Hey hey, I'm Danielle, the senior and wedding photographer here at Danielle Kristine Photography! I'm so glad you're here. Stay awhile and browse the blog to get to know me and check out my work.
March 28, 2016
So Instagram is going absolutely NUTS today, am I right?! Everyone is in a hard panic posting an arrow, telling people to turn on post notifications for their handle so they ‘don’t miss anything that’s to come!’. And it’s rather annoying if you ask me, don’t you agree? I’ve actually been tempted to Unfollow some people completely because of this. Well I’m going to tell you why you SHOULDN’T turn on post notifications, yes I said it, do not turn on post notifications for me, or for anyone else for that matter! You must be thinking I’ve lost my marbles or something right?? Because this is exactly the OPPOSITE of what everyone seems to be saying. Well hold onto your boots sister because I’ll explain in .5.
Let’s break something down really quick first: Instagram has become a leaning platform for people around the world, some say it’s the new Facebook (and this will be more true than every soon enough, but I’ll get to that in a minute). Instagram has become a place to show a pretty version of your life (or in my case, my life and my business) in a perfectly curated/color coordinated feed where the amount of followers and likes that you have mean more than they should. So!
What is happening: Instagram was bought by Facebook (for about $1 billion to be exact). Over time, Facebook has limited the people who see the things you post. The people that see what you post are the people that engage with your posts {likes, comments, shares} and it’s the same for the content you see. It’s actually a GOOD thing in some ways, because do we really want to see EVERY post by EVERY friend? Probably not. It allows you to only see the content you like, or in other words, the content you interact with! So, let me get back on track real quick, Instagram is changing it’s algorithm. It’s going away from the chronological order you’re used to seeing in your news feed and going towards curating your feed the way Facebook is, it will show you what you like, or what it believes you like to see.
Why everyone (especially small business owners, like me) is freaking out: because of the way Facebook has changed to only show content organically to about 2% of the people who follow you, business owners have resorted to using Instagram instead to market their service/products! Unlike Facebook, you didn’t have to pay for ‘boosts’ on posts so tons of people would see it, it was fantastic for us because everyone who liked/followed our pages was able to see what we posted with the chronological news feed. It was a free way to reach our audience and get results. But now, with Instagram slowly changing the way our news feeds are shown to our followers, business owners are afraid they will lose this as a marketing tool and no one will see any of their posts anymore, business will plummet, and they’ll have to resort to living on the street, in a box! Ok that’s a little dramatic of a generalization, but that’s why everyone is telling you to turn on your push notifications to see every post they put out there.
Fun fact: Instagram started slowly changing our news feeds about a week and a half ago, so it beats me why this all blew up today!
Why you SHOULDN’T turn on your post notifications: Ok, so maybe I’m crazy for saying this, but let’s put our phones DOWN for a few seconds a day, shall we?! Why do we want another reason to be pulled into our phones every second of the day. I mean, what happened to productivity people?! Because let’s be honest, once we click on one thing, we get pulled into the ‘suck zone’ and click click click, a half hour later, we lost track of time, and are still stuck in social media land. Get us out! And yes, I just referenced the movie Twister with ‘suck zone’ and if you caught it before I mentioned this, we might become friends pretty quickly, because FANTASTIC movie. Anyways, I’m no better than the next guy when it comes to social media time wasting-just ask my boyfriend, but this is why I refuse to have another reason to dive into my phone.
I understand this is hard to stomach for those of you like me that are trying to kickstart a business, and something we were just starting to get the hang of, Instagram marketing to target our ideal clients, making our news feed have a common theme, ect….and BOOM it changes course and does a 180 on us! But as a favorite of mine Jordan of Amy & Jordan reminds us, the only thing that’s constant is the fact that things are always changing. There was a time before Instagram and I’m positive there will be a time after Instagram when a new form of social media is a craze. But we still have it for now, so let’s make the best of it.
What you SHOULD do instead: So Instagram is going to show you posts from accounts it sees you interact with the most right? SO set aside some time each day to alot to social media and INTERACT with accounts you like to see!! Enjoy some time in the ‘suck zone’ and scroll, click click click, and Like posts you like, comment on posts you love!! Let that red heart fly when necessary! You don’t have to get a push notification to your phone every time an account you love posts a picture to distract you from what you’re doing, just give an interaction when it pops up in your news feed! This will ensure you continue to see the accounts you enjoy without another distraction on your iPhone notification screen that you don’t need. And if you are a small business, post things that will make people interact with you!! Give them a reason to like a comment, post content worth reading!
Want to know something crazy?! I don’t have any notifications on my phone except for snapchat and texts/calls! I don’t want Facebook or Instagram or Twitter sending me a notification every time I get a virtual interaction, and I never have. It’s actually more exciting for me to see a few interactions at a time when I have time and log in to the app and have time to dedicate to scroll and be engaged.
So I hope this convinces you to NOT turn on post notifications, and allows you to continue to live your life. I think that’s something we forget to do on occasion, but don’t worry, I’m here to remind you to do so 😉
If you’re interested in following my Instagram account, the link is Right Here. If you like my stuff, follow and interact! If not, don’t feel like you have to do anything. And if I like your stuff, I’ll do the same. No hard feelings! I’d rather have 100 followers who care about what I post than 1,000 who could care less. But please remember, social media isn’t real life. It’s somewhat of an alternate universe for all of us. Things that are real matter more, changing lives and truly creating amazing work are things that will get you real life followers and actually make you happy in the end. Happy Insta crazy Monday friends! Keep doin’ you! And here’s a cute picture of my cows to keep your eyes open.
Our little Jersey babies at our farm!
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Danielle Kristine Photography 2019. Designed with Showit.
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