ou open Instagram. You swipe left, then up to find the photo you picked out among hundreds of versions of the exact same photo. But this one is different from the others because your eyeliner looks better and your nose looks smaller.

Earlier this year, Instagram joined in. In June, the platform introduced Instagram Plus where, for £2.99 a month, users can see how many times stories were rewatched and search viewer lists to check if a specific person has viewed their story, among other benefits. The best part? No one will know if you have these perks or not.

But I can’t help but question if this has gone too far. Friends and I sheepishly admit to rewatching pictures on our stories several times after we’ve posted them. We scroll back through our own posts, sometimes for nostalgia and sometimes to guess how others might view us. But isn't the increase in additional features adding to our self-conscious tendencies?

Curious about the psychology behind these behaviours, I speak to human behaviour and psychology expert, Stephanie Davies.

She states that there’s actually an existing concept which explains these very traits: the looking-glass self. The theory suggests that we view ourselves based on our understanding of how we are perceived by others.

Stephanie says: “We rewatch ourselves to think, do I look interesting, funny, attractive, successful? How do I want people to see me and how do I think people see me? Social media has given us a way to do this.”

The expert explains that dopamine plays a significant role in this: “When we watch [our stories] and we see something we like, we get that little dopamine hit.”

But there’s also a psychological reaction we have when we don’t like what we see.

She explains: “If we see something we don't like, it's almost like when you go past a car crash on the motorway and you slow down. You [think] I need to look at that again and again.”

With features like story rewatch insights, this addiction is only amplified.

“When we get a like or a follow or a view, it kind of tells us that somebody or something likes us and it's a feeling of acceptance and acceptance is really important for us as human beings. It's part of belonging.”

She says that with story rewatch insights we can begin to think “people don't just like me because they viewed me once. They view me again and again, and that must mean that I've got a group of people [interested in me], enhancing that dopamine kick that we have.”

But is there a difference between men and women? Are men, in all their nonchalance, exempt from these self-critical habits?

I ask my male friends for some brutal honesty. To my surprise, they admit to their own version of these behaviours. Generally, they claim to be less likely to rewatch their own stories but frequently revisit their profile when gaining a new follower.

Stephanie explains that the distinction is likely generational instead: young people today have grown up with social media, consequently coming to view their profiles as a mirror of themselves.

Nevertheless, while social media undoubtedly perpetuates the problem, the psychology expert notes that this behaviour has existed long before the platforms themselves.

“For example, with people walking past a shopfront, you'll always see people having a little bit of a glance of themselves in the glass. If anyone walks past a mirror, they'll look in the mirror.”

Social media is then, in essence, a “big mirror”.

I think the possibility of becoming increasingly addicted to social media with these additional features is a little concerning. The thought that we might be prioritising perfecting our profiles over living in the moment is unsettling.

But if it’s an inherently human trait to be a little vain, is it such a crime to post a selfie we feel good about and enjoy that dopamine hit for just a moment? In this specific case, I think there’s little harm done.