{"id":695,"date":"2025-02-25T12:21:25","date_gmt":"2025-02-25T12:21:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/?p=695"},"modified":"2025-02-25T15:00:32","modified_gmt":"2025-02-25T15:00:32","slug":"your-sign-to-stop-craving-the-perfect-instagram-feed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/your-sign-to-stop-craving-the-perfect-instagram-feed\/","title":{"rendered":"Your sign to stop craving the perfect Instagram feed"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Don&#8217;t let aesthetics stop you from posting on Instagram, post whatever the f*ck you want<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s often said, the person who views your Instagram story the most is\u2026<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@eddie2hii\/video\/7373878139048643886?_r=1&amp;_t=ZN-8twASYnUxHi\">you.<\/a> <em>Honestly, I couldn\u2019t agree more.<\/em> Once you\u2019ve posted a story it can lead to you staring at yourself far longer than you\u2019d like to admit.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text is-stacked-on-mobile\" style=\"grid-template-columns:35% auto\"><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"196\" height=\"245\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2025\/02\/phonet-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-779 size-full\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"196\" height=\"245\" src=\"http:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2025\/02\/phonet-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-779 size-full\" \/><\/noscript><\/figure><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p>Let\u2019s face it, social media is a game made for attention or approval, whether we like to admit it or not. Meta even commissioned a study on how Instagram was affecting teens in the US and UK, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/books\/2024\/mar\/24\/the-anxious-generation-jonathan-haidt-book-extract-instagram-tiktok-smartphones-social-media-screens\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/books\/2024\/mar\/24\/the-anxious-generation-jonathan-haidt-book-extract-instagram-tiktok-smartphones-social-media-screens\">gen z blamed Instagram<\/a> for increasing rates of anxiety and depression.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>So, what do we do when we find ourselves endlessly scrolling or rewatching our own posts, fixating on that stray hair or wondering if our smile is a little bit off? Here are some tips to help you post without falling into the trap of overthinking, constantly checking or obsessing over every detail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">1. <strong>Post for yourself<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Literally no one cares what you\u2019re posting on your feed\u2026 to a certain extent. I know it\u2019s tempting to post the hottest selfie ever with a song you hardly know (we see you stalking his Spotify playlists) but it\u2019s honestly not even worth it. If you can\u2019t resist, you need to stop checking those views! Chances are the person you want to see it probably won\u2019t, instead they\u2019ll see the photo your friend posted where you\u2019re giving <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@jamescharles\/video\/7375666994319772971?lang=en\">flashback mary.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">2. <strong>Remember everyone\u2019s faking it&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s easy to fall into the trap of comparing your feed to your situationship\u2019s ex-girlfriend, or a crazy rich model, who has just finessed the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theteenmagazine.com\/messy-girl-vs-clean-girl-the-danger-of-living-in-extremes\">messy girl aesthetic<\/a>. You have to remember, what you see online is often a carefully curated version of reality. I know blah blah, love yourself for who you are and all that.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Don&#8217;t just take advice from <em>DITCH<\/em>, take it from one of our idols, Chicken Shop Date&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/notion.online\/amelia-dimoldenberg-self-made-quadruple-threat\/\">Amelia Dimoldenberg<\/a> (who literally made her name on Youtube and Instagram). She says, &#8220;Social media is amazing at showing all the different sides to your identity.&#8221; In her case, it&#8217;s that sarcastic, awkward vibe that we can&#8217;t get enough of. So maybe stop comparing yourself to other people and post whatever the f*ck you want! <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1152\" height=\"648\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2025\/02\/insta.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-727\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2025\/02\/insta.jpg 1152w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2025\/02\/insta-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2025\/02\/insta-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2025\/02\/insta-770x433.jpg 770w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2025\/02\/insta-293x165.jpg 293w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1152px) 100vw, 1152px\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1152\" height=\"648\" src=\"http:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2025\/02\/insta.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-727\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2025\/02\/insta.jpg 1152w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2025\/02\/insta-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2025\/02\/insta-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2025\/02\/insta-770x433.jpg 770w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2025\/02\/insta-293x165.jpg 293w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1152px) 100vw, 1152px\" \/><\/noscript><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Stop your Instagram from looking like this | Image: Amelia Jones<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">3. <strong>Take a break<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019m not gonna lie \u2014 the moment I post on Instagram, my screen time goes through the roof. Sometimes it gets so bad my eyes actually start to ache. Sometimes you just need to take a step back, stop scrolling through the carousel and put your phone on silent. Let someone else stalk you, cause quite frankly it\u2019s getting a bit sad.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">4. <strong>Stop overthinking the caption<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Stop sweating over trying to craft the \u201cperfect\u201d caption. Your friends don\u2019t care what emojis you&#8217;re using and they are sick of you saying, \u201cI can\u2019t think of a caption.\u201d Just keep it simple and say whatever comes into your head, unless it\u2019s live laugh love, then you need to take a good look at yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">5. <strong>Realise the way your feed looks doesn\u2019t matter&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text has-media-on-the-right is-stacked-on-mobile\" style=\"grid-template-columns:auto 35%\"><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p>The perfect aesthetic is overrated. Your feed doesn\u2019t need to be as perfect as your Pinterest inspo board. Post what feels real and authentic, the likes will come, or they won\u2019t. That\u2019s what the \u2018hide like count\u2019 button is for.<\/p>\n<\/div><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"571\" height=\"1024\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2025\/02\/thumbnail_IMG_2118-571x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-820 size-full\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2025\/02\/thumbnail_IMG_2118-571x1024.jpg 571w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2025\/02\/thumbnail_IMG_2118-167x300.jpg 167w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2025\/02\/thumbnail_IMG_2118-770x1381.jpg 770w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2025\/02\/thumbnail_IMG_2118-856x1536.jpg 856w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2025\/02\/thumbnail_IMG_2118-1142x2048.jpg 1142w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2025\/02\/thumbnail_IMG_2118-293x526.jpg 293w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2025\/02\/thumbnail_IMG_2118.jpg 1154w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 571px) 100vw, 571px\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"571\" height=\"1024\" src=\"http:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2025\/02\/thumbnail_IMG_2118-571x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-820 size-full\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2025\/02\/thumbnail_IMG_2118-571x1024.jpg 571w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2025\/02\/thumbnail_IMG_2118-167x300.jpg 167w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2025\/02\/thumbnail_IMG_2118-770x1381.jpg 770w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2025\/02\/thumbnail_IMG_2118-856x1536.jpg 856w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2025\/02\/thumbnail_IMG_2118-1142x2048.jpg 1142w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2025\/02\/thumbnail_IMG_2118-293x526.jpg 293w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2025\/02\/thumbnail_IMG_2118.jpg 1154w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 571px) 100vw, 571px\" \/><\/noscript><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-is-layout-16018d1d wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button has-custom-font-size is-style-fill\" style=\"font-size:12px\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-black-color has-text-color has-background has-link-color has-text-align-center wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@ditchmag\/video\/7475318825534147862?_r=1&amp;_t=ZN-8uD4DijAI2I\" style=\"border-radius:66px;background-color:#eeff00\">Watch this video to see how easy it is to stop caring <\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s often said that the person who views your Instagram story the most is\u2026you. Honestly, I couldn\u2019t agree more. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1194,"featured_media":724,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[63,64,54],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-695","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-howto","tag-instagram","tag-self-obsessed","tag-social-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/695","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1194"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=695"}],"version-history":[{"count":30,"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/695\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":981,"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/695\/revisions\/981"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/724"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=695"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=695"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=695"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/ditch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=695"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}