While that would have NEVER happened…it is fun to think about what COULD have happened.
A few weeks ago, Instagram went through their longest outage in HISTORY (maybe I’m being dramatic, but I think that’s right).
And the world literally went into panic mode. Myself included.
It was actually repulsive to think about how many times I opened the app and tried to refresh. I sound like a broken record at this point, but whenever there’s something even remotely off with Instagram, I can’t stress enough how important it is to make sure you OWN something.
Our businesses wouldn’t rely on someone else’s platform
It’s honestly so crazy to me how so many people solely rely on Instagram for their businesses. I don’t know if it’s because I’ve had my blog since 2012 or what, but it just seems like so many people focus on Instagram. All of their eggs go into that Instagram basket, and I’m not sure if it’s because it’s convenient? Regardless of what the reasoning is, it’s just not
my reasoning
. If Instagram never recovered from their glitch, people would be forced to do something else. They would be forced to start over. And as HORRIBLE as that is, it would be a lesson learned.
Our websites are the only things we can control.
The comparison game would be less insane
This is a REAL problem. When I’m mindlessly scrolling through the platform, I see everything from designer bags to lavish vacations to dream partnerships. All things that are amplified x10000 when on Instagram. Do I ever find myself comparing myself? Yes, but not as much as I used to. I realized it’s just not smart to do that, and I’m lucky to be in such a good place professionally and personally. The only comparison I should be making is against myself…whether or not
I’M
doing better than six months, one year, or five years ago. I know it’s really hard to do that when there’s millions of people on Instagram SHOVING “perfect” content down your throat, but I’m here to tell you (and assure you), that Instagram is not real life. And that all you should be doing is striving to be a better version of YOURSELF…not someone else.
Real life would become real life again
While Instagram was down, I was lucky enough to attend a dinner with Dooney & Bourke. We definitely talked about the outage, but we weren’t on our phones. And that was a really good thing. Like, um, hi, I’m out with a BRAND who invited me (and other influencers) to dinner…it would be REAL dumb for me to be on my phone. If Instagram never came back,
real life would become real life again
. We wouldn’t be constantly doing the mindless scrolling while waiting for dinner, or on the subway, or when you’re in a crowded elevator. We’d truly take in the moments again without worrying about capturing, editing, and engaging. Life would be a lot less exhausting, don’t ya think?;)
So while the thought of Instagram going away forever is a bit extreme, the whole outage thing made me think for a bit. Another thought
Allie
and I had was what would happen if everyone’s Instagram accounts just got WIPED clean…and everyone started from ZERO? OOOOOOOOH, I know…crazy to think about, huh? Just imagine that.