U.S. users are leaving Facebook by the millions, Edison Research says

Instagram to me seems like the worst parts of social media, in that it's a vanity feeding mechanism amplified. Which in turn makes it an anxiety inducing experience if you aren't doing "cool things" that make other people jealous.

I agree with you completely.

Instagram is social McDonalds. Quick gratification from pretty pictures of friends doing cool shit, ranked so that the prettiest friends appear on your newsfeed first.

Try putting a serious post on Instagram, nobody will see it and it will fall flat.

Meanwhile I put out a post on Facebook asking for help (after my house was burgled) and had about 15 people messaging me within a couple of hours willing to come around to my place and lend me a hand.

You can't even share links on Instagram, so I'm sure that the GoFundMe that was set up to help cover the money that was stolen from me would've gotten a lot less money than it has.

I like Instagram as an entertainment platform for looking at cool photos, and for posting the occasional photo myself (never of myself, always landscape of event photography), but it's absolute trash as a social media platform.

I consume Instagram like TV (they even launched IGTV, although I don't use it and it's terrible). People mostly don't get anxiety from watching TV. Maybe it has to do with the fact I don't use Instagram as SNS.

I guess I view it from the other end of that spectrum. It's a place where I get ideas of places to go and things to do/see/eat. Plus I enjoy seeing the people I care about doing things that make them happy. I want my friends to show off the best parts of their lives.

But I'm also very particular about who I follow, unlike on Facebook where I'm friends with every old coworker, classmate and family member.

I enjoy using IG but I don’t follow many real people. I follow organizations, brands, etc. I like seeing their new stuff as well as any news such as sales, new releases, etc. I follow photographers and artists. It’s essentially a feed of stuff I like.

I wouldn’t follow “real” people unless they’re close friends. Don’t want to see people’s lunches or vacations.

It's also the only platform of any kind where I have clicked on ads... on purpose!

I suppose if you use IG like that then sure. For me, I follow other photographers and online "zines", so my IG is full of other artists. "Influencers", celebrities, and meme accounts are banished from my feed. In turn, I only post the photos I want to be public, that I'd sell as prints or show in a gallery.

If you follow the vanity stream then you're going to see exactly that, but IG can be a totally different experience. For me, it's a fantastic source of inspiration and a way to see what other artists are doing.

Now, for me the only use FB has left is a dumping ground for my photos that the older members of my family want to see but whom are not on IG yet.

I travel a lot and enjoy taking pictures and sharing them with friends so Instagram was a lot harder for me to give up then Facebook. I just disabled my account though and so far it feels like a positive move. Instagram isn't entirely without benefits but overall it just started to feel like an obligation and a distraction.