I've experienced the same feelings as a consumer on Instagram -- probably for the last four or five months. I'm wondering if perhaps it's not so much an Instagram thing as an age thing. We've simply been around longer, been on Instagram longer, seen more of what it has to offer. We as a species crave new experience -- our brains are wired to pick the novel from the familiar (an ancient safety thing) and to process it with some level of adrenaline and/or serotonin. Once you've been around for long enough, there's simply fewer novel experiences, and so naturally we succumb to ennui.
I know I'm certainly tired of fast-paced media and would prefer to sit down with a long think-piece or thoughtfully crafted video. But the reality is that my life and the lives of the vast majority won't allow it. Society moves so fast. We're flung from one task/event/stage-of-life to the next, and if you don't keep up people start to look at you strangely -- particularly when you're younger. Sometimes, after a long day, I appreciate the simple and repetitive Instagram posts precisely because they don't require me to think. I can tick "Interact with Instagram" off my to-do list and move on with my evening.
I'm wondering: could it be perhaps that our feelings of boredom are in fact a signal that we've grown out of Instagram? That we've matured beyond it, and are now ready for a new form of engagement with the world? As a creator I don't feel ready to stop creating, but as a consumer, more and more I crave something else.
I've experienced the same feelings as a consumer on Instagram -- probably for the last four or five months. I'm wondering if perhaps it's not so much an Instagram thing as an age thing. We've simply been around longer, been on Instagram longer, seen more of what it has to offer. We as a species crave new experience -- our brains are wired to pick the novel from the familiar (an ancient safety thing) and to process it with some level of adrenaline and/or serotonin. Once you've been around for long enough, there's simply fewer novel experiences, and so naturally we succumb to ennui.
I know I'm certainly tired of fast-paced media and would prefer to sit down with a long think-piece or thoughtfully crafted video. But the reality is that my life and the lives of the vast majority won't allow it. Society moves so fast. We're flung from one task/event/stage-of-life to the next, and if you don't keep up people start to look at you strangely -- particularly when you're younger. Sometimes, after a long day, I appreciate the simple and repetitive Instagram posts precisely because they don't require me to think. I can tick "Interact with Instagram" off my to-do list and move on with my evening.
I'm wondering: could it be perhaps that our feelings of boredom are in fact a signal that we've grown out of Instagram? That we've matured beyond it, and are now ready for a new form of engagement with the world? As a creator I don't feel ready to stop creating, but as a consumer, more and more I crave something else.