There’s a particular kind of exhaustion that comes from Instagram. Not the dramatic kind — not scrolling at 2am until your eyes hurt — but the low-grade ambient kind. The sense that you’re performing a version of your life for an audience you don’t fully know, moderated by an algorithm you definitely don’t understand, in exchange for attention that somehow never quite satisfies. If you’re reading this, you’ve probably already had the thought: I should just leave. And then, almost immediately: But I can’t. All my people are there. This guide is about that second part. Because the first part — leaving — is actually easy. The hard part is figuring out who your people really are, and giving yourself somewhere to go. Let’s do this in three stages: get your data, audit your relationships, and make the move. Stage 1: Export Your Instagram Data Before you delete or deactivate anything, export everything. Instagram is legally required to give it to you. This takes a few minutes to request and 24–48 hours to receive.…