By promoting a more truthful representation of everyday life, “photo dumps” offer an alternative to the often artificial, curated social media feed.
For as long as social media has been around, it has been known as a highlight reel.
Every day, millions of people scroll through the endless posts on apps such as Instagram and Pinterest, seeing people live their best lives.
You may come across the celebrity who is vacationing in the Bahamas, or the influencer who just created their own clothing line.
All of this content is carefully curated to show us followers just how amazing their lives are.
However, in the past two years, a new type of content has taken over social media platforms: the “photo dump.”
A photo dump is a series of images and videos that are posted on social media platforms, typically Instagram, to give people a casual glimpse of what has been going on in a certain person’s life.
According to Adobe.com, “photo dumps do not need to be polished or professional looking (and often aren’t). The beauty of the photo dump is in its low-pressure, fun and authentic nature.”
Despite its contrast to the original expectations of seemingly perfect social media posts, the photo dump has become the average posting style for many people, including those on social media with lots of followers.
Celebrities such as Sabrina Carpenter and Dove Cameron have taken part in this trend by posting “dumps” on their Instagrams filled with pictures of them with friends, food and what they have been up to.
Casts of movies and shows may even post photo dumps together to give a behind the scenes look at their time during filming.
The cast of the Netflix series “Outer Banks” may be most known for doing this with their photo dumps that are often captioned “Tomfoolery.”
These are highly anticipated by fans at the release of each season.
Not only are photo dumps a way for people to see the uncurated personalities of the people that they follow, but they also allow people to see that everyone’s lives really aren’t perfect.
Along with their main accounts, many Instagram users often also create specific photo dump accounts, dedicated to displaying the highs and lows of their life.
Due to their relaxed nature, it is not uncommon for real moments to be shared among the carousel of pictures.
Whether that be a funny photo with friends, a picture where they aren’t as put together as they usually would be or a picture of them having a rough day, it allows their followers to see what they have been going through recently and relate to it.
This trend has encouraged many social media users to ditch the blurring, saturated filters and display a more vulnerable side of themselves.
With how influential social media is in the average teen’s life, it is important that posting is headed in this direction.
It is so easy for someone to compare themselves to the people they see online and doubt how they look or what they are doing.
But, with this trend, people can see that no one’s life is perfect and become confident enough to display their imperfections as well.
Social media shouldn’t be something that we look at and feel bad about ourselves, it should be a place where we communicate with one another and post what makes us truly happy.
Take the time to get pictures of the little things in life.
Snap a picture of a good meal you had.
Capture your candid moments.
Once your camera fills up, photo dump and show everyone what you’ve been up to because there is nothing wrong with being real.