What is “casual Instagram?” Upon searching through articles, “causal Instagram” can be described as an anti-aesthetic movement that aims to make Instagram more authentic and effortless. It is usually shown through photo dumps and posting pictures from life that seem less filtered and planned. Recently, this term has come up more often and become more popular. Why? Many say that the upside to “making Instagram casual” is having social media become more genuine, which is, in turn, creating less toxicity within social media. For some users, this may be true, yet, I do not agree with this. I believe that, at times, “casual Instagram” can do more destruction than the usual filtered and ‘fake’ way of posting can do.

When looking at the form of posting that is the opposite of “causal posting,” which can be shown on celebrities’ feeds, such as Kourtney Kardashian, Zendaya, Bruno Mars, and Miley Cyrus, it is very obvious that the posts are posed and sometimes filtered. It can still be destructive, as it shows an unreal sense of reality and their feed does not accurately represent their lives. However, it is very obvious that it is not real.

To contrast this, the form of posting that many people of our generation use today, including some celebrities, which is in the style of photo dumping and “casual Instagram,” gives the illusion of an accurate picture of life, when it is still just a highlight reel and not an accurate depiction. Emma Chamberlain is a very good example of an influencer that posts ‘causally’ and still does not accurately depict her life. Along with her, many other people post inaccurate and curated depictions of their life and claim that it is “causally posting.”

So, next time you see a ‘causal’ post with a photo dump or pictures that make the person’s life look unrealistically amazing, just remember that it is not an accurate depiction of their life, as it is impossible to express everything into a small post.