Instagram and the download-delete cycle: a cultural shift for social platforms

Forget the tech-centric sci-fi future promised by the early 2000’s; the new aspiration is going offline. 

Analogue is the new ‘cool’, and it is not just about nostalgia. Audiences are searching for authenticity, connection, novelty, experience, and tangible ownership of the things they love, all of which are scarce now in an oversaturated digital environment. Consumption habits are adapting, with audiences expanding the way they interact with entertainment offline, be it buying vinyl to support artists or going to TV-show adjacent events.* 

For traditional entertainment, there is opportunity in rebalancing with non-digital methods. Streaming subscriptions only go so far, with many industries feeling the pinch of too much streamable content and not enough subscriber ARPU. Yet at the heart of this shift remains one holdout player: social platforms. 

Social platforms are an infrastructural backbone to the digital world. They provide consumer data for everything from ad campaigns to product development and are critical parts of fandom building and ecommerce. They are how audiences largely interface online, from music discovery to news updates to social interactions with friends and family abroad, and take up more average weekly time than gaming or streaming music. Yet despite their prominence, audience sentiment is shifting. 

More than three quarters of all consumers said that they tried to reduce their screen time in Q1 of this year, with the most common method being deleting apps from their phones (source: MIDiA Research Consumer Survey, Q1 2024). No wonder that in 2024, the ‘digital detox’ felt like the new ‘dry January’ New Years resolution. 

Elon Musk recently shared a post on X proclaiming that Instagram was the most-deleted app of 2023. While this data is not bulletproof, with sources using different methodologies, most agree that Instagram was very high on the list of deleted apps. Yet it was also listed, again by a variety of sources with differing methodologies, as one of the most downloaded apps in 2023. All while retaining steady weekly active use, according to MIDiA Consumer Surveys. 

With just under one third of all consumers using it daily (rising to more than half of 16-19 year olds), in a saturated and fragmenting marketplace, Instagram has reached maturity. User growth is harder to come by, but disruption is difficult. As one of the most-used apps across all age groups, Instagram naturally becomes one of the most time-consuming, and thus a prime candidate for deletion when users look to reduce their screen time. Yet deleting an app is not permanent, and users are in a cycle of download, delete, download, delete (which, of course, inflates the metrics on both counts). 

Instagram is a great example of audiences’ changing relationship with social, and being online more broadly. Users may want to reclaim their time, but the infrastructural necessity – to find new music, talk to friends, or browse personalised ad selections like the digital version of window shopping – makes it hard to stay away. On top of this, studies have shown that social apps can be addictive, much like gambling. Combined, these factors make it nearly impossible to quit social media entirely without negative repercussions. 

As a result, it is unlikely that the broader trend of ‘offline is the new cool’ will affect social platforms in the near future, beyond a slightly faster churn and re-onboarding cycle. Over time, however, we might start to see shifts. Social media is the ‘place where it happens’ now, in a digitally dominated world. But if more cultural moments move offline, the pressure will be to look up from the phone, not down at it. Videos and stories offer the option to look through it, but this has its own negative connotations. For example, many artists are actively discouraging the use of phones during their shows. The spread of misinformation that has recently resulted in riots may prompt more thoughtful use (or more restrictions). Hypotheticals, for now – but something that platforms should bear in mind, as the cultural landscape starts to change. 

For need-to-know insight on cultural shifts and strategic solutions, get in touch with our team to explore our social coverage at anthony@midiaresearch.com. 

*MIDiA’s next Social report, “Analogue revival: A cultural pendulum swing” will be out in early September. Subscribe to our newsletter to be notified when it is published!