You ever have one of those days where you feel like you're just so over Social Media?! Like, you just don't give two cents about what's the latest and greatest or what Kim Kardashian wore last night. Then you go on a spree unfollowing a bunch of people, aka unsubscribing to the nonsense, only to actually miss the nonsense a few days later and end up following again. Ughh, it's so annoying this stupid cycle. Like when did we become so obsessed with knowing what everyone else is doing? What is it that we are truly seeking?
It wasn't too long ago... Maybe just a year or two ago when I first became so obsessed with Instagram that I fell into the wrong pattern. Every time I did something, I posted about it. Every time I purchased something I posted about it. Every time I received something new, I posted about it. It became a feed/timeline of 'look at me and what I have' pictures that now embarrass me to even think about. But, I had no 'real' purpose for my accounts. For the most part, I was doing what everyone else was doing in the hopes of gaining "followers". That all came to end, when I came across a chat group discussing how obnoxious that type of posting was and they even mentioned ME! Now you know I was all up in my feelings when I read what they were saying but I had to admit... A lot of it was true. Granted, I voiced my opinion about what I felt was wrong in their statements but it gave me insight to how my actions were being perceived by others. I had the option to ignore it all or grow and learn. I chose the latter and decided to put some time into creating a brand and purpose for my Social Media Accounts. MyCandiShoppe.
Now when I look at the community of people around me (followers), I see opportunities to connect with other Women, Moms, Bloggers, etc... These aren't people who just want to see me posting about materialistic items but people who are interested in me sharing a small portion of my life with them! I try to keep my accounts well rounded with tidbits about my crazy family, beauty tips, natural hair reviews and of course, the occasional shopping haul! While I do make sure not to overshare, I think it's just as important share your journey on finding a job as it is sharing that you got a new job/promotion. So, I truly try to keep it "real". Staying true to this has caused me grow my community quite slowly but I see it as I am surrounding myself by the right people. Quality over Quantity. In the end, I gained more than I lost. If you are finding yourself amongst meaningless posts day after day, it might be time to take a step back and reevaluate. If you are finding that you are randomly posting whatever can gain you more followers, it might be time to take a step back and reevaluate. Set your own guidelines and rules for yourself and stick to them. In the end, you'll have a timeline/feed of posts and photos that you can happily/proudly look back on years from now.
XOXO
I can soo relate to this, Candice. There are times where I delete my instagram app for a day just to take a break because I find myself checking instagram and wanting to post too much. I have to say, I feel like my instagram took a shift when I big chopped my hair. My instragram is used primarily to share posts from my style blog and since I big chopped I feel like my instagram shifted into talking more about natural hair. (i'm slightly obsessed with my somewhat new fro) I'm still learning to find that balance on what I post, and focusing on sharing what I want not what I think people will want to see or people will "like". ps. you're a treat to follow.
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