I’ve always had a love/hate relationship with Instagram. I love the community that you can foster through the app. But I hate how much time I waste on the app or even feel like I’m not doing enough. I’m a private person and as a blogger, I hate feeling obligated to share everything about my life on there. When I took my hiatus, I stopped getting on Instagram as often as I did which made me not miss it. Even now I don’t have the urge or desire to mindlessly scroll on Instagram. I only get on after my scheduled post goes up and engage with some of the folk I follow. I also spend more time on stories by sharing funny memes to get me through the day. I’ve set limits on when and how often I get on Instagram. Since turning over a new leaf, I’ve decided that I will rely less on Instagram and focus on my blog for several reasons.
INSTAGRAM IS SO FAKE
I knew the game was rigged when I saw how many “big name” influencers pay for their followers and their engagement. With the algorithm constantly changing on Instagram, people have used money to cheat the system in order to get more sponsorships and money. I understand the appeal to all of this but it’s not the reason why I joined Instagram or why I started blogging.
But I know, and you know, that cheaters never win. The folks who are cheating the system maybe be up there today but what’s done in the dark always comes to light. So, I’m not going to hurt my head about measuring up to people who have rigged the game in their favor.
Also, Instagram is not real life. it’s just a highlight reel of the pretty image of what people want to portray their life to be. I didn’t realize the extent to which people try to perpetuate this ideal image until I went down this rabbit hole on TikTok of people showing you how to change their images to drastically change the way they look. Now, I’m not knocking anyone and their hustle, but it’s dangerous when you share these images with no disclaimer that it’s been heavily edited.
To me, it seems pointless to create this impossible image of yourself that you feel you need to live up to only to share it with people who really don’t care.
CONTENT IS BECOMING UNORIGINAL
There are only so many times that you see that one jacket or that one bag, or dress being styled before you can’t take it anymore. A lot of times, I get fatigued over the same way that everyone styles, writes, or shares the same things. Don’t worry, I’m not excluding myself from this category. I’m over myself too!
Content is becoming too similar on Instagram and drowns out my creativity. I was so grateful for my time away from that app because I was able to really come up with cool looks, posts, and focus on how I want my images to look. Without having fiftyleven people muddying my ideas, I was able to do things that I wanted to do without copying anyone.
I’m tryna be that one person that you follow that makes you laugh or stop you in your tracks whenever I post something.
SPENDING TOO MUCH MONEY
In this vein, because I spend too much time on the app, I tend to be “influenced” to spend too much money. I find myself “needing” things that I don’t actually need and then wonder where all my money went. Because I don’t want to be the person that pushes you to spend a ton of money, I decided to shift my focus on restyling items, focusing on basics, and budget-friendly options that you can add to your wardrobe or home without feeling guilty about spending too much money.
THE EVER CHANGING ALGORITHM
I alluded to this earlier, but Instagram is doing too much and they want to be everything else but themselves. Just when I start to get the hang of the new changes, they decide to change it again and it’s annoying! Every time I get annoyed, I remind myself that I don’t own Instagram so they can do whatever they want. So, I’m continuing to put all my eggs in the baskets that I own — my blog and my newsletter. Go ahead and sign up if you’re not already on the list. While I will continue to post on Instagram all the good stuff will remain on my blog and newsletter.
Instead of focusing on how to quickly grow my following, I’m going to focus and cultivate the community that I have and stay true to who I am. Somedays, I won’t be on IG Stories or post something on my feed. But when I do, it’ll be focused on what my audience wants.
Instagram may not be here tomorrow and then what? I don’t have anything because everyone that followed me was on that app. So, I’ve decided that I will reserve my best content for the blog and newsletter since I own those things.
Thank you so much for following me and keeping me sane in my little corner of the internet. Go ahead and sign up for the newsletter so you don’t miss out on the things that I don’t post on the blog or on Instagram.
ARE YOU OVER INSTAGRAM? WHY OR WHY NOT?
