So I've been on Instagram for about a month, and I'm not sure how to describe my feeling about it. My refusal to join for a very long time was as a result of so many things including the fact that I hardly take pictures and its promotion and encouragement of narcissism.
Sometime last month, I just had this inexplicably urge to open an Instagram account even though I had absolutely no idea of what I would post on it. I informed Berry about the urge, and she basically asked me to just go ahead and open it.
So I opened the account and posted a flyer of one of my speaking engagements at oriental hotel. I followed some friends on Facebook and before I could say jack, got some decades of followers.
Right from them, I have observed some things about Instagram, and this is what I plan to share.
Instagram is too expensive to maintain, like a greedy mistress. It embezzles all my data without a care in the world. So after a week of being on it, I began to blame myself for getting on it in the first place.
Selfies and posies get the best likes. For every like you get on a quote picture, you can get 20 likes for selfie, posie picture or pouting pictures. So if you are more concerned about likes, go the route of narcissism. This was an issue for me because of course, I don't take pictures. So I have decided to accept that I won't have many likes. It is fine.
The only pictures I actually go out of my way to take are pictures of my food. I am a bit adventurous with food, but I'm not a foodie, if you get what I mean. I am an extreme healthy food enthusiast, and I like to make cheap food with whatever is readily available, yet not be boring. I therefore take pictures to keep records. I have loads and loads of pictures of my food. So once in a while, I post pictures of these on Instagram, letting people know they can have cheap healthy food right in their houses. These pictures also get more likes than the quotes.
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When it occurred to me that I will have to find something worthwhile to do with my Instagram account since I'm not a posie, and not exactly a foodie, I decided that it was best to put out my own intellectual property, in form of pictures. So I started making my pictures right from the scratch, using excerpts of my spoken word performance. This for me is the most genius thing I have ever done with the IG account, because I believe they are actually spoken word lines that jump at the reader and they have a strong message. Unfortunately, these get the least likes.
I was baffled at first. I thought it was something I was doing wrong. It was later I realised it was just the way it was. People would rather like a selfie than a quote. Most people don't go on Instagram to read, they just want to see another picture of a pretty face. Anyway I have decided to just be myself and keep posting my excerpts. If I do anything else, I'm sure I will shut the account down in less than 24 hours.
As for me, what kind of pictures do I like on Instagram? Since, I am more about content, I like pictures that have a clear message. Be it a quote, food, selfie, posie, once it has a clear message, I'm game. So I'm the kind of person who will like a picture with someone dancing with one leg over his head than with him just posing for the camera, because he is sending me a clear message that he is crazy and carefree.
Basically, if it speaks to me, I like it. If it's just another picture in the world of pictures, I will pass.
So here's what I learnt from Instagram. I will rather be myself than gun for likes. Narcissism is like greed. It can never be fed full. The more you get, the more you will want. It is best not to even go down that road. It's not cool to be that person who would take a million selfies just to gain approval on Instagram, but if it’s your cup of tea, be my guest.
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In the meantime, I will keep doing what suits me, whether I get likes or not, and that is to picturise my excerpts.
So after all said and done, please follow me on Instagram by clicking here or searching hattylolla001, and you will see pictures like the one below. Please let me know what you think about my pictures below.