What do you think about Instagram?

After Essena O’Neill famously “quit” Instagram, more and more of us have been unveiling our honest captions. But what do you really think about the Instagram aesthetic? Should more of us give it up and get on with our lives?

Phil Jones, second year English and American Lit

@philrdjones

“For some people it’s less about showing their lives to the world and more about documenting their memories.”

Lucy Joseph, second year IR and French

@lucyjo96

“We live in such a media saturated world, it becomes, maybe overly, important to present our lives in the best way possible. Your insta feed represents you.”

Delfina Rainoldi, second year IR and Politics

@drainoldi

“Social media has become this power vacuum everyone wants to be a part of, and with so many ‘Instagram famous’ people on there, others feel the need to compete and try have the most ‘pleasing aesthetic’ to get known.”

Florian Berberich, second year Business Management

@floofficial

“I feel like a brand ambassador for VK so I try to post as many pictures of me holding a VK.”

Hayin Li, third year Geography

@hellohayin

“It’s like a visual connection: you can instantly see what people are doing from their perspective, and vice versa. It’s just human nature to be nosey and connect with others and you can do that with social media.”

Poppy Day, second year History

@poppyday6

“We live in a time where the media provokes constant social comparison, so some people probably spend a while choosing and editing their photos to boost their own self esteem.”

Anna Griffiths, second year IR and Politics

@anna_grifff

“I enjoy the process of creating a post, editing the photo until it looks as good as it can. It’s not photography but it’s accessible and a creative outlet for me as I don’t do a very creative course.”

Natalie Hatton, second year English

@nat.hat

“It’s an artificial projection of the best parts of your life to the world. We all fall victim to it because we all want people to think our lives are more exciting than we are. I’m definitely a victim. I’m a slut for Instagram.”

Kirstie Sutherland, second year English Literature and Hispanic Studies

@whatkirstiedid

“It’s a way of boasting without boasting, you know? Like ‘ooh look at all the fun I had last night’ but everyone does it. Everyone wants to document all the good times to make out they have a perfectly happy life, regardless of what else may be going on.”

Jess Robjohns, second year Drama and Theatre Arts

@jessrobjohns

“People post, and we are all guilty of it, for the satisfaction of receiving likes, which builds a sense of self-confidence. It also becomes not only a comparison with other instagrammers but a competition with yourself, in the sense you try to improve the amount of likes you get with the next photo. It is quite sad we have the constant urge to post our lives on social media but I also prefer it to Twitter because I enjoy looking at photos and if we enjoy something we stop?”

Josh Madeiros, second year PPE

@jmadeiros

“I feel like people fake their own identity in order to pursue an insta-lifestyle, which makes them out to be what they believe as trendy. I often see pictures of a fancy meal or a high profile brand of watch or car, which, in and of itself is fine and can look good, but it’s the idea people are only posting it because they want to be seen as keeping up with Jones’, which then just spirals into everyone posting the same pretentious shit over again until it looks like I’m flicking through a GQ magazine.

“I see Instagram holding more of a sentimental value so that in 20 to 40 years you can look back and remember the good times, instead of a last Friday’s Starbucks catch up with bae.”