Control or Be Controlled: Beginners Guide to Instagram Decluttering
I call it ‘guilty pleasure’ content — be it celebrity gossips, celebrities themselves, semi-naked models, or people you don’t necessarily want to keep in your network anymore, but you still are. That type of clickable content that you never really want to admit to your friends you follow. Something that feels so private — only between yourself and the algorithm.
I understand the dopamine hit, I do. Social media developers and the psychologists designing the platform concepts do, too. And they use the platform to tap into our most intimate parts, often triggering issues with mental health.
A few years ago, I finally admitted to myself that I sometimes tend to interact with such accounts because of: a) some weird sort of vanity, and b) some weird form of confirming social status. Once I started being honest with myself, an extremely powerful rage emerged. I was furious at the majority of the content I saw online, and I was even more furious at myself for allowing the algorithm to waste so much of my time. They cannot control the things they show me, they cannot control my thoughts!
So I decided I was going to refine what I see with the aim to build a healthier relationship with social media.
We do have certain powers over the recommendations engines: we can follow, unfollow, restrict, block certain key words, like posts, rate posts, say that we’re not interested in posts, unsubscribe. If we consciously use the tools to navigate the type of content we see, we can “teach” the algorithm what to show us.
Below, I share a few tips that helped me have a more positive relationship with Instagram specifically, which ultimately made me feel better in my daily life.
Ruthlessly rating ads that are shown directly on my Instagram Feed
It all started with absolutely shamelessly rating every single suggested ad I saw. If you see an ad that doesn’t resonate with you or is irrelevant, use the platform’s features to provide feedback.
The way to rate it is to click the three dots on the upper right corner of the ad → Why are you seeing this ad → Update your ad preferences. From there, you can select a list of categories from Ad Topics, as well as block the advertiser if you want to be extreme.
You can update this once and it will be applicable for all future recommendations. I personally use the ‘Hide ad’ function more often, as this is where I can say if the content is irrelevant, inappropriate, or I see it too often.
These actions not only help in fine-tuning the content you’re exposed to but also send signals to the platform about your preferences, leading to a more personalised and enjoyable social media experience.
By the way — isn’t it SUPER intrusive when the first post to load on top of your Instagram Feed is sponsored content? For me, that’s too aggressive as an аdvertising style, and usually receives a strong ‘Hide ad’ click.
Why are you showing me only bikini ads after I just bought two pairs? How do you know I need hair growth oil when I’ve only thought about it? And how the hell did you hear when I told my friend I needed a new yoga mat?
Restricting, unfollowing and unsubscribing from all pages that provoke even mere negative association in my brain
Your mental well-being is closely linked to your online experience. If certain pages or accounts on social media consistently provoke negative emotions or associations, there’s absolutely no reason for them to exist in your digital space.
Why do we tend to follow people that make us feel bad about ourselves? FOMO, social comparison, peer pressure, emotional validation. All of these triggers may feed our ego for a little while, but will ultimately result in feeling worse about ourselves, and I’m speaking from experience.
Relying on the wrong things to get that dopamine hit is not good for your brain, especially since these platforms are cleverly designed to keep us hooked through that content. The more you engage with content that makes you feel bad, the more you’ll get content that makes you feel bad.
And do you want to feel bad?
Redefining the Explore tab on Instagram
Instagram’s Explore tab (the magnifier-shaped icon at the bottom of your screen) can be a valuable tool for discovering new and relevant content. To make it work in your favour, take some time to redefine your Explore tab — interact with posts, accounts, and hashtags that genuinely interest you. Engaging with content that aligns with your preferences will help the algorithm fine-tune your Explore feed, ensuring that it consistently delivers content you find engaging and enjoyable.
What worked for me was to first review the accounts that I follow — this helped the algorithm understand which topics I prefer. Then, I started rating the Explore recommendations. I either pressed Like, or rated the post as irrelevant. To do so yourself, you have to click on a post and then press on the three dots at the top right corner. From there, you can select ‘Not interested’.
You’d be impressed how quickly the Explore algo reacts to your actions — I saw a difference in the quality of content I get delivered from just 2–3 ‘rounds’ of fine-tuning.
Our digital lives are such a great part of who we are today, and for now, we still have the power to have a say in what tech companies expose us to.
I’ve been practicing these steps for a few years now, and I can proudly say that in 90% of the time, I get extremely relevant content, content that educates me, inspires me, makes me laugh, and motivates me to live a healthy lifestyle.
Only after I was honest with myself that I was feeding my identity with the wrong thoughts, I was able to create a digital space that fosters a healthier mindset, reduces stress, and allows me to focus on things that bring positivity and inspiration, and not waste my time and energy in entertaining negative patterns.
