Saying Bye Bye to the 'gram

Newsflash: I don’t Insta unless I really have to. Which in my field is considered a bit of a rarity.

So the news that likes are being hidden has been a welcome change for a platform I lost faith in long ago. Watching the subsequent unravelling of ‘influencers’ this week was all the proof we needed that Insta has created a toxic cult of self and it now needs to stem the flow of ego. But I said bye to ‘gram before this - why?

First up – I currently live in Bali. To the rest of the world it is a tropical, temple filled paradise but what it really means is I am surrounded by Instagrammers, selfie addicts and so-called ‘influencers’ on the hour every hour. They are everywhere you look - at waterfalls, in restaurants, yoga studios, temples, bars, beaches, volcanoes, rice fields, markets, villages. Nothing is safe from the gram, the selfie stick and everywhere gets the same treatment: Insta first and the actual experience second - if at all.

If Bali existed just as a hashtag it would be ‘doing it for the ‘gram’.

After sarongs, Insta tours are the latest hot sellers on the Island of the Gods. Where you and your buddies can get ferried around in air-conditioned comfort, on a traffic-clogged island, to queue up for 1- 2 hours - just to take the same photo that thousands have taken before you. Good times.

Swings, nests, tropical murals, ballgowns in ridiculous contexts, vanity yoga poses and so much ass displayed in all the wrong places – that is Insta in Bali.

I can honestly say after managing social media for folks - it’s all been done to death and originality has officially packed up its bat and ball and gone home. Good taste has just hung its head in disgrace and the world has just kept on taking photos.

Image: Instagram Pill. Piplum.

As Insta digs it’s claws further into the human psyche, the more you see people forgetting where they are and who they are. The basic protocols of travel: manners, respect, privacy and safety are thrown out of the bemo. Now it’s all about do anything to get that shot – who cares who you offend.

Insta and suffocating over tourism also go hand in hand here. A once quiet, relatively undiscovered island like Nusa Penida has within a year become so jammed with cars and tourists that the infrastructure simply can’t cope. That is the pace and the power of the Instagram platform. A remote place no one knew about is soon catapulted into the Instasphere and that secret spot is gone forever. We waved goodbye to long private walks to waterfalls or wanders in the mountains long ago.

Where there is Insta there is also the ever present buzz of drones – and here they are literally everywhere. This is a good time to mention that no one wants to see one over their house, pool or villa. Many places on the island are banning them unless you have a permit / permission to film. Gone are the times that Ubud’s famous Tjampuhan Ridge walk was a relaxing stroll now its clogged with selfie lovers posing (usually in ubiquitous flowy dresses and huge hats) with the sound of buzzing drones overhead. Welcome to Paradise.

So when did Insta ruin travel? Well its been happening for a while – those of us who live in places that are tourist hot spots can’t ignore the daily impact it has and we start to question humanities direction.

When did it become normal for a backpacker to rock up to a fancy hotel – to only buy one cocktail between 6 people with small change so they can sit in a white g string and take photos with their friends?

When did ass to camera become the norm at every public venue and tourist attraction?

When did the view take second place to the body in front of it?

When did the currency of life become the money shot and not the experience?

When did humans decide that the pic is all and screw the consequences?

 I don’t know, but it has made me switch off Insta again.

Until folks get more creative I just don’t want to see another image of a girl standing in a market with round wicker handbags, another cheesy birds nest shot, a girl in a gown on a swing in Ubud, a g stringed ass pretending to influence buyers of hotel rooms, floating breakfasts book ended by boobs, shirtless guys on scooters framed by palm trees, ‘look at me being bendy’ yoga poses in temple doors, ‘the Dinosaur’ at Nusa Penida, women in flower baths or elaborate smoothie bowls held by vegans.

Wow me and I might return – but for now I no longer want to do it for the ‘gram.

Image: Emily Mcdowell https://emilymcdowell.com/