If you’re a daily scroller, you’ll have seen it. It’s the latest, biggest news in social media and hot on the iphones of the #avocadotoast #butfirstcoffee #feedfeed crew. And Instagram Stories is yet another door or window to our inner selves and – while I can see how Snapchat might want to *scream* as their business model becomes just about redundant – I’m not sure I’m all that happy either about the latest update to my favourite platform.
‘A new feature that lets you share all the moments of your day, not just the ones you want to keep on your profile’ is the social media giant’s mission here. What about those moments you might want to really truly share? The moment today when Small decided to beat me fair and square at table tennis? Or when Mini lay on the sofa and read cover-to-over her 5th book of the summer? I shared those moments without needed to video or snap them but instead by living them in real life.
What if I had grabbed my phone and shared these moments with my 2k+ followers, how would that have actually benefited me? Or them? Surely my moments are mostly utterly dull to most of the world? Besides, by tomorrow, they would have completely evaporated anyway – which definitely proves to me I should spend my time more wisely.
All this is different to the Instagram I know and love. Why? Because the photography app (which is what it is to me) is full of choice and inspiration and creative ideas… that is, if you make your follow choices carefully.
Just one day into Stories and it has shown me that I need to cut out at least half of the number of those I follow. Particularly those supplementing their Instagram lives with Stories. Because – with the new update – I’m being served their mundane and it’s exactly the opposite of inspiring.
