The Truth About How Instagram Gives An Inaccurate Representation of Bali

Last Updated on 5th October 2021

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how instagram gives a false representation of bali

I’ve made it no secret on both my blog and social media channels that I personally think that Instagram gives an inaccurate representation of Bali.

I spent approximately 6 weeks on the island of Bali (with a total of two months in Indonesia altogether) and during my time there, I discovered that many things I’d seen online, both on blogs and Instagram, were not quite what I thought they’d be.

Don’t get me wrong; Bali is a beautiful place with great beaches, stunning temples and a plethora of “Instagrammable” places, but is it really all that it’s cracked up to be? Personally, I don’t think so and that’s exactly what today’s post is all about: how (in my opinion!) Instagram gives an inaccurate representation of Bali.

*I just want to make it abundantly clear (in case I hadn’t said it enough already!) that this post is from my own personal experience in Bali and these opinions are entirely my own; I can’t speak for everyone else visiting the island.

How Instagram has ~changed~ Bali

Before I headed to the island of Bali for the first time back in August, I was sure that it was home to nothing but an abundance of beautiful beaches, a spectacular nightlife scene, enigmatic culture and history and the cheapest, most delicious food you could find.

And while that’s not entirely untrue, it’s also not the full truth. You see, online platforms such as Instagram, Facebook and of course, blog posts written by elite travel bloggers, portray Bali in a sense that makes it look like the most idyllic place on earth.

Of course, Bali is still incredibly beautiful. It’s got beaches and cutesy beach bars, it’s got the temples and the rice terraces and of course, the most luxury accommodation you can imagine. But it’s also a lot more than that under the surface.

There’s piles upon piles of burning (yes, burning!) rubbish at the side of the street, there’s often streams of sewage and actual sh*t running down the gutters at the side of the road, there’s homeless people and children begging for money in densely populated places such as Ubud and Seminyak and there’s swarms of flies, ants and mosquitoes everywhere.

My point is: yes, there’s an awful lot of beauty in Bali but no one ever shows the downsides or the realities either. And I totally get that, because if only the negatives were always shown, then no one would want to go!

But, it’s also important to me to know the realities of a place before I spend lots of money travelling there. I want to know about the burning piles of rubbish, I want to know that not every beach is completely idyllic (which many beaches in Bali aren’t) and I want to know what I can realistically expect from a place.

The stuff you see on Instagram can of course be found throughout the island, but a lot of it is also heavily edited and dramatised.

Those adorable private villas high up in the mountains with floating breakfasts? Chances are that there’s no other restaurants nearby, the place will be full of ants thanks to the vast openness of the accommodation and you’ll likely be very isolated. I totally understand that some people would love this, but it just wasn’t for me (I wrote about my experience staying on top of a mountain here).

As well as the inaccurate representation of Bali in terms of what you can actually expect, Instagram misled me immensely with regards to the beaches, temples and natural beauty within the island.

I touched briefly on how Instagram had somewhat ruined Bali for me in my post about the truth about the Lempuyang Temple (Gate to Heaven). This incredibly famous temple is one of the most visited places in the whole of Bali and rightly so; it’s stunning.

But, the pictures that you’ll have seen of it almost everywhere online don’t truly reflect what you actually see when you’re there. For example, that smooth, perfect, reflective body of water in front of the gate in all the pictures you see?

It’s not real.

There’s just a guy holding a small mirror that’s perfectly positioned so it’s inline with your camera lens and the bottom of the gate so that it looks like there’s a reflective surface of water below. Don’t get me wrong; these images look absolutely stunning but the beauty of them is lost somewhat on me due to the lack of authenticity that they portray. I’d looked at pictures of the temple and read blog posts many times about the Gate to Heaven before we visited and not once did I read or hear about the “mirror trick”. I honestly thought that this place was home to the magnificent gate and a huge body of water in front of it that offered a spectacular reflection beneath.

Of course, there are much more pressing issues in the world than to worry about the authenticity of a picture of a temple, but I felt misled and almost deceived by fellow bloggers and Instagrammers for not showing the truth about the gate. It’s not easy to get to and it’s not incredibly cheap either, so once we arrived and I’d realised that it wasn’t even real, you can imagine my disappointment.

Another example of the way that Instagram gives an inaccurate representation of Bali was at the Tirta Empul Temple near Ubud. This Hindu Balinese water temple is renowned for its holy spring water and many Balinese Hindus frequent the temple to partake in ritual purification.

Despite not being a religious believer, I pride myself on my respect and admiration for those who do believe, which unfortunately cannot always be said for many other tourists who visit the temple.

While we were there, there was a group of women who were quite literally hogging one of the pools where believers are supposed to cleanse themselves in a spiritual ritual. These women were stood right in front of the streams of water, in the middle of the pool, taking dozens of pictures and complaining when someone tried to get passed them to access the water. They were there for a good 5 minutes which meant no one could access these pools during that time; they took so many pictures and were seemingly unhappy with one another as they weren’t “getting their best angle”.

I thoroughly appreciate the art of photography and I recognise the feeling of relief and pride when you finally take a shot of something that you love, but these girls took it to a whole new level; they were quite frankly disrespectful.

So the next time you see a beautifully curated shot of someone in front of a religious building, temple or monument that looks like it’s been perfectly edited and photoshopped; remember to question the authenticity of it and whether that person was able to get that picture without diminishing their morals and respect for other people.

I do feel like this post has been quite intense and I’m not entirely sure I meant for it to be but it’s something that I now feel quite passionately about after spending weeks in Bali and witnessing these things for myself.

There were so many things about Bali and Indonesia that I truly loved, but there were also a few occasions that made me question its status as “one of the best places for travellers to visit”. I wouldn’t discourage you from visiting as I think it’s a place that you need to experience for yourself in order to make your mind up about it, but I would urge you to go with an open mind and make yourself aware beforehand of what Bali is really like.

You’ll certainly be able to experience all the extraordinary beauty it has to offer, but you will definitely also come across some things that you won’t have seen online while doing your research.

I really hope I’ve managed to convey my thoughts and opinions about the way that Instagram altered my perception of Bali in a constructive way. If you want to continue this discussion or if you have any other thoughts or questions on the subject then please email me, send me a DM or message me on Twitter; I’d love to hear from you!

If you are still interested in seeing the “Instagrammable” side of Bali, there are plenty of tours available.

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Have you been to Indonesia? Do you think that Instagram gives an inaccurate representation of Bali? Let me know in the comments or on Twitter @imjustagirl_16.