenging” is obviously relative.

In the midst of a pandemic, a creeping- ever-closer climate change crisis and countless reports of appalling racist attacks and hate crime, I found it increasingly uncomfortable to post happy smiling photos of myself “creating a nourishing life” as the world imploded. I became confused about what I should and shouldn’t post.

Would this post seem too jokey? Would that post seem too maudlin? If I post a photo of a vegetable curry will this mean that people think I don’t care about Black Lives Matter? Shall I write about how “self care is important but so are LGBTQ rights”? How do I set the right tone in this caption? Could this be interpreted differently to how I intended?

I’m being flippant, but in the pervasive “cancel culture” we find ourselves in, being at risk of unintentionally saying the wrong thing for someone who has spent her whole life trying to avoid saying the wrong thing, I was finding it exhausting. I started to question why I was on Instagram at all. Aren’t there enough people posting about wellness and nutrition, lifestyle and food?

I’m no #influencer and I’m pretty sure no one cares or has even noticed that I haven’t posted for a few weeks. I don’t say that to throw myself a pity-party, but rather as an acknowledgement of the effect that the sheer volume of content we all devour on an hourly, daily, 24/7 basis, has on us. If one of my favourite Instagrammers doesn’t post for a few days I might notice when they pop back on, but if they are gone for a few weeks or more, I will probably already have moved on to someone else. Such is the fickle nature of the social media behemoth.

 During this period I continued to follow my favourite Instagrammers and, ironically, I didn’t once question why THEY were posting about wellness or yoga, or cooking, or family life when there were critical world events happening. In fact, their consistent posting was comforting and sometimes inspiring…..

 Then I reminded myself that it honestly doesn’t matter what everyone (or anyone) thinks.  One of my favourite quotes goes, “what other people think of you is none of your business”…..So what’s the point in worrying?

 For me, Instagram has always represented an opportunity to share my passions and create a community of people who want to improve their busy lives through stress management, radical self-care and nutrition. I believe that social media can be used as a force for good, for sharing the informative, the inspiring, the positive, the silly, the fun. I believe that a well-crafted post can spark an idea, that inspires a change, that results in a transformation. It sounds grandiose, but used responsibly, I think that social media can change our lives for the better.  I believe that telling stories and sharing experiences can change the world in a small way. And if we have learnt anything over this strange period, it’s that the small things can become the big things. So I’ll see you in those little squares soon.