If You Need to Post on Instagram Every Day You Might Have a Problem
If you can’t do anything without posting about it online, or on Instagram, then you might have an addiction to validation.
I know a lot of people will be uncomfortable reading that, and many will flat out say that it’s wrong, or that I’m being insensitive, but this doesn’t make it any less true. There are many things which make us feel bad that are true, and this may be one of them.
As the sun emerges and people flock to beaches to soak up the precious rays, you will notice quite clearly the increase in posts made to Instagram. There’s a stark correlation. And there’s nothing wrong with that of course, but there is a problem if you physically can’t go to, say the beach, without posting about it online.
If the idea of doing anything becomes less appealing to you if you are unable to post about it on Instagram it is essential that you understand what this is revealing about your mental wellbeing.
If you NEED to post online about every little thing you’re doing in order to feel ‘seen’ it implies that you are dependant on the approval of others to be happy. Finding any and all excuses to post multiple times, or repost the same pictures as you posted last week shows that your Instagram is less about documenting special moments and more about proving to yourself that you have value.
And you might, quite reasonably ask why this matters, or more specifically, why does it matter to me?
This concern isn’t coming from a place of resentment, but rather a place of genuine worry. The reason I’m concerned is because if you require the validation of others to feel good about yourself, then you are completely at the mercy of other people. Your sense of value will be dictated by how other people feel towards you, and this is setting yourself up for misery.
You will never be truly self-accepting and content with you are because the approval of other people is fundamental to how you feel about yourself. And so, when and if the likes stop coming, or you lose followers, or you get negative feedback, this will disrupt how you feel about yourself. How you feel on a day to day is influenced directly by how others view you, which enslaves you to an app on your phone. That sounds ridiculous because it is ridiculous, but it also happens to so many people every day.
Posting on Instagram isn’t bad in a general sense. It’s probably a precursor to narcissism, but that’s a conversation for another day. However needing to post on Instagram is a problem. If you can’t go to the beach, or grab a coffee, or go for a pint etc. without posting online then I imagine you are at a higher risk of requiring the approval of others for happiness.
I know these things are trivial – posting cups of coffee online is obviously benign- but is speaks to a more deep-rooted issue. The small things we do every single day are far more impactful than the big things we do every so often. Each day when you post something for validation, you chip away at your own esteem, and your own sense of independent value.
Post online because you want to. Don’t do things, or buy things just to post them online. Don’t give into influencer culture. If you are offered a discount code to share with followers once you buy a product, politely decline. This growing trend of capitalistic influencing is rotting your brain, and you’re probably too attached to the idea of being ‘famous’ to even see the issue. There are some very toxic values being desirable, and it’s up to you to not be led astray in the pursuit of popularity and clout.
Be good and drink water,
Daragh