March 14, 2026 - Why I Deleted Instagram
The Long Awaited Explanation I Can Now Refer to Because I’m Obviously Extremely Popular and This is One of My FAQs
Hey y’all! Here’s to the long awaited blog post nobody specifically asked for, but is a question so many people have asked me (because I’m obviously very popular) and is something still people ask me. Like ok y’all one at a time! For real though, here is my whole explanation. Let me also clarify that this post is not at all meant to be calling anyone out in specific. If you still have instagram and you’re currently thriving, that's great and so amazing for you! This is just my personal experience while I was on instagram.
EDIT: Full transparency, I still have my social media accounts for my business accounts, however, I only (obviously) strictly use them for business purposes. The only time where I have to re-download insta on my phone again is to make a post with multiple photos within it. I don’t think there’s a way to get around that on the pc version of insta, so! Sure, you could say I’m technically not off instagram because I still run my business accounts, but running a personal account compared to a business account is way different in regards to what I share and how I use it. I’ve thought abuot making a website specifically for my little business, but I don’t have the money right now to pay for the domain, plus I like the ACTUAL customization feature of neocities way too much so you probably won’t catch me on squarespace or any of those website hosting platforms. I could make a whole blog post on this actually! Anyways, I also still have and use youtube and pinterest, but those are not as intimate in the same way that instagram works. Just wanted to add this to be totally honest!
To start at the very beginning, I made my first ever instagram account in grade 4. I got it just so I could potentially fit in and be seen by the popular kids. It sort of worked. I made silly videos and photos, and I’d like to think they were into them because they interacted with me, mostly online though. I don’t remember much about how that affected my interactions with them at school, but as long as they recognized me and my online persona, I was good with that. They weren’t the popular kids who made fun of the losers and were so goddamn loud and annoying, but rather had this vibe that was cool and laid-back and I wanted to be like them too in that sense. It was fun to see what new, creative, silly or aesthetic post they’d add to their feed! This was my way of potentially reaching them and the only way I could really interact with them that was low-stakes. Eventually, and I’m sure as you know, instagram then started to become a place where you could update your friends on what you were doing. It doesn’t sound too bad when it’s worded like that, but it turned more into a contest to show off who’s living their best life right now.
Fast forward to my first year of university, I was super excited to start. I was 18 and had just graduated high school. An old friend of mine said that he met so many friends through uni and I was hoping to do the same, but that didn’t happen. Well, I mean, I did meet people and talk to them, but I always knew them only at surface level. I always knew whatever they were up to because I had them on instagram, but only now do I truly understand that everything is fake as fuck online. Sure, you did go out to a party, but that is 1 singular event in your life and is not at all what defines you or your life. That seems like common sense, but it’s sometimes hard to realize that when you are constantly bombarded by how much better everyone seems to be living compared to you. At this point in time, I had been actively using instagram, every day. Like most people, I used it as a way to express myself and keep my friends and family updated on my life. Instagram was no longer a place where I could show my friends and family my silly edited pictures or funny videos I filmed over the weekend with my cousins. It’s all just performing but again, that’s not something I think of right away when I see that you and your besties went out to eat at this fancy new restaurant in the city. There was that, PLUS the mindless scrolling of content on instagram reels that I didn’t care for. There were some videos that were funny and/or memorable, but most of the time, I’d just waste hours of my day scrolling, hoping to find something funny to send to my friends. I had a couple of hobbies, like crocheting, journaling, composing music and whatever else, but I never seemed to have time to do any of them because I had so much school work to do.
For my first 3 years of uni, my typical day would be: go to school, go home to study, doomscroll, talk to my partner and then go to sleep. I lived the same fucking day for 3 years in a row and I hated it because I felt so #lonely and #empty. The only people that I actually knew or connected with at school was my partner. Sure, you don’t need a ton of friends to live, and I did have a couple friends both attending my uni and outside of uni, but I never really found myself spending time with them or talking to them all that much. I’m forever grateful that my partner was there to keep me somewhat sane, but it still felt extremely isolating and lonesome to be living the same day over and over and to have no one else to turn to.
Then in the spring of 2025, I saw this increasing trend of people deleting social media and how it literally changed their life. Yes, I was following a trend, but so many people were saying that it was life-changing so of course I had to know what was up. I also just really needed to clear my head. I’d had a tough winter semester and just needed to get away from everything. I’d gone on social media breaks before, the longest being about 3-4 months, but I wouldn't even really count it because I was still posting on my spam account and keeping up with my mutuals through there. Every time I deactivated my instagram, I always had the intention of eventually coming back. This time, I had no intention of coming back. Well, I told some of my friends that I’d see how it would be like to live without any of my socials just for a couple of months, but I never had the intention of returning. After watching A TON of those videos where people explained why social media sucks, it made so much sense to me. It was this video specifically, by Sarah Davis (on the right of this paragraph!) that cemented my statement of never returning.
Now to put it in my own words, here are some realizations I've made now that I've been off freaking instagram for almost a year now (at the time of writing this).
Number 1. I realized that I actually don’t really know or care to know what was going on in other people’s lives.
HOLD UP! Listen, ok? I mostly followed my friends, but had some people I was acquainted with or knew through school, work or however. Here’s the thing. Did I really care or need to know that some girl I used to have English with, went on vacation with her family over the summer? (No.) Good for her, but I didn’t need to know that. I don’t care. Now I have this information in my head that doesn’t serve me. Same thing with my friends (sorry friends, not calling anyone out specifically), but do I need to know RIGHT NOW AT THIS VERY MOMENT that you went to the mall with one of your childhood friends that you had so much fucking beef with during middle school, but it’s ok now because you guys figured things out and have matured? I don’t need to know that, or at the very least, not right now. It doesn’t directly affect me, so why should I need to know that information? All that useless information I consumed from watching peoples' stories and scorlling through their feeds filled my head to the brim. It subconsciously made me jealous of people and I was constantly comparing my life to theirs. I REALLY didn’t need to know every single one of my mutuals’ thoughts, hang-out or whatever they decided to share. I’m sure some people can read this as me being a bitch for not caring about my friends and family, but I’ll explain RIGHT NOW about what kind of information I actually care to know.
Number 2. If there is something important that I need to know, I will know.
I will know because someone will tell me about it. For example, if one of my friends is in an emergency situation, I’ll know because they, or someone, will call or text me about it. For another example, if my friend just got accepted to work her dream job, I’ll know because she’ll call or text me about it. I like to stay in the loop, keeping up with a little drama and gossip and whatever, if I’m going to be real, but I do not need to know every single moment going on in my loved ones’ lives. Imagine if your friend texted you EVERY single time she went to the mall just to tell you that she’s going to the mall. She has no intention of inviting you, just needed you to know that. Girl. That’s just not something you ALWAYS need to know, but when I was on social media, I always knew whenever my mutuals were at the mall. You know what? I actually don’t give a fuck. If you’re going to the mall with your friends from work, why do I need to know? You’re not inviting me or anything, so why does that matter to me? What’s important to me is what my friends and family have to personally text or call me about. If people don't tell me things, then it's fine. I probably wasn't supposed to know anyway. Plus, when you don't read about your friends' life updates through their spam or close friends story, it makes for great conversation the next time you guys catch up with each other. Actually talking to somebody is way different, as in it's more personal and intimate, compared to if you were just talking to the void, in hopes that your friends will see your story/post. Looking back, it was dumb as fuck for me to pour my entire self into a serious life update in the form of story or post, just for nobody (sometimes) to ask me for anymore details. Then again it's like, you already gave me everything I needed to know, so what else is there to know? When you know EVERYTHING going on in someone's life because you literally watch them live through their instagram story, what else could you guys possibly talk about when you see each other next time? Again, you already know everything, so what’s actually new? Now that I don’t know absolutely every single moment and thought that my friends and family have, my mind is so much clearer. I feel less stressed and have the space to listen to what they want to share. Ignorance truly is bliss.
Number 3. It is much harder to access me now.
I’d say it’s more of a pro than a con. It’s a pro because if you really want to access me, but don’t have my number or have any connection to me, then you’re
going to have to jump through hoops just for me hehe 
. Like okkkk, you like me that much to want to get access to me?
Thanks girl. Instead of trying to stalk me online or DM me through my instagram to hit me up, you have to physically find me and talk to me face-to-face.
It forces people to talk to me in person if they want to get to know me, which I’ve found is much more real and sincere than a random person DM-ing you. Also, just a
note that this works both ways. As in, now I can’t just slide into people’s DMs anymore so I have to consciously make an effort to talk to people and/or get to know
them if I want to. Regardless, it makes me mysterious FOR REAL. Well, I have this entire site dedicated to who I am and I believe this is much different than
stalking someone’s VSCO feed. When you look at someone's VSCO feed, you see how they live their life and how they want to be perceived, whereas my personal
site is an actual representation of who I am and what I enjoy 
There are so many assumptions that are all up to
interpretation just from looking at a bunch of pictures of a person or whatever they decide to post. I mean, to an extent, you do learn something about them and what they’re
like as a person and all, but having a personal site is much more concrete. There is less interpretation, therefore there is little to no “filling in the gaps” of who I am.
Even if someone were to know my name, the chances of them coming across this site, without me having to tell them, is little to none. I like that I’m hard to access,
actually. People have to make more of an effort to actually get to know me because of it and I’m glad that they want to know me at all 
(I’d say I’m pretty awesome ngl).
Number 4. On a similar note, the connections I make with people are so much more meaningful.
Whether it be people I just met or people I already know, I am able to better cherish the time we spend together. It’s so much easier to be present and in the moment when I don’t have to worry about documenting our hang out just so I could post about it later for a couple views and likes. I found myself reaching out and talking to my friends more often compared to before. All the hang outs I’ve been on since quitting my socials have been absolutely amazing. I can put more time into the ones I have, giving them much more care and attention. I feel much closer and connected with the people in my life than I’ve ever been before. Hello, if you are my friend and know about this website, hello! You are a real one fr and I love you! I already am super joyful and glad when my loved ones make time for me, and for me to truly feel that experience of us being in the same place, at the same time, I can feel every moment and emotion deep in my freaking bones. There were so many times where I had this thought in the back of my head that told me “this moment is going to end soon, so you better enjoy it now”, but that always distracted me from actually being in the moment. So, after hanging out with whoever, I always felt as if there wasn’t enough time for me to appreciate the moment. This might be unrelated to the whole quitting my socials thing, but I haven’t had that thought ever again since I dipped so, hooray!
The way I used to keep people updated was through my spam account (or a finsta) PLUS 2 telegram channels that I essentially treated like my diary. Instead of having to specifically text someone, I’d just hope the handful of people on my spam account/telegram channels would see my life updates. I used my close friends story frequently on my main instagram account, but it was more so just silly thoughts and sharing silly posts I liked with whoever was on there. My close friends story though was not nearly as personal as my spam account. Dude. I realize now, more than ever, that people need to have PRIVACY. PLEASE. I love it when my friends share their life with me, but girl, PLEASE do not be posting your confusing situationship crash out on ANY social media platform. Text someone directly about that because you do not need that to be documented in typed-out words, for ALL your friends to see on fucking blast. If it’s me who you text, I’m glad you came to me, but if not, then that’s ok too. I don’t need to know EVERY event going on in my friends and families’ lives. I’m grateful for whatever people are comfortable sharing with me, and if it wasn’t something they told me directly, then it wasn’t something I was supposed to know. And it doesn’t matter to me because it’s not about me. It’s about them. I’m much more intentional now about what information I share with which people. It’s not that I’m keeping secrets from friends and family, but rather just sharing what people need to know about what's going on with me.
Number 5. After deleting instagram, I realized I had way less friends than I had initially thought I had.
That’s not a bad thing, but to think that I had around 250-something followers/following and the fact that I had 11 people (I counted people that I actively text in my contacts) ONLY that I
actually stayed in contact with after I left instagram took me aback. I mean, 11 good relationships with people is quite a lot, but again, compared to the fact that I supposedly knew these
250-something people… I didn’t actually know those 250-something people, but it feels like I did because I watched their stories all the time. Even then, that’s not me knowing them.
That’s just me watching them live. It’s ok to be just acquainted with people, but again, I really did not care to see all these people live their lives because they weren’t actually
that important to me. I am better now at focusing my attention on the relationships I currently have rather than trying to figure out who that guy from my high school gym class is
soft-launching on his story. The relationships I had before AND after my social media departure feel much deeper and meaningful to me. I’m glad to have them!!! I feel so much more loved, seen and
appreciated by people I actually care about 
Number 6. I didn’t expect this one, but I became SO freaking social.
I used to absolutely suck and dread social interaction, and I’m still not perfect, but I have improved so much compared to my first year of uni. This wasn’t something that came with quitting, but was something I actively improved on because I knew that I wouldn’t feel any better by continuing to isolate myself and fear whenever it came to talking to new people. Plus, I decided to say fuck you to social media, so I just had to become social as an outcome. It’s been working great, actually! More specifically, instead of just wishing I could go to these fun events at school and wishing I was social enough to potentially make friends while I was there, I took it upon myself to actually do something about my wishes. I enjoy both the idea and the actual action of connecting with people, but I was always afraid that people would judge me so I was quite literally stuck, FOR YEARS, just yearning to connect with other people. Instead of putting on a facade of being cool online, I forced myself to be cool in real life by actually talking to people and presenting myself to them, for lack of a better term. If anything, I still get a bit nervous every now and then when I do find myself having to be social, but it’s not as bad as before. This took me so much practice. I know if I hadn’t done this, I’d still be the same, sad person I was at the beginning of uni. People are actually much less judgemental in uni, plus I believe people don’t really care anymore about fitting in as much as they did in elementary, middle and high school. If I’m going to be real, I watched a shit ton of videos about how to talk to people, how to be more memorable, magnetic and just be someone people would naturally gravitate towards (so I'd have less work to do when it came to approaching them, but also) because I wanted to be someone better. I didn’t want to re-brand my whole identity because that feels like me trying to be someone I’m not at the sake of being accepeted by others. I wanted people to accept me already for who I was. Instead, I wanted to be more of me than I already was. I think I'm pretty funny and have a great personality and all, but people can't see that if I don't show that. This was one of the first videos (to the left of this paragraph by Henry Grey Earls) I watched and have watched so many times because I enjoyed it that much. Also, before you say anything, it worked for me alright? If you knew me IRL before reading all this, just know my magic has worked on you.
Again, I used to dread social interaction and for a long time I just believed that I'd always suck at it. The thing that sucked more though was that I showed myself the evidence time and time again that this statement was true. It wasn't until I flipped that on it's head, by thinking instead that I was a social person. Obviously, it wasn't as easy as just thinking that. I had to collect evidence that I was indeed a social person by putting myself out there and interacting with people. And guess what, girl? IT FUCKING WORKED!!!! The more I practiced and did things that a social person would do, it became my reality. Like ok Ms. Self Fulfilling Prophecy!
Here are two things I've realized about being social. I just have to make my move before I overthink things and there is nothing truly high-stakes with most social interaction. The part that I feared most was making a bad first impression, coming off as weird or saying the wrong thing. Now that I don’t worry about fitting in or being accepted by everyone I meet, I’ve just decided to just be myself. EASIER THAN IT SOUNDS, I know, but it takes a bit too much work for me to figure out what the right thing is to say to certain people. I try to just go with the flow during the conversation and see where it takes us. If you like me, great! If you don’t, great! I'm still going to be #me at the end of the day.
Also, DM-ing someone is so much easier than looking someone eye-to-eye and saying hey. When you DM someone, you’re hiding behind a screen and the other person does not have
to respond to you. They can delete your message and pretend like nothing happened, whereas if you actually go up to someone and say hi, more likely than not, they’re going to say
hi back. Like, girl. You have won at that point. You said hi AND you got noticed by the other person (because it’d be rude to not say anything back). Even if the interactions are brief,
I love it when people see me as a person and I’m sure other people feel the same way. I now greet the bus driver every time I board a bus now XD! 
Number 7. For my final point, life is so much brighter and colourful.
To be dramatic, getting off socials was like putting on colour-enhancing glasses as a colour blind person. Every moment and view I take in is so beautiful and lively. I appreciate the little things much more than I used to. For example, one of my favourite parts about school is walking from place to place. Feeling the cold wind against my face and watching the snowflakes gently fall used to just be another winter-y day, but now I see and feel it as such a delightful little experience that no one else can feel in the same way as I do. I love it when the sky is clear and I can feel the warmth of the sun on my skin and the crunching of snow beneath my boots. I love looking out the giant windows while I’m going up the stairs at my school’s gym and seeing the blowing snow on a windy day. Being at school used to be bland and boring, but I guess that’s because I wasn’t actively looking and appreciating what was already in front of me. Now that I can’t get my quick dopamine hit from doomscrolling, I’ve got to get my hits someplace else. The thing is though, is that I don’t think I’d be able to appreciate these little moments if I was still on instagram. You see so much stuff from viewing people’s feeds and from doomscrolling, so when you’re out in the real world, it’s like oh, that’s actually not that impressive or cool BECAUSE YOU’VE ALREADY SEEN SO MUCH SHIT, what else is there that could possibly make you feel something. To really understand this feeling, you need to get off social media for a couple of months or so, or even for like a week! Seeing the world while using social media and then seeing the world after quitting is literally a night and day difference (like what Reece Daniels said in this video to the right)! Everything used to be so much more fun when I was younger and my life doesn’t have to be ugly and boring as I get older. It can be hard to see life in the same way you used to as a kid, but the goal is to not see the world again in the same way you did when you were a child, but rather continuing to appreciate every moment as they come.
As I had mentioend, I had a shit winter semester last year and then had to deal with some personal issues, yet I was still able to have one of the most memorable and greatest summers ever. It wasn’t like anything super grand and special happened. I think you’d agree it was a pretty average summer compared to my other summers, but there was something about it that made me feel like everything was going to work out in my favour. It was as though the summer of 2025 held me in its arms and told me that everything was going to be ok and it was so fucking right because I was living and I still am! To be dramatic again, I believe if I hadn’t deleted instagram last spring, I wouldn’t have been able to appreciate my last summer as much as I did. It would’ve been just another summer.
To conclude, abandoning my socials was scary, but was not as scary as the idea of letting my life unfold without me taking any care to notice or appreciate it as a whole. It was hard not to compare myself to everyone I followed, even if some of these people were (some still are) my friends. There have been so many times where I envied people for things like being in the most perfect relationship, seeing people hang out with their friends so often, having a tight-knit friend group, people having all these fancy things and whatever else got me thinking I was being left behind. I hated that feeling. I knew that nobody was trying to specifically rub their great, fantastic life in my face, but it definitely felt that way. I wondered why was I not worthy enough to have good things? Why was I not achieving or living as great compared to everyone else? Sure, call me a loser, but you are LYING if you’ve never felt that way after seeing someone’s story/post before.
Quitting social media truly was one of the best things I’ve ever done. I know that it started with me just following a trend, but it's one of those trends that stuck with me
and I'm glad to see where it has taken me and the person I've become 
. I’m much better at focusing my energy all onto myself because I have no reason to be focusing it on whoever’s insta-post I see. Being off socials has helped me tremendously feel more in control of my life (shoutout capricorns). I get to choose the type of content I consume, I have more time to indulge in my hobbies, I no longer carry this jealousy I had for people I consider myself close to, I am extremely mysterious, I’m more open and comfortable talking to whoever and I’m honestly just glad to be alive, and feel #alive!
Ever since I stopped watching everyone else live their lives, I’ve started to appreciate and focus more on my own life with a clearer head!
Many great things have come out of deleting instagram for me and to go back is to return to being the person I once was. This is my ginormous fuck you to instagram. You had a literal chokehold on me, for YEARS, and I thought that I was always going to be in the shadows of everyone else’s great moments, but guess what? YOU ARE SO FUCKING DEAD TO ME AND I DON’T NEED YOU ANYMORE! I no longer worry about missing out on anything or thinking that things could be better because my life is already so full of love and joy and greatness. Everything and everyone that enters my life is a new experience, and I now understand is the thing that adds colour into my life. Moral of the story: touch grass for real, girl.
Thanks 4 reading & take care always, girl 
