by Jen Hyde

Instagram snuck up on me. When I downloaded the app back in 2012, I had no idea that the photos I took with its then-cool filters automatically posted online for all to see. I treated the app like my camera roll and abandoned it when my best friend found my feed and double-tapped on everything. Who else has seen the inner-workings of my brain!?

I downloaded Instagram for the second time in 2013. I had moved to Shanghai for a writing fellowship, and my life felt “shareable” though I didn’t consciously connect the rise of travel blogging’s influence to that decision. My first post was of my brand new “vintage” flying pigeon bike, which I staged with an Everlane backpack I bought for the trip. I emailed the photo to Everlane, and the marketing director sent me a $16 gift certificate in response. If the Chinese government hadn’t blocked the app a few weeks after I took that photo, maybe I would’ve become an early influencer.

I used to look at my missed opportunity with regret. Instagram still makes marketing look fun, and influencers still do seem to be living such nice lives. I felt my regret the strongest in early motherhood when work/life balance was impossible and the goal of pivoting became my survival strategy.

Sara Petersen’s debut Momfluenced, newly out from Beacon Press, reminded me of how stupid my early crisis was. Weaving personal story with cultural criticism, Petersen shows us how performing motherhood on Instagram complicates motherhood as an identity. For the casual follower surviving new motherhood, perfectly curated feeds can exacerbate postpartum issues like depression and anxiety as it did for me. It isn’t all bad. Petersen does interview mothers who’ve created communities through their advocacy work, but her argument that influencing as a capitalist endeavor is unattainable and toxic seems especially important as platforms begin charging users.

Social Media is now a form of entertainment, Alex Kranowitz recently shared in an episode of Slate’s ICYMI podcast. In the interview he noted that only 10% of all content users create 90% of content on social media platforms. As algorithms prioritize accounts that pay them to be seen, understanding how influencer marketing affects our brains and our identities as mothers is more important than ever.

Beacon Press has graciously offered to gift one copy of Momfluenced to a subscriber to The Slice! This giveaway will run through May 31, 2023, 11:59pm. All subscribers are automatically entered. Gain an additional entry for liking this post!

Petersen also writes the Substack newsletter, In Pursuit of Clean Countertops which you should check out!

Do you know of a mom who looks at Instagram too much? Share this episode with her and pick up a copy of Momfluenced while your’e at it!

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