Post by Murph on Apr 27, 2024 7:17:27 GMT -6
The Instagrammable Christian Life
o you remember when Instagram came out? I do, and I remember in particular the little camera icon. Touching that little icon has always filled me with a vague sense of anticipation. Today, Instagram has more than 700 million users. Having used the service since 2011, I’ve watched friends as their lives have developed. I’m sure you have too. It feels like I’ve seen it all: their trips, their weddings, their kids—their best life moments. These are their “Instagram moments.” They’ve seen my Instagram moments, too. Your friends have probably seen yours.
Yet if we’re honest with ourselves, today for most of us is made up of many ordinary moments—not Instagram moments. Yes, there are some of those, but getting up in the morning is rarely, if ever, a picturesque moment. Neither is eating breakfast, nor taking the kids to school. Neither is answering e-mails from coworkers, nor brushing our teeth. That’s not to speak of the bad moments: the despair, the failures, and the hardships. Those moments are rarely posted.
The effects of Instagram on mental health have been well documented.1 Instagram use is associated with higher levels of anxiety, FOMO (fear of missing out), and loneliness. Of course, you can’t attribute these feelings just to browsing Instagram. It’s likely that we browse Instagram when we’re feeling lonely, and so there’s not necessarily a cause-and-effect relationship. Instagram and services like it, however, have given rise, especially among younger generations, to dissatisfaction with the ordinary. As perfect lives made up of perfect moments constantly enter our minds, we feel like we don’t measure up.2
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