
If more followers isn’t the goal, how do you keep people motivated? What was once “isn’t this beautiful?” becomes “isn’t my life amazing?” I wonder how a platform can stay in a low ego state and avoid the one-upping and status-seeking behavior. As an ad-driven platform matures, it tends to create more ways to gain attention and social capital. Now, there’s a mix of everything from political opinions to brand promotions. You could keep up with your friends by scrolling through photos. Instagram was originally more about sharing what you were up to and getting a glimpse into others’ lives. They did invent the double-tap to like, after all. Instagram has always done a great job of making sure posts receive engagement from people you care about. Less followers and content means more eyes on each post. chic brands and influencers at resorts) but it felt meaningful because it came from real connections. People posted once a day and the feed was sorted chronologically. When Instagram started, everyone followed friends from Facebook and their phone contacts.

It’s no longer focused on those close, meaningful relationships.

Instagram is still a wonderful app for many, but it’s changed drastically from what it used to be.

You had dozens of real friends, not hundreds of loose connections and celebrities. Everyone followed friends from their contacts or people they knew from Facebook or Twitter. “Too much” never used to be a concern because there wasn’t an infinite amount of content and scrolling to do. Today, it’s become common for people to actually feel a need to set limits on their devices to prevent themselves from using apps like Instagram too much. It was a digital oasis filled with only the best moments from people you cared about. In the beginning there were no ads, brands had yet to “discover” it as a way to sell products, and most people were just having fun trying to make something beautiful with their subpar phone camera. Gone are the days when you could snap a photo of your food, slap on a glossy filter, and receive likes from pretty much everyone you knew.

Let’s face it, Instagram isn’t what it used to be.
