You read that right:

I am nineteen, and I am not on Instagram.

I am on Twitter (I log in maybe once a month, but full disclosure is good here) and Facebook (I can't totally cut myself off from the 21st century world), but you will not be able to find any active accounts for me on Instagram (or Snapchat for that matter). There's a few reasons for that.

For one, I am addicted enough to social media between Facebook and Pinterest (if that second one counts). I love using Facebook as a digital diary/photo album. I can always reference things I've done and experienced and thought since opening an account. It also is a great way to stay connected to people I otherwise really don't talk to. I only need one medium for those things; less clutter in my life is always better.

For another thing, my life is just fine without Instagram. I do somehow manage to survive without Insta dictating my life *gasp*.

I know it can be hard to believe, but I'm actually happier without it.

I did have an account once... for all of ten minutes. It was a moment of weakness at Freshman Orientation last year. I was led to believe that somehow I would be missing out on some part of that experience by not seeing all of the Orientation Committee's posts, following my fellow classmates, and posting all about myself - well, all about what I looked like. I realized very, very soon after creating an account that there was no way I would have time to maintain it to a successful degree with every other new thing I was going through, and I deleted the app. I think that there is technically still a username associated with those ten minutes, but it might as well be nonexistent.

Now, before I state my final and most important reason, I don't mean this to insult those who do use Instagram. I am sure it is a great way to affirm a friend, document life, and express yourself. The decision to avoid Instagram was right for me, and I think that it is right for others, including some currently using the application.

The thing about Instagram that drives me away more than anything else is the temptation it poses to score your quality and value based on how Insta-friendly your filters, photos, and poses are. I can be very self-conscious without a social media scoring what I look like, especially compared to my gorgeous friends or those who are more aesthetically gifted in staging pictures than I am.

The truth is, people don't live photogenic lives.

We are messy beings. Our coffee isn't always artistic; sometimes it spills on our pants on our way to class. Our handwriting isn't always cursive; sometimes we scribble because we forget how to spell the wierdwerid weird words. Our favorite quotes aren't always from Psalms; sometimes they are from a One Direction song from three years ago. Our hair doesn't always fall perfectly, our scarves don't always match our shoes, and our acne doesn't always hide behind our makeup. I believe that Instagram puts undue pressure on already pressured young adults.

So that's why I'm nineteen and not on Instagram.