Can I ask a genuine question (or two!)?
do you look back and think what was I doing/ who did I think I was? OR was Insta just the photo sharing/creativity app (which I wish it still was) it used to be? I don’t mind stories but the swipe up/affiliated link #ads and #paid partnerships ruined it in my eyes.
Was there any genuine friendships made or did you feel pressure to bolster other big accounts to be “seen”?
did you make a living from this and was it a comfortable one?
you are amongst like minded people here so welcome x
Of course you can!
I look back at it in two ways....
I do miss the old days before ads and aff links, and ‘Insta fame’. I got really sucked into perfecting the perfect grid, so my photos had to be edited to perfection and in sinc with each other. Completely playing to my perfectionist personality.
I remember and enjoyed the days where it was more like a ‘photo diary’ and you interacted with like-minded people. I did seem to make genuine connections with others, and I have met a couple of my ‘Insta friends’.
I felt the change around the time I was pregnant/gave birth in 2016, I’ve had my account since 2012. At the time I felt in competition with people, I had mutually followed for years as their accounts ‘took off’.
I was quite ‘in’ with some big IG names; RVK, TTMM, We.Made.This.Home, Life with Oaks and Olive... etc etc.
The first time I was ever approached to do an ad, was after my daughter was born, for a reusable nappy company. I never used reusable nappies, I’m not an ‘earthy mum’ and I never will be. That was the point where I thought - ‘Hold on here Tits; are you that desperate?!’ And the more I learned about the weirdos around, and the thought of someone taking my pictures of my baby. Did not sit well with me. So that’s when I went through all my followers with a fine tooth comb and went private.
So yeah I don’t get much interaction these days, and I still like to make sure my photos look nice (but that’s for me), I don’t feel pressure with it, and I don’t look at anyone else’s account with envy. That is their life, this is mine.
I’m glad I jumped ship when I did. I couldn’t be arsed with the work those lot put in. I have a job! A bloody good one, and a career. And a beautiful, happy daughter. I don’t need anyone’s validation for that.
But totally agree, I hate the ads, I hate the aff links and I hate the rise of the ‘influenza’. Old Insta was the best, but hey, least we get some entertainment from the circus?!
I hope that answered your questions