Many consider the social media boom as a major turning point in technology. It’s not just a turning point in technology, however; social media has managed to grow. From small, connection-type websites, to Facebook.com, social media is now used and viewed as a necessary tool in communications, business, and even connectivity with the world at large. It has managed to be a partner in shopping through Instagram, a major news hub through Twitter, and a content-plus-entertainment source through Facebook. (I know, you’re here because you want to find out how to reactivate your Instagram account. We’ll get to that in a bit.)
Social media app or websites are centered on connection. One user is connected to brands, friends, or hobbies. From those simple connections, the algorithm gets better at trying to figure you out and gives you more possible connections you might want to make. “Are you a sports person? Maybe you’d like to check out this really cool workout! Ah, perhaps a photographer? We have this neat, discounted software you might want to check out!” From that algorithm, your connections widen and you get even more connected to the world at large (whether you like it or not!).
Social Media: A Hard Habit to Break
Almost everyone has a social media account. Don’t believe me? According to Statista, a global statistics organization, it is projected that by the end of 2019 alone, there will be over 2.7 billion social media accounts! And not only that–it’s seen that the trend is likely to go higher as more and more tech are recognizing its power and utility. I’m sure that you’ve already seen websites that now include Facebook as a sign-up method. It’s like an all-access credit card at this point!
Sure, it has a lot of features that are definitely useful and interesting. In fact, social media has become so integrated into our lives and the way we conduct business, make purchases, or connect with people that some of us have become completely dependent on it. Heck, an entire marketing industry has sprung up from social media’s sheer popularity.
Here’s an interesting question worth pondering: Why can’t people get enough of it?
The buzz with social media is something worth looking into. What makes it “important” in our lives? Is it even a necessity at this point? It seems that human behavior deems it so. Let’s try a social experiment. Try to leave your phone for one day at a regular work day. If you have other appointments, just inform your companion where and when exactly you’ll meet. Set everything up so you can continue your day as normal as possible without social media. Why leave the entire phone? According to studies, the average American adult opens social media through their phone at least 10 times… and over 50% of American adults exhibit this behavior.
More likely than not, over the course of the day, you’ll have checked your phone on impulse whenever there are idle times, like waiting for the train or looking around the mall. It’s like an itchy trigger finger, but it’s itchy for a news feed scroll! Even people who have deactivated their Instagram or Facebook accounts eventually reactivate them.
So what makes social media really interesting for the average user?
Social Media Is A Great Way To Pass The Time
Not so long ago, Facebook used to be, well, just a book full of faces. You can add friends, message them, write on their wall, and such. But most social media before pretty much had this covered. Or, if you simply wanted to message a friend, you can always go for a quick SMS text.
Now, all social media websites like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter went above and beyond. One of their main features is the news feed, where all the things you follow, are interested in, and all your friends’ updates keep updating every few seconds. You can even view news, videos, and check out new updates from the brands you are interested in. Heck, even YouTube, a social media website mostly dedicated to videos, now feature stories and image posts from content creators.
Take heed on the “news” part of social media though; make sure that the source is credible (not from some sleazy website like coolneweverydaynews.com), verifiable (many reputable sources cite it), and aren’t sensationalized (e.g. headlines like “Prime Minister ABSOLUTELY SLAMS opposition like an ABSOLUTE unit!” are sensationalized).
The cool thing about these updates is that they keep you interested for long, and you are more likely to share back to your communities. It’s like one big, buzzing community!
Social Media Enhances Communication (And Empowers Communicators) On Multiple Levels
Expressing oneself is something taken for granted by a lot of people. Some express themselves through art, but art can sometimes lack meaning if not appreciated by others. Some do it through music, performances, and just a simple conversation. Social media empowers expression (and even encourages it!) because it’s a win-win for both!
Social media is free, and so are most of its utilities like video, wall shares, and the like. With a wide audience, just sharing what’s on your mind is something worth celebrating because we get to share it with the people important to us. For celebrities, it can be a simple greet for fans using IGTV. For gamers, it could be a quick show of skill through Twitch or Facebook Gaming. Multiple media features can help you fulfill your self-expression needs and share what you have to the world.
Social Media Empowers Local Markets To Reach International Clients For Free
The nightmare-ish thing about startups is it’s fraught with uncertainties. From hiring your employees, conceptualizing your products, and even just staying financially afloat, almost all variables against your brand seemingly pop up at random times. Another thing that is challenging for small startups are marketing scalability.
Now you might be already aware of what scaling is, especially if you’re a businessman. Scaling is the ability of an entity to multiply their products and efforts to accommodate an ever-growing market demand. Companies who are able to scale their efforts considerably have an advantage to how the market sees and purchases their products and services.
An example of this marketing scalability is Ink, one of the hundreds of sobering business failures that exists on the site www.failory.com. Ink was a pretty cool concept; it catered to freelancers and allowed them to make contracts through the app and get it signed there, too. It’s novel especially since artists already had a hard time to cope up with the supply and demand in their field. One of the problems mentioned by Andrew Askins, CEO of Ink, was a bad business model and the lack of marketing initiatives from their end. They were unable to consistently deliver a marketing campaign, even swapping from one strategy to another. In the end, their model didn’t take off and they got burnt in the process.
Now if you’re a small business owner and this struck a chord, don’t worry. With the advent of social media, you can dedicate your resources there (especially Instagram if you’re a product-based company) because the apps themselves market it for you. Once you have a loyal following, you’re more likely to show up in the news feeds of others, and organic reach can turn to word of mouth and eventually sweet, sweet sales–all without spending a dime. Although if you did decide to spend a few dimes, it’ll be a lot faster.
But sometimes, some people don’t celebrate social media. That’s totally okay. There are plenty of reports and studies which show that other social media users can be a bit harsh. Sometimes, just commenting on something feels like you’re stuck in a nest of vipers.
Over 8% of the population suffer from Internet Addiction Disorder. Don’t laugh! It’s an actual mental condition that renders users helplessly dependent on the rush of dopamine when using internet and social media. There are also other denizens that prey on people through cyberbullying, or even throw all-out political attacks without batting an eye because the internet’s cloak of anonymity protects them. There are also reports that Instagram users in the UK experience the most impactful negative mental health factors in that platform. That’s why some users tend to deactivate their accounts from time to time as a sort of mental break.
According to Statista, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram are the most impactful social media websites. (It makes sense that Instagram could sometimes be abrasive, especially since it puts a premium on aesthetics as an image-sharing platform.)
Deleting vs. Deactivating Your Instagram Account
I’d like to share with you a story about how I (briefly) detoxified from social media. About three years ago, I deactivated my personal Facebook account, together with my Instagram account. Eventually, I reactivated my Instagram account first after around a month of quiet internet time. Then, I also reactivated my Facebook account. My short but meaningful hiatus taught me that social media can be both positive and negative. It’s literally just a tool, a means to an end.
What I’m trying to say is that we can’t really attribute “the downfall of society as we know it” or whatever on social media. Rather, we should look at how we use (or to be more specific, misuse) it. In all honesty, it’s just the people online who can be a bit problematic. And yes, I mean everyone.
Take note, though, that deactivating is different from deleting!
Deleting accounts can be more problematic, because all the memories, connections, and other data you might wish to revisit in the future will be all gone. Some people do it, but some people also regret it. If you’re unsure if you’re going to return to the unforeseeable future, you might want to deactivate first to see how it goes. You’ll be untaggable, you won’t receive updates, and you’re unsearchable while your Instagram account is on hiatus. Your friends might look for you though, so before you deactivate, make sure you won’t worry them by giving them a quick DM or maybe setting up a quick status update first.
By reactivating my Instagram account, I’ve also learned that social media should exist to make connections grow. I’ve started to unfollow people who I felt didn’t give me a net positive in my life. I discovered that there were tens of companies that I had no interest in at all–I probably followed them just because I can! I realized that I only really value the thoughts and experiences of my closest friends, so I decided to put them first in my news feed.
How To Reactivate Your Instagram Account
If you’ve deactivated your Instagram account, it’s totally cool. But if you’re in the market to clean it up again or maybe even use it more for destressing, here are the steps to reactivate your Instagram account:
Step 1. Look for your Instagram icon on your phone. If you’ve already uninstalled it for good measure, you can download it again via the Apple App Store or Google Play Store for Android.
Going back is as easy as creating a brand new account, basically. Just make sure you really want to go back!
Step 2. Type out your credentials as usual. If you forgot your password because you deactivated it long enough, you can click the Forgot Password and it’ll send the reset instructions to your email.
Step 3. Tap Log-in. Enjoy returning to your newly reactivated Instagram account!
And voila! After that, your Instagram account should have already been reactivated. Hopefully you gained a few lessons after that hiatus. If you feel like deactivating at any time, you can go ahead and deactivate, but take note that reactivating your Instagram account takes at least 24 hours, so let it settle for a bit first.