What Good Is Instagram?

I've been thinking of trying to reclaim my Instagram and give it purpose. I created it in 2014 due to peer pressure from friends. I did the same with Snapchat, but that app didn't last a year on my phone. Looking back now, it includes various fun times with friends, funny things I felt like sharing, some braggy vacation pictures, and some just to show off how good I look. These days, I don't feel the need to share any of those things at this scale, but I do feel compelled to say something. I have thoughts sometimes that I wished could be heard and agreed with, but I don't know what to do with them. 

And so I want to turn my personal Instagram account into something meaningful and intentional. Honesty is my brand, and I want to challenge myself to be brutally honest. Some people are doing it already on the platform, but I want to be a part of changing the culture.

The worrisome side of me wonders why more people have not done this. It is scary to be honest and vulnerable, but surely others are as sick of the polish and perfection as I am. Most people I am close to use their Instagram, but don't quite know what to do with it. They try to balance showing off with staying humble, but the result is forgettable. I want my posts to be memorable, but for a reason other than self-aggrandizement.

How is this done? It has to come from a place of authenticity. I have to dare to be painfully transparent. Maybe this will heal parts of me. But the ego forever exists. I will face the temptation to promote myself with every post I create. 

Culture delivers abominations to us sometimes, and the greats do their best to turn them on their heads and make something beautiful out of it. I won't ever be a "great", but I will be one of the people who helps push along a change in the culture of social media. Ironically, there is no end to the depths of shallow content in the world.

We create the depth each time we choose to look beyond what is handed to us, create values of our own to adhere to, and act on the values boldly. In 2021 I will do that and more.