Posts of Instagram (& Other Accounts) Past 👻 🪦
social media is graveyard that can haunt all of us
I was scrolling through Instagram recently and was shocked by how many people from high school, college, and old jobs were in my follows/followers. I don’t think that’s rare. It seems like social media is a graveyard of both our past and present lives—versions of ourselves and others we may or may not still be connected to. Social media is a funny reminder that way. Mostly, it reminds me of the endless posts I’ve posted and deleted.
I’ve lived every era of social media content pursuit, including but not limited to Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, blogging, and podcasting. My favorite blog that I started was with my friend Jill. We blogged about a four-day road trip we took to Michigan to see our college roommate Adrienne graduate with her master’s in screen printing. I accidentally erased all the photos from that trip when I deleted the Blogger account we used, and it’s one of my biggest regrets. The art from all the students in Adrienne’s graduate show was WILD, and now I can only tell you about it. No posts, no photos, just lore.
Something I’ve been thinking about in starting this newsletter is that I don’t want to make content for the sake of making content. That’s why so many of my social media pursuits have been short-lived. I’ve always approached taking photos and videos on my phone as something I should post online, rather than as a way to document my life, a moment, or something to remember. I haven’t paid much attention to Instagram for a few years because I was constantly thinking about how every moment of my life could look in a photo or story. I’d like to say I feel shame about that, but honestly, I think it’s something we all experience. Social media is still a new landscape that we’re all learning to navigate as humans, and I think we should have some fun with it, letting go of any shame around learning as we go.
While most of my posts online were sent to the void after being deleted over the past decade, I did find a few photos from old Instagrams and blogs that I’d like to share. The photo below is from an Instagram profile pic I took in front of a solid-color wall in my apartment. Not pictured: the boxer shorts I was wearing because I didn’t have AC, and it was hot in my apartment during this solo photo sesh. I also don’t recommend trying to figure out your own lighting when you’re both the model and the photographer at the same time.
I took all the photos below for Instagram and a few blogs I tried to start. The top row are old Instagram photos. I was definitely guilty of going to Instagram-worthy restaurants in Los Angeles, but that was before Instagram ruined every restaurant, circa 2012-2016. Mostly, I went and hoped I’d run into cool, hipster blogger girlies while I was out and about, but that never happened. You don’t really just run into people in Los Angeles. It’s maybe happened to me once, and it was an old co-worker I knew from when I lived in Austin — so it was very jarring to run into him.
The middle two rows are from my wannabe-Joshua-Tree-chic-influencer era. I rented an Airbnb and took photos all weekend for content with a few friends, and while the photos turned out great, the trip didn’t exactly go well. I still don’t bring it up with my friends and am genuinely embarrassed about it.
And, the last row includes photos I took during the first two weeks of lockdown. With so much newfound time on my hands, I thought I might try lifestyle blogging, but being in lockdown doesn’t exactly lend itself to full lifestyle living. You can’t post compelling content when you’re not even sure if toilet paper will be on the shelves at the grocery store next week.
I think we should find memories we enjoy from our past lives on social media and let them remind us of who we were, who we are, and who we want to become. These two photos are my favorites from the times when I was creating content for content’s sake. They’re ghosts from a past life, and maybe ghosts have something to teach us. Don’t be afraid to let them visit now and then.
For a full guide, FAQ, & tour of idk with kimberly bozeman, check out my post idk & others things: a guide to idk and why i started this newsletter.
