The emotional stages of posting a photo on Instagram

You may think that uploading a photo to Instagram is simply taking a pic and uploading. But what’s really going on in your mind is far from simple.

I decided to break down the steps I go through while trying to upload a picture to my personal Instagram.

Step One: The photo

For every photo that’s been uploaded to Instagram, there are at least 16 photos that just didn’t make the cut. From the different angles to different poses, there are about a million other pictures taken at once. Have you ever ran out of storage while trying to take the right picture? #struggles

Step two: The Edit

The main worries: Is it totally obvious I used three outside apps before even getting to Instagram? Hello! Instasize, VSCO, whitagram! What filter do I use? Do I look fake tan? Does the picture look fake?

But the most important worry: WHAT SHOULD THE CAPTION BE?

Do you know how hard it is to think of something funny and sarcastic and trendy and also sarcastic and still have it be something I would say? #firstworldproblems

Step Three: The approval

I think I send the picture I want to post to about five people before posting. At this point my friends aren’t even surprised anymore when they receive the picture.  I usually send a “Yay or nay” text to follow.

Step four: The ongoing doubt

Does it even match my feed? Will it get over 10 likes? No one’s even going to like it! What social media should I post it on? Maybe this picture is better for Twitter.

Step five: Acceptance

Alright, alright just post the damn picture will ya? You can always take it down later!

I think somewhere along this process, maybe at the beginning, maybe before I even take the picture or think about taking one, I forget that it’s just for social media and this is not my job – although maybe it should be!