📗 Understand
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Dec 30, 2024
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7 min read
Instagram: “Essential” or “Worst Enemy”? What if the equation was a bit more complicated than that? Today, we’re going to explore the history of Instagram, particularly how we transitioned from a photo-sharing app to a real cash machine. Interested? Let’s go!
📜 Brief History of Instagram
Let’s lay the groundwork. Instagram was founded and launched in October 2010 by American Kevin Systrom and Brazilian Mike Krieger, who met at Stanford.
Here are the different logos of Insta over time (this will surely bring back some memories).
The initial goal of the app was to allow users to share photos, especially those taken with smartphones. In a square format, with about a dozen filters at the beginning.
Within a few weeks, the numbers surpassed all expectations. Barely two months after its launch, the app already had one million users. The tidal wave. 🌊
Here are some important dates in the continuation of the story 👇
2012: Instagram is bought by Facebook for 1 billion dollars.
2016: Stories are launched to compete with Snapchat, which built its success on this concept.
2020: Seeing the meteoric rise of its new rival TikTok, Instagram develops Reels, similar to the short videos found there.
2022: Instagram launches a paid version of its app. Influencers on the platform can offer subscription options to provide exclusive content to a community, much like OnlyFans.
And here are some random figures 📈
On October 27, 2022: surpassed 2 billion monthly users worldwide. Behind Facebook and YouTube, and equal to WhatsApp.
95 million photos and videos are posted daily on Instagram.
France had 23.7 million Instagram users in January 2023.
58.5% of Instagram users on Android visit the app daily.
How did Instagram come to occupy such an important place in the lives of many people? Well, the app has become increasingly indispensable.
🧲 The Addictive Process of Instagram
If you’ve been reading our blog, you’ve understood that attention has become super valuable today.
Your “available brain time” is a limited resource and is under siege by these free apps whose business model is to keep you engaged for as long as possible. Thanks to this, they maximize their profits with advertisers and offer you increasingly targeted ads.
(By the way, Instagram has received two fines for non-compliance with GDPR in Europe, totaling 405 million euros in 2022 and 180 million euros in 2023).
It’s important to keep in mind that there is competition among apps to capture attention. What can be called the attention race.
So, it’s no coincidence that Instagram has gradually developed features (Stories, Reels, subscriptions) that are all copies of what has made other social networks successful. If the platform doesn’t use these methods, a rival will, and will ultimately capture market share.
We are witnessing a real escalation in the attention battle. Which is quite logical in a competitive market. But it comes at the expense of our time.
I recommend this video by Tristan Harris where he explains it in front of the U.S. Congress (click on it to open).
I had mentioned the “Persuasive Technology Lab” when discussing how infinite scrolling emerged; well fyi, It’s a program at Stanford created by B.J. Fogg around captology: that is, the way to use technology to influence behaviors.
Well, guess what, Mike Krieger, the co-founder of Instagram, had B.J. Fogg as a professor. He explains something important:
“Behavior is linked to three concurrent elements: motivation, ability to perform the action, and a trigger.”
To undertake something, people need desire, the ability to do it, and a trigger that will prompt them to act. Instagram has iterated on this delightful cocktail to maximize your engagement on the app. Let’s break it down.
🍭 The Trigger
It can be external, like a notification, or internal, driven by emotional states like fear of missing out (FOMO), boredom, or even anxiety. The app promises a solution to these feelings: a cure for loneliness, or entertainment in times of boredom. This trigger will encourage you to open the app.
☝️ The Ability to Perform the Action
Instagram is free, ultra-simple to use, and accessible from any device. The user experience is a masterclass in fluidity and intuitiveness. This makes every action, whether posting, chatting, or browsing, effortless.
🎁 The Motivation
Every interaction, whether it’s a like, a reaction, or a story that evokes an emotion, is a reward for your brain. As mentioned in a latest article, it will release a dose of dopamine in anticipation of opening the app, and another dose during your use. Your brain, recognizing the source of this pleasure (in this case, Instagram), will increase the value placed on this initial signal, making it even more irresistible.
All features and product updates are developed by Instagram to enhance one of these three factors and make the process even more effective.
The more you visit Instagram, the more this routine becomes ingrained, pushing you to return almost instinctively. And thus, the deeper this habit is, the more easily you get distracted and lose time.
🌡 Focus: Risks to Mental Health
Two figures I found shocking while doing my research:
1 in 8 French people chooses their vacation based on its Instagram potential.
A survey conducted in 2017 showed the reasons that lead 18-33-year-olds to choose a vacation destination: 40.1% responded with the potential for “Instagrammability.”
Instagram is thus a real tool for social validation today, where salvation comes from the approval and gaze of others.
Self-promotion and self-exposure become existential stakes. And this simultaneously catalyzes social comparison. Problem? We compare our inner selves, our thoughts, our flaws, with the outer selves of others, what they choose to show us.
As Instagram emphasizes image enhancement, we present the best possible version of ourselves and our lives. On the other hand, we are therefore overexposed to the idealized lives of others.
Very few people will post a photo of themselves buried in the couch after having eaten a greasy burger, or brag about having binge-watched an entire season of Emily in Paris (yes, I’ve done it).
So it’s often an unconscious comparison that tarnishes self-esteem. This discrepancy can be the source of serious ailments, especially among the young.
In 2021, Frances Haugen, a former Meta employee, leaked the “Facebook Files” to the SEC and the U.S. Congress.
These were internal research documents, particularly on the impact of Instagram on young people, especially teenage girls. Here are some figures:
66% of teenage girls experience negative social comparison on Instagram.
32% of them say their insecurities are amplified by the platform.
23% of total users feel pressure to look perfect.
A very concerning point since these are internal documents: Meta is aware of the impacts. Since these leaks, the company has been downplaying them. You can delve deeper into the case and the content of the Facebook Files here.
Frances Haugen even launched an NGO in 2022 called Beyond the Screen, which “focuses on concrete solutions to help users regain control of their experience on social media.”
Another side effect of heavy Instagram users is that they will often live certain moments only in anticipation of what they will be able to say or show about them, rather than for the pleasure of the moment itself.
This phenomenon can distract individuals from the true essence of the experience being lived.
Let’s play the game of spotting the 7 differences between this shot of Michael Jordan in 1998 and that of LeBron James in 2023.
Hint: don’t look at the players but at the audience.
🦋 Towards Improving Usage
There is a wealth of inspiring, entertaining, and useful content on Instagram. That’s why I don’t demonize this network too much.
Many people use the app for good reasons (including for work). The problem isn’t its intrinsic use, but the autopilot sessions and the loss of control 🌀
I have long suffered the majority of the time I spent on Insta. There is no miracle recipe, and you need to build your system based on your starting point.
It’s a journey.
#1 — Step 1: Observe and Recognize Your Triggers
Whatever your relationship with Instagram, you can take the time to analyze your habits.
Upstream: Before opening the app, ask yourself: “Why do I want to go on Instagram right now?” Is it out of boredom? To escape an unpleasant task? Out of habit? By becoming aware of your triggers, you can start identifying the moments when you are most vulnerable to temptation.
Downstream: After using Instagram, try to note how you feel. Is it a positive or negative emotion? Are you satisfied with the time spent? Did you feel jealousy, inspiration, or frustration? Keeping these notes over a few weeks can help you see trends and rethink how you consume content.
To make this process easier, you can use the Jomo app, available for free on iPhone, iPad, and Mac. With the journaling feature, you can associate a "feeling" with an app and one or more activities you've done. Easy, smart & intelligent.
#2 — Step 2: Design Your Environment
If you want to inhibit certain behaviors and instill better habits, you need to introduce some friction. You can pick what suits your daily life from these tips (not exhaustive).
Deferred access to the app: put Insta in a folder or a secondary page on your phone so it’s not accessible with one click.
Limit notifications: or even remove them completely.
Set time limits and defined schedules: set specific times and timers for each session. You can use the Jomo app. In two taps, block apps. You can customize it however you like: set it for the hours that suit you, block websites or apps, and make it more or less difficult (activate Strict Mode if needed!)…
Put your phone away: during times of concentration, and also right after waking up and before going to bed.
#3 — Step 3: Instill Micro-Habits on the App and Introduce Alternatives
Feed selection: avoid the algorithmic feed, take the time to choose what you want to watch in advance. In-ten-tion.
Engage with content: prefer a proactive experience over a passive one.
Find alternatives: if you feel tempted to check Instagram, try a rewarding alternative you can do directly: walking, meditating, reading, writing… And if you’re short on ideas, you can totally rely on the Jomo app. We have integrated over 100 recommendations for fun activities to explore when your apps are blocked.
