Photo by David Green
I have an Instagram account. For someone who models it is useful to have social media presence and Instagram allows you to post images from campaigns and behind the scenes. The use of hashtags can help you to build up followers and you may end as a model- influencer. At least this is what I thought when I joined Instagram some time in 2013. Six years down the line Instagram is getting very tedious and I am contemplating closing my account. Looking at your Instagram feed can actually engender a lot of anxiety and envy, plenty of it. Instagram is toxic. You find yourself unwittingly comparing your lifestyle with that of others, your opportunities and assets with those of others and you need to remind yourself, all the time, that all that glitters is not gold - because Instagram offers plenty of lies, plenty of filters, plenty of photoshopping. There is also the well known issue of bought followers and there are also the fake influencers who pretend to have been sponsored in a bid to get followers and then be sponsored for real.
Like Facebook, which I also dislike and of which Instagram is an offshoot, Instagram is the stomping ground of people who want to give you plenty of advice. The world seems to be full of pompous and sententious individuals. Every time I look at my Instagram feed I feel like throwing my phone in the dustbin.
The same old clichés - be positive, be grateful, be this, be that and a multitude of hurriedly googled quotes photographed and posted to show how high minded the people posting them are. Affirmations and such like are commonly found on Instagram, again in a bid to get followers.
But the worst thing is the ads and the people who are trying to con you and get you to part with your hard earned cash. They seem to grow in number everyday. More than half of the ads on Instagram are not genuine ads, they are not-so-elaborate scams and you may find yourself buying something for just a tenner believing you have got a bargain and ending up paying hundreds in subscription fees as you give the seller permission to charge your credit card on a regular basis. It takes a while to withdraw that permission and plenty of calls to your card issuer.
Does Instagram take any responsibility for this? Of course not. The whole system is automated. Ads are not vetted. The problem with Insta-scams has been highlighted in several articles and TV news items . Scammers are free to advertise on Instagram. To give you an example, there is a company that sells you a t-shirt which apparently helps you to keep your posture in check. Although the company has been blacklisted and credit card companies might block your card if you try to use the card to pay for this product, Instagram continues to allow this company to advertise. What is the problem, why has this seller been blacklisted by credit card companies? Because when you buy from them you have to accept their terms and conditions by which you give them permission to charge your credit card as many times as they wish. Thousands of people have been scammed, banks and credit cards are aware of this company yet Instagram still allows them to advertise.
Instagram is also a haven for counterfeit goods. offered as the real thing but at a discount. The number of people that have fallen for it is unbelievable.
If this is what Instagram offers what's the point of being on it?
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