Diary of a Gen Z Student: How a young person curates their Instagram profile in 2025

From irishexaminer.com 

By Jane Cowan

"You might think this is ridiculous, just another thing that the youth of today are overthinking. But your Instagram profile is the first thing people will look at if they want to find out about you."

My favourite technological invention is the WhatsApp story. Maybe it’s because I always have a vague inkling that any story on WhatsApp was posted accidentally. 

The people who post on WhatsApp are generally not avid social media users. I make that assumption because I’ve never seen someone my age engage in such social media posting. 

In truth, the chief offenders for posting stories on WhatsApp that I know of, are my parents.

The photo is usually out of focus or backlit so you can’t really tell what it is. But I respect it.

There’s a level of nonchalance about it that someone my age could only feign. It’s almost audacious.

                         Instagram, for gen Z, is a very specific art form. We have many unwritten guidelines. It must appear effortless

The social media platform you’ll tend to find me posting on is Instagram. 

And there is nothing laid back about what makes it to my Instagram profile.

Instagram, for gen Z, is a very specific art form. We have many unwritten guidelines. It must appear effortless.

You’ve just rolled out of bed, dragged a brush through your hair, and happened upon the most aesthetically stunning, golden lighting, which you document with a quick selfie; you didn’t even have to try.

Well, that’s how it’s supposed to look. The fact that you waited three hours for the sun to shine at just the right angle is no one else’s business.

If the picture is for your main Instagram grid — an old school Instagram post, as I like to think of it — then you can’t post just the one picture.

You’ve got to turn it into a carousel. That means you must take numerous effortless photos and post them all at once.

You want it to be a bit like a scrapbook. A highly curated and beautiful scrapbook. The collection of photos you land on must also be varied.

You could decide to post 15 selfies in one go, but you don’t want people to think you’re narcissistic.

Even if the only reason you’re posting is because you feel you look especially stunning in a particular photo, you must disguise it.

Dilute the self-love by including a landscape or two, maybe a coffee, a picture with your friends. This is the highlight reel for your life, so you should present it as such.

The Instagram story is a little less pressure. You only need the one flawlessly executed photo to warrant an Instagram story. But the details matter. 

If you’re adding a location to it, the cool kids know to only use the translucent location tag. The blue and white location tag? Even millennials should know better.

One thing’s for certain, though: whether it’s being posted to the grid or your story, you must find the perfect song to accompany any Instagram activity. 

That impromptu photograph can’t be posted in silence. Its essence, your mood, the vibes, however you want to think of it, must be captured in music.

This is the ultimate insight into someone’s personality, so that song is being painstakingly selected.

You might think this is ridiculous, just another thing that the youth of today are overthinking. But your Instagram profile is the first thing people will look at if they want to find out about you.

So, you want to be cautious about what makes the cut. That guy you met on a night out and have been on three dates with? 

If you wouldn’t introduce him to your parents, he shouldn’t be on your Instagram. You have to earn that kind of real estate.

There’s some fun in it, too. The best part about posting is checking your phone every seven minutes to bask in the likes and comments. 

Anyone who says they’re not doing that, is lying. With every like, you get to swipe through your photos and admire your creativity from the perspective of the person who just liked it.

Lap up the adoration. The worst part about posting an Instagram story is only having 24 hours to do that good work. People may say that this kind of behaviour makes my generation self-obsessed.

Maybe that’s true. God knows there’s a serious amount of validation to be gotten from people liking your post, even if you couldn’t pick those people out of a lineup. It still counts. 

Kind of like those random people sliding into your Instagram DMs looking for a sugar baby and offering to pay your college fees. I have no desire to respond, but it’s not bad for my ego.

When I grow up, I might achieve the social media presence of my parents on WhatsApp. No curation, song choice, or scrapbooking.

Just vibes.

But I’ll have to get back to you on that. It feels too reckless for now.

https://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/people/arid-41702453.html