Instagram Digital Detox
“It’s not your fault you can’t focus. It’s by design. Your distraction is their fuel…running on a treadmill of continuous checking” (Hari 111-112)
In Stolen Focus, Hari shares how in the same way magicians know and use your weaknesses against you, designers and tech professionals do the same. Although these designers may have the intention to do good, it is often the opposite. In simple terms, more online engagement is more money for the platform and its advertisements. To get this engagement, users need to be on the app more and to do this the app will prompt notifications or reasons to return back to the app. However, these notifications are interruptions to our day, distracting us and causing us to fall into the trap of the endless scroll and positive reinforcement of social media (Hari).
“The phones we have, and the programs that run on them, were deliberately designed by the smartest people in the world to maximally grab and maximally hold our attention” (Hari 126)
Before starting my data detox, I looked into the design of instagram to understand why my addiction was so present in my everyday life. I learned that notifications are a sense of reward and we as humans get a dopamine hit every time we see such notifications. Especially with Instagram there are several ways to keep scrolling and be entertained with stories, feed posts, reels, the explore page, and personal posting. Instagram thrives off aesthetics and trends as well as the user’s sense of FOMO (fear of missing out). The algorithm is incredible at predicting what kinds of things you would like to see including influencers, advertisements or sponsorships that they’re so seamless you may not even notice them (Freedom). Instagram is such a popular and well-known app that has people more addicted than they know, and unfortunately, I am one of them.
“Instagram’s psychological manipulation of user-centric design, habit loops, and dopamine reactions is orchestrated through glossy designs, personalized algorithms, sponsored content, and endless scrolling that lead to compulsive app use” (Freedom)
Trying a detox of my own, I set a goal to give up Instagram, my most used app and distraction, for 5 days. Going into it, I had confidence that I could do it and beat the endless scroll, however, it was much harder than I imagined.
Truthfully, I did not think I was addicted to Instagram however now I know that I was (or still am). I am embarrassed to say that I found it so incredibly hard not to use Instagram these past 5 days. I was constantly thinking about the app and fell into the trap of FOMO, continuously wondering about what was happening, what I was missing and how trends and stories will disappear by the time I can go back on the app.
I moved the app off of my home screen and into a folder where I would not see it. However every time I had the thought to go on Instagram my finger went to the spot it usually was on my home screen from muscle memory. Every time I clicked into the other app or had my finger above the button I would always kind of laugh at myself and remember that I was on the detox. I clicked where the app was a total of 45 times throughout the 5 days. The first day I clicked into it the most at 18 times.
I also found myself thinking about the app a lot especially toward the beginning, with a total of 49 times. With this project, I reflected on how I use Instagram and for me, it’s often as a form of search engine to search up celebrities, people I know or a small business that I was curious about. I never thought about how often I use Instagram for other reasons than mindlessly scrolling. However the most challenging part of this was that I usually would use Instagram as a mindless time filler in between classes or waiting for my friends/food. I had to find a different distraction to fill the time instead which was either talking to my friends, doing homework, or using another app.
On the first day of my detox, I will admit I failed and clicked into the app through a notification. I forgot that I was doing this detox and still had my notifications on which prompted me several times. Although once I saw that my friend had tagged me in something, out of habit I clicked the notification and got sent to Instagram after viewing said tag, I found myself scrolling and looking through Instagram. Eventually I remembered that I was not supposed to be on the app. I then shut off all my Instagram notifications and hoped for the best. During my detox, that was the only time I actually went into the app.
Overall this experiment was really challenging however I found it rewarding that I was able to do it! I hope moving forward I can distance myself a bit from Instagram and social media in general. I think I will put restrictions on the apps that I use quite frequently to not be so addicted.
I viewed Dear Data, and was massively impressed and inspired by their array of work. Dear Data was an experiment between two people, Giorgia and Stefanie, who wanted to gain a greater connection to each other and become better friends after meeting only a handful of times. Since they were both interested in art, design, and data they decided to send each other postcards across the ocean with data from their week for an entire year. Each week they would pick a topic and each demonstrate their data in different ways, with the artwork on the front and the key with addition information on the back. This artistic display of their observations became a souvenir for them to view their week in a unique way.
Although they faced several frustrations of the demands of drawing, counting and making mistakes with data voids or smudges, they powered through for the sake of learning each other’s personality and gaining more human connection through the data visualization. They learned to be more present in the moment while noticing everything around them. They also found that they were in a better mood when they were noticing positive things around them than when they were noticing more negative things around them.
Their postcards were really interesting to look through and learn about. In conclusion, they inspired me to make my own data visualization postcard of my 5 days away from Instagram. Although my artwork is not as interesting and cool as Giorgia and Stefani’s work, it was fun to work on a project like this!
Hari, Johann. Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention–and How to Think Deeply Again. Crown, 2022.
“The Project.” Dear Data, www.dear-data.com/theproject. Accessed 11 Sept. 2024.
“This Is How Instagram Keeps You Hooked.” Freedom, 30 Aug. 2023, freedom.to/blog/this-is-how-instagram-keeps-you-addicted/.
Hey, I’m Ashley!
I am a graphic & interactive designer passionate about creating purposeful, fun, and engaging design. Whether it’s a brand identity, a responsive website, or a social media campaign, I love connecting ideas with strategy to make work that’s not only beautiful, but effective.
