Before Instagram became all about aesthetics and cohesive feeds, people would post random pictures without even thinking much about it.
Nowadays everything needs to be perfect and Instagrammable or else it stays in peoples camera rolls to never be seen by the world.
People go all out when it comes to their Instagram profiles using editing tools and scheduling apps just to ensure that everything is perfect and will look flawless on their feed after they press the send button.
Despite what you might think though, that is not how Instagram was initially. The photo-sharing app used to be flooded with pictures of peoples unedited meals, random pictures of family members and of course pictures of people’s pets.
Since the Coronavirus induced lockdowns worldwide, there has been a slight shift in the content people are posting. Over the past couple of months, you have probably noticed more and more people posting a set of pictures on their Instagram with the caption ’photo dump’.
According to Refinery29 ‘photo dump’ refers to an Instagram carousel post that features multiple, unrelated and unfiltered pictures.
Celebrities like Megan Thee Stallion, Sza and content creator Nayna Florence Patel have been taking part in the trend which is making us a bit nostalgic.
One user took to Twitter to express how happy she is that people are posting photo dumps.
Another user pointed out that photo dumps were making her experience on Instagram more fun and less serious.
YouTuber Patel explained to Refinery29 that she started posting photo dumps during lockdown because she wanted to stay active on Instagram without necessarily sticking to the theme of her feed, “In lockdown I’ve learned to appreciate the small things, like the way the light hits my bedroom window or some cool street art.”
“It’s nice to share those things,” she added.
The return of unfiltered and non-strategic posts on Instagram has clearly been a breath of fresh air for users like myself who have felt like the app has shifted from being just about posting ordinary, realistic snippets of one’s life to being a bit too focussed on perfection.
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Wendy Espinosa an aspiring therapist explained it perfectly when she said life is not a perfect selfie but rather moments that make you feel something.
People are glad that Instagram is seemingly going back to what it was initially, just an app we used to post real-life moments. Out of all the trends going viral lately, this one better is here to stay.
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