Why do we feel compelled to post silly, meaningless captions on social media? Is it something that has manifested itself on Instagram over time, or is it because we’re afraid to show our true thoughts and motives? We’re afraid of being judged. Maybe it’s our attempt to create a carefree online personality; to create something to reference when we’re sad, and remind ourselves we’re still cool and happy through the eyes of others. Maybe someone actually finds meaning in simple, seemingly shallow captions. Maybe it’s how they express themselves. It’s an interesting thing to observe, and a concept that could possibly be derived from everyone following the crowd.
What if people posted their real motives when posting an Instagram? We all have and know that one person (hey, I’m a culprit too) who posts photos of themselves with some less than meaningful caption like, “missing Hawaii,” or, “falling for fall.” It’s almost like our generation is programmed to think of pointless soundbites whenever posting a photo. I don’t know about you, but as I mindlessly scroll through my Instagram feed, I find myself wishing more people showed their true motives behind sharing their posts, or at least tried to come up with more genuine portrayals.
Instagram is a media outlet that is used for various reasons such as sharing opinions, connecting, promoting, etc. It’d be great if ads and personal posts were honest about their intentions, but I understand they are trying to sell — an idea, a product, a lifestyle, an idealist image. Can you imagine if feeds were littered with posts like, “This purse is ugly, but I’m posting about it because I’m #sponsored!” I get why we do it, especially in the name of advertising. But when it comes to personal promotion, I think there’s room for more honesty and fewer shallow highlight reels.
Let’s promote with honesty. I’d tap twice for the girl who wore a swimsuit and said, “I’ve only been eating salads and working my butt off, and I look good,” before the “I woke up like this,” post. This is the generation where we talk about “feeling ourselves,” but let’s point out our strengths and what we love about ourselves, as well as others. We post what we want people to see, so why don’t we say what we truly mean? Would it be considered shallow or vain to say, “Hey, I look really good in this picture, so like it up!” Maybe. But let’s change that and offer support when people post with genuine transparency, even if someone seems “self absorbed.”
It would be an interesting challenge for people to do this on their social media accounts. What if everyone started being extremely blunt with their posts, or decided to share their conspiracy theories, or beauty tips, or started a profound conversation in the comment section. There are so many opportunities now to share anything on these massive platforms, so why don’t we take advantage of that and promote attempts at honesty within a realm where it’s easy to lie, even for the sake of blending in?