An R&B and soul track, it deals with the "stuffy, gloomy" feeling of scrolling through one's Instagram feed late at night.

Despite a lack of promotional activities, "Instagram" topped South Korea's national Gaon Digital Chart and peaked at number two on Billboard magazine's K-pop Hot 100.

Dean conceived "Instagram" with a degree of similarity to the title character from the novel Robinson Crusoe (1719) living in a city.

[4] The song lyrics express the "stuffy, gloomy" feeling of scrolling through one's Instagram feed late at night in bed.

[5] Dean described it as a "dark" song amidst the Christmas and holiday season, the "brightest" time of the year.

He further elaborated that "Instagram" does not offer any consolation or solutions, but acts as a "crying friend by your side that, like you, lives a difficult life with its ups and downs".

[9] On the day of its release, singer-songwriter IU published a pair of cover videos of the song onto her Instagram account.

[15] Writing for Paper magazine, columnist Jeff Benjamin described the record as "one of the most relatable tracks out this year" and listed it at number nine on the publication's Top 20 K-pop Songs of 2018.

[21][22] The single's commercial performance was attributed to its "trendy" melody and resonating lyrical content, in addition to IU's cover and "word of mouth" via social networking services.