Your Instagram account is scheduled for deletion
Yesterday, I deleted one of my Instagram accounts. I had two, actually. The first one was used when I was in high school and college, and that was where I followed classmates and friends. The only photos I uploaded there were more personal - a graduation photo, some more artsy pictures that were taken when I traveled, that kind of thing. I hadnāt checked that account in months, so I decided to just pull the plug on it. The second account was mostly used for things involving my hobbies or for following local businesses, and that was the one that was harder to let go of.
I tried to think about why that was, and I listed out some reasons.
I follow along with what local businesses are doing. For example, what special events is the yarn store or bookstore putting on for the community this month? Has a coffee shop or food truck changed its seasonal menu?
I follow a lot of crafters, and seeing other peoplesā projects can inspire me and introduce me to new patterns, designers, and crafting techniques. I occasionally like and comment on these things and sometimes Iāll post pictures to show off my work, too.
Every Tuesday, the local bookstoreās account will post new releases to their story. I get introduced to interesting books that I can add to my TBR (to be read) list.
I watch reels (funny things and recipes, mostly) and share them with friends or save the recipes to try later. Iāve found some great recipes this way!
I didnāt reallyā¦ interact with other people on Instagram in a meaningful way, though. To ease my reluctance to deactivate my account, I revisited each point and thought about what I could do to still achieve these things outside of an Instagram account.
I can go onto individual businessesā websites and sign up for email newsletters to stay updated on their events. Most local businesses I have in mind already have websites set up.
Iām already subscribed to a few crafting subreddits. I can browse through those or share my projects there, and I can still get inspiration from those pages.
New books are released every Tuesday. I checked my local bookstoreās website and they have a page for new releases. I can just bookmark that page and check it manually rather than viewing the bookstoreās Instagram story every Tuesday.
I donāt need to view short-form video content, especially as I know how bad it is for our brains and our attention spans. I donāt need funny reels to laugh and I donāt need recipe reels to cook. I own several cookbooks and (of course) I follow some cooking and baking subreddits if I really want to go looking for inspiration.
Making this list and writing it out really helped me to realize that there is nothing unique or exclusive that I can only get from Instagram. Afterwards, I went ahead to the settings page of my second account and āscheduled my accountās deletionā ā because Meta doesnāt allow you to delete your account immediately. It schedules it out by one month, probably in the hopes that youāll change your mind before that month is up.
I feel good, though! This means that since the start of 2026, Iāve deleted my Facebook and Instagram accounts. Iām not totally trying to step away from all websites, but I do want to leave most social medias that arenāt benefitting me in any way. I think Reddit will be harder to stay away from, and I am working to minimize the time spent on that site, at least. I think Iām off to a good start!