Apparently, everyone wants to delete their Instagram accounts.
Cyber security website VPNOverview analyzed the search trends for the top 30 most popular apps to see which ones Americans were most interested in deleting. They found more than 900,000 searches for how to "delete" or "deactivate" Instagram, more than any of the other apps the group analyzed. Behind Instagram, there were 385,410 searches for deleting or deactivating Facebook, 217,400 for Snapchat, 92,490 for Twitter, and 24,819 for Telegram. Compare that to TikTok, which had a "marginal delete search," according to VPNOverview, with just over 14,000 searches.
But just because we all want to delete Instagram doesn't mean there are any fewer people actually on the app. It still managed to rank as the most popular app of 2022(opens in a new tab) with an average of over 11.8 million downloads every month, VPNOverview said.
As Mashable previously reported, hating Instagram is as integral to being an Instagram user as posting a photo. According to a September 2022 Instagram report leaked to The Wall Street Journal(opens in a new tab), Instagram engagement is declining and just 10 percent of the most popular creators in 2023 use Instagram as their main platform, according to data from SEO agency Higher Visibility(opens in a new tab). It's clear that we don't love the platform and, studies show, it makes us feel bad. Facebook's own research(opens in a new tab) found that "Instagram is harmful to a sizable percentage of [teens], most notably teenage girls." And, while young people face the brunt of the Instagram effect, studies from the American Psychological Association link Instagram to depression(opens in a new tab), body image concerns, self-esteem issues, social anxiety, and other problems across age groups.
Maybe it's time to follow through with the threat and simply delete Instagram.
