You find a profile. It looks cool. You tap the big blue “Follow” button. It turns white. It says “Following” (or “Requested”). You feel good. Connection made. You refresh the page, or maybe you check back ten minutes later. And there it is again. The blue button. “Follow.” Wait. Didn’t you just press that? You … Continue more
We have all fallen victim to the impulse of the digital clean up. You open your Instagram app, tap the paper airplane icon in the top right corner, and notice a little blue notification sitting in your “Message Requests” or “Hidden Requests” folder. You click into it, and you are met with a message from … Continue more
It sounds completely contradictory at first. If they already blocked you, they are gone. You can’t see their posts, they can’t see yours. The digital bridge is burned. So why on earth would you go out of your way to figure out how to block someone who already blocked you on Instagram? Because you know … Continue more
You are curious. We all are. Maybe it is an ex. Maybe it is a coworker who suddenly locked down their profile, or a competitor who just went dark. You see the colorful ring around their profile picture, but there is a padlock right next to their name. You want to see the story, but … Continue more
It is the ultimate digital status symbol. You’re scrolling through your Stories feed at the top of Instagram. You see the usual sea of gradient purple-and-orange rings people posting their lunch, their cats, their gym selfies. And then, you see it. The Green Ring. It pops. It feels exclusive. It feels like you’ve been invited … Continue more
We have all experienced this exact flavor of digital terror. You are doing a little late night investigating. Maybe you are scrolling through a new coworker’s profile, checking in on an ex, or looking at the page of someone you just started dating. You are scrolling deep into their grid, looking at photos from four … Continue more
It happens in the blink of an eye. You get a buzz in your pocket. You glance at your lock screen and see a notification from Instagram: “[User] sent you a message.” You finish your coffee, unlock your phone, and open the chat. But the message isn’t there. Instead, you see the digital ghost: nothing. … Continue more
