Nicola Alpe: When did Instagram become so repulsive?

I've become repulsed by tone deaf displays of pouty young people lining up the stairs of private jets. Photo / Getty Images

Nicola Alpe is a Kiwi usually living in Los Angeles navigating Americans, motherhood and bad traffic. She's currently on an extended trip back to New Zealand.

COMMENT:

I was late to the party, but I quickly embraced social media and I am not ashamed to admit I'm an ardent user. I remember the day I joined Facebook, and 13 years on I'm still logged in. I had a fling with Twitter. A one-night stand with Pintrest. I gave up on Snapchat after repeatedly sending my nephew messages asking how to send him a snap. Seemed to defeat the purpose.

In recent months I have become more and more inspired by Instagram and not in the way you may think. Maybe it's my entry into the 40s. Maybe it's the state of affairs around the world but my feed has never been better.

The world has changed, hasn't it? For me it has anyway. I've become repulsed by tone deaf displays of pouty young people lining up the stairs of private jets. I'm nauseated by people complaining about locking down in homes that most people dream of with gorgeous gardens, pools and little threat of losing their job. I'm tired of seeing another bikini shot of someone in their bathroom. At least wait until you get to the beach people! I used to just scroll past, but now? I find the posts and the accounts posting them insufferable.

Despite these big feelings, I have immense hope. For some time, I have harboured faith that by the time my daughter is of an age to use social media, her generation will use it for good, for education and for causes they are passionate about, instead of selling themselves, selling us a perception of a lifestyle that we must have, or making us feel bad about ourselves in ways like Lotta Dann perceptively wrote about in this section over the weekend.

Over the past six months my feed has eliminated the vapid accounts, those heavily featuring inspirational quotes (I'm not inspired and can never remember them), or videos of adults unboxing another face masque or collagen powder, #gifted.

Seeking out accounts by women in their 40s and 50s who, granted, look terrific and seem to lead pretty interesting lives, has given my feed a maturity and real life feel that it lacked. These are businesswomen, mothers, wives and friends. Mercifully there are no long-winded complaints in the comments and there are few unrealistic ideals displayed for us all to beat ourselves up about.

The responses to the Covid-19 pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement have enriched my feed, albeit in a very American way. This is what I have been hoping for and it's happening a generation earlier than I initially thought.

I love @savewithstories, highlighting how worrisome no school during Covid is for the 30 million American children relying on school meals, as vile as they can be.

John Krasinski's @somegoodnews reminded me in some very bleak moments that there actually is good news in the world, apparently you just have to seek it in places other than traditional news channels.

The most exciting profile of late has been the discovery of @sharethemicnow, opening my eyes to the work and lives of so many successful and inspirational Black women across so many fields in America. I'll be spending a lot more time within this hashtag in the coming weeks, enjoying women supporting women.

People love to hate social media but for many it is an important way to communicate with friends and now it's an exciting platform for education and creativity. I only hope in the coming months my algorithm remembers that.