Caught in the midst of our tech-savvy generation of teen robots, it seems we’re always looking forward to the next installation of self-absorption. As if the olden days of Myspace weren’t enough, Facebook soon took over almost simultaneously with the outbreak of iPhones. What do all of these infective devices have in common? The collective pressure on being perfect and therefore, obsessing over no one other than yourself. The newest edition to this self-indulgence family is the popular iPhone app, Instagram.
Before getting the app, I was hesitant of what I thought was going to be another Hipstamatic fad, which allowed you to take “hipsta pics” with the various camera filters and effects. However, once my older sister convinced me to download Instagram, I found it was much more similar to Facebook. You have your own profile displaying a profile picture, how many photos you’ve taken and a toll of your followers and following – much like the friend and photo count of an Facebook timeline. With the epidemic gaining speed as nearly everyone I knew selected an Instagram username, we would all soon realize just how alike Instagram and Facebook were.
On April 9, Facebook bought Instagram for 1 billion dollars. Sadly, I was not surprised. Sure, I had hoped the spunky app would stand strong against other big industries and allow people to post rad photos without the prying eyes of the world of say, Facebook, but this was impossible from the start.
And so I thought to myself, how much do I really care what this person’s food looks like? Or how tan they’ve gotten over spring break? Isn’t this already what I was seeing and feeling on Facebook? The incessant clutter of captions, likes, comments, and neatly groomed profiles sounded awfully familiar. If anything, Instagram has proved to be a photo-only Facebook and then some; on several friends’ profiles I’ve regularly found their pictures to consist of the ones either too inappropriate or embarrassing for Facebook. By this I mean smoking pictures and selfies. So many selfies.
So, alright Facebook, you win this round. You can have Instagram. It’s just a shame that all that makes the Top 25 list anywhere these days is narcissism. Oh well, I’d rather play my solitaire app anyways.