How to deactivate Instagram account temporarily?

Social media today is a part and parcel of our daily lives. The global outreach it boasts of is second to none when it comes to connecting people far and wide. Facebook-owned Instagram, launched in the year 2010, has undoubtedly become one of the most popular means of staying up to date with one’s friends or contacts daily, registering a billion users a month today. However, the overuse of social media has sparked several negative impacts on people’s image of themselves. The constant need for appreciation and often lack of the same are prime reasons for stress, depression and low self-confidence among the younger audience in their formative years all the while privacy is willingly given up for likes and life events are experienced through a screen. Keeping that in mind, we have compiled a step-by-step guide on how to deactivate an Instagram account temporarily?

What will happen if I temporarily disable my Instagram account?

In temporarily disabling your account, you will not be losing any of your data. Your profile, photos, comments and likes will simply be hidden until you reactivate it by logging back in.

Steps to temporarily disabling an Instagram account

• Log in to the account you would like to disable from a mobile browser or computer. An important point to note here is that the mobile app cannot be used to disable your account. Using a browser is hence imperative.
• Click on the icon at the top right side of the screen and click on “Edit Profile” like so:

• Scroll down and click on the “Temporarily disable my account” on the bottom right of the screen, like so:

• This will take you to a new page:

• From the drop-down menu next to “Why are you disabling your account?”, select a suitable option and enter your password. Once successfully done, the “Temporarily disable account” button will get activated like so:

• Click on the indicated button to temporarily disable your Instagram account.

You’ll need to be able to log into your account to temporarily disable it. If you don’t want to disable your account but want to change who can see it, you can set your posts to private or block people.

Conclusion

The power to be able to communicate with anyone we choose to anywhere in the world is an incredible gift that social media platforms enable. We, however, cannot be dismissive about the numerous psychological impacts that it brings along with all of its advantages. Picture sharing platforms such as Instagram is used today to paint a digital veil of perfection over otherwise normal lives, in pursuit of appreciation and likes.

Companies running said platforms also incentivize such behaviour to keep the average user hooked onto their services, churning out as much data as possible, per user, that the company can then put a price on to make a profit. Taking into consideration, the sizeable percentage user base that people in their formative years make up in such platforms, the consequence of said actions is a harmful impact on their upbringing as they grow up exposed to fallacies and mirages which doesn’t reflect a true picture of the world which they shall inherit, giving rise to low self-confidence and elevated levels of stress.