By If the world only interacted with each other through Instagram, we’d think everyone lived perfect lives — people that are on vacation bi-weekly: sometimes lounging on the beach, and other times roaming through the streets of Paris. They’re always eating towering, decadent desserts, and never going to the gym to work it off — or when they do, they look great doing it. Instagram lives consist of a constant stream of sun-kissed selfies at our best angles (never catching even a glimpse of a double chin), deep quotes from big books we’ve never read, and an abundance of time with our girls. Social media has not only enabled us but also pressured us into presenting our best selves to the world at all times. Those lives are a lie, though. They’re a curated, filtered version of the truth. Real people go to work, and oversleep, and have insecurities — the hashtags we abide by online don’t exist IRL.
That doesn’t mean we can’t learn a lot from the personas people project online. What we want to be perceived as says a lot about who we are as real people. Our views and feelings are simply amplified by being captured at the right moment, and filtered in the right hue. If personalities can be analysed through body language and facial expressions, imagine how much we could glean from an Instagram account! We decided to put this idea to the test with some of our favourite celebrities. Can you really tell what someone’s like deep down, by scrolling through their feed? Read below to find out!
Anoushey Ashraf
Her self proclaimed wanderlust can be seen by her extensive travels from cosmopolitan Manhattan to far away from Mexico! It’s clear she’s got an unabashed curiosity for the world and different cultures. Instead of making her vacations all about the perfect #OOTDs, her holiday pictures are usually a series of uncurated, candid shots of the unfamiliar landscape around her. You get an unbridled sense of childlike glee from Anoushey as she appreciates the bright blue waters of Mexico in her captions, or the natural greenery on her morning runs. There’s the tourist, and then there’s the traveller. Our gut tells us Anoushey is the latter — seeing new places, eating new food, and experiencing a different culture is what excites her at her core. It’s not about the luxury or the relaxation that a holiday can bring, as much as what unexpected new wonders a foreign place can reveal to her. She doesn’t appear to be materialistic at all to us but living for the moment. While analysing her profile, what stuck out to us was the balance between her natural bubbly, playfulness, and the grounded, assured sense of self she exudes. From animal rights to the tragic Zainab case, Anoushey has made a strong stand whenever it’s been required. She’s not afraid to speak her mind, which casts her more as a leader than a follower. She doesn’t seem intimidated by her 252,000 followers. She doesn’t post to appease them, which makes her wholly her own person. It’s hard to imagine anyone convincing her out of an opinion she’s conceived herself, or telling her what to do. She constantly shows gratitude for her family and friends wherever she can. Her career thus far, and her feed, cohesively paints the image of an extrovert and people person. Anoushey seems to draw strength from the people closest to her.
Ahad Raza Mir
Between posts about his new projects and endorsements, Ahads personality manages to shine in an understated way. There’s a strong, reserved quality about him which we can pick up on from his no-nonsense, straight to the point captions. He doesn’t waste time painting a picture — they’re no frills (or filters) here. His captions read almost like diary entries: they address the heart of the post personally. If he’s embarrassed, he is so openly, and if he’s proud of winning an award, he’ll say just that. Whether this is purposeful or natural, Ahad’s captions are always honest, sometimes sarcastic, and short. He strikes us as someone that wears his heart on his sleeve and is sensitive. Having said that, his posts also reflect a certain introverted energy. Ahad’swell-wordedd messages to his fans come from a place of deep thought and introspection, which only come from spending large amounts of time alone. Another thing we picked up on was his preference for wearing black! Unsurprisingly, even his phone is black. This reflects his grounded, introverted nature. People that wear the colour want to announce themselves. People who prefer black are less sure of themselves, and prefer playing it safe. Black also implies a certain bad boy image, but it’s not one we pick up from him. Perhaps that’s a vibe he wants to project, but it doesn’t ring true to us.
Sheheryar Munawar
Sheheryar Munawar’s Instagram is the perfect example of a curated one — the use of black and white filters and golden hour selfies are his way of expressing himself through pictures. While some people use Instagram to capture moments alone, Sheheryar does more than that by making sure his pictures reflect his personality. His feed is a true gallery of images picked by himself rather than pushed by managers for promotions. Outtakes from shoots, and photographs that he’s taken himself establish Sheheryar as an artist. His more serious captions usually include literary or cinematic references, indicating how well read he is without laying it on thick. He cares about the aesthetic of things and definitely enjoys being in charge of whatever task is ahead of him. Whether that takes him to new destinations like Kashmir or Turkey, his adventurous spirit translates to boundless positivity. He definitely doesn’t strike us as someone afraid of the unknown and seems like a keen learner and traveller. Sheheryar finds humour in little, unexpected things. His captions almost always include a joke — sometimes self-deprecating, and usually sarcastic. He comes across as the quintessential teasing older brother in some ways, always taking jabs and joking around. Readers get the sense that he’s holding back some deeper opinions and thoughts in some of his captions, but uses comedy as a way to deflect from coming on too strong. This could be because he’s an extrovert. Extroverts are natural people pleasers, and they never want to strike the wrong note and alienate anyone in any way.
Momina Mustehsan
What do we know about Momina Mustehsan? She’s an engineer, mathematician, social activist, talented musician, and foodie. Some of this is common knowledge, but the rest can be seen clearly from the way she curates her Instagram feed. At first glance two things are immensely apparent: Momina Mustehsan doesn’t need anyone’s approval, and there’s nothing more important to her than family. If her bold red hair wasn’t our first indication, it’s clear from her feed to see that she uses Instagram as a place to express #selflove (as the kids these days call it). Pictures of her in new places, and with her family show her looking unabashedly happy — something her captions counteract, by always coming across as incredibly humble and down to earth. If confidence had a face, it would be hers. The colour red signifies success, nobility and happiness: all things which radiate from her account. While her Instagram posts are definitely filtered and edited, these aren’t things which prop up her confidence — she regularly posts stories makeup free, cooking, and watching movies on Netflix. Momina seems super comfortable in her own skin. She also seems very independent, but ultimately a homebody at heart. The family is what roots her, especially over a good meal.
Mawra Hocane
Mawra Hocane presents herself as a seemingly innocent, super idealistic, and a fashionable individual. A definite girl’s girl. We could easily accept she’s someone that still believes in unicorns and fairytales. We’d say this was a curated display, but the overwhelming appearance of pastels and bright colours in her feed says otherwise. She seems to gravitate naturally towards lighter, more vibrant colours in her life. This indicates a desire to surround herself with positivity and good vibes. She comes across as someone that is dependent on her family and friends for support and strength and needs them around for reassurance. The unnecessary hate she receives in her comment section might be why her captions are generally short and leave little for people to latch onto, relying more on emojis and little jokes than anything else. The longer, more heartfelt captions reveal a hidden vault of introspection and self-awareness. Behind the selfies and pictures at press junkets, Mawra is definitely an introvert. This tells us that Mawra doesn’t speak unnecessarily, or say things for the sake of saying them but ruminates over her experiences and feelings. She feels deeply, and only lets a select few into her inner circle — we get the feeling it takes a lot to earn her trust.
What do you think?
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