The Chaos that is Instagram

I can't remember a time in my life when I was not drowning in a media storm, but I also cannot remember when it started, or when I first felt it's presence. I think the biggest influence in my life as of now is Instagram. Since I have been in this class, I've started tracking how much time I spend on the app everyday. I spent an avergae of 3 hours and 21 minutes of the app during the week of 4/8. I was greatly disgusted by that number, so I did my best to cut it down for the next week, but definitely struggled. The next week, my average screen time on Instagram was 2 hours and 16 minutes, which was a large improvement but still a gross amount of my day spent on the app. To try and help this, I installed another app that shut off instagram after a set number of minutes, but I always found myself unblocking instagram in the settings. I eventually deleted the app completely.
Although often unspoke, I feel me and many other teens have an addiction to social media. It is a way to escpae my real world and zone out over something I know is pointless. It is a way to present oneself in whatever way they like, and I was addicted before I even realized it. I have had social media since I was 12, and although it is not my parents fault, I did not have the maurity level to handle such a thing at that age, and I wish they would have withheld it from me.It is full of advertisemnts, either directly from companies, or subtly placed in the post of someone I follow. I think this definitely subconciously affects the things I want, like, and buy. The clothes I wear, the hair I want all comes from Instagram.  I think this will be a lifelong struggle for me, and although I wish too, I cannot see myself deleting the app anytime soon.