Why I Reset my Instagram

Hello, Dragonflies !

2019 is a new year. 

(Obviously)

I'm not one of those people who'll flaunt around promising 'new year new me!' to everyone I can. But I do take it as an opportunity to check back on my past year, it's good times and mistakes, and to see what I should keep doing, and what I should try to change. 

Some of these changes are slow: they might start in the spring, or only happen once a week (eg sports). But some changes can be more immediate. 

For the past few months, I had found a sort of frustration when it came to one of my favourite platforms - Instagram. 

Now I luuurve coming up with photos for my instagram page and meeting people who has the same passion for books as I do. I had over 3 years of experience and more than 6000 followers. I had made a lot of friends and it became a steady hobby of mine. 

But in the past months, I noticed some changes. It wasn't fun anymore - I became tied to numbers when I really didn't want to be, because one thing confused me like you would have no idea. 

That out of 6000 followers, only about 200 would only ever see what I posted. That's about 3%. And I kept trying to work to increase that because, if 6000 people decided they liked my photos, then why were only 3% of them seeing what I did? 

Now I never did this for the numbers, but in the end, I used them as a way to figure out how to progress in my hobby. Soon after some analysis, I started finding things I definitely did not like about my 'position'. 

The Algorithm
I see you people shivering in fear of the simple word. Whether you're a youtube fanatic or instagram lover, you would have heard about the algorithm changes, making it impossible for some content to go recognised - some accounts get thousands of followers in a few months, while others with comparable quality go unnoticed. And once people think they found a way to counter it, it changes again. It's maddening. 

Follow For Follow
This one drove me nuts. People tend to approach you and ask for you to follow them, for you to 'gain their follow'. Sorry but screw that! If I like your content I'll follow you. If you like mine follow me if you want. What is this new bribery game that people think works? It's just like following and unfollowing within 2 hours to 'be noticed'. I just want to see what I want to see on my feed, guys! 

The Loop
I wrote about this in one of my posts. We're all stuck in a loop of trying to make photos that'll 'make it', all while trying to figure it out, day by day. 

So what I did...
I didn't want to be stuck in this loop anymore. I wanted to post what I wanted when I wanted, no matter the colours or 'obligations' that come with responsibilities like being a rep. I didn't want to obsess over why none of my numbers matched up. 

I downloaded an Instagram cleaner app, which showed me all of the 'dead' accounts. I unfollowed/blocked and unblocked over 2000 people that way. A few months later, I checked for ghost accounts - all but about 300. 

After 3 years, I wasn't even surprised. I had lost motivation at this point and it showed in my photos. 

So I deleted my account, and re-started it from scratch. 
I completely got rid of everything that was once Just Another Bookish Blog on Insta. I re-opened an account a day or so later, and have been posting what I want whatever I want. You can find it at @justanotherbookishblog_

I'm really really happy with this decision! It's become a lot more casual for me to take photos when I want of what I want - I have lots and lots of backup so on busy days I can just decide not to post or to just work with those. I have some friends who re-followed me but otherwise I've been meeting a whole new audience with who I can fangirl! 

I can do whatever the hell I want, and it feels great! 

Since I re-started, I have noticed some changes... 

- In my attitude - I honestly barely check for likes or follows anymore, but for comments and other forms of real communication! I've met some cool people this way! 

- In my quality - I've only been posting photos I'm either very proud of or that I can say a lot about and it makes it all soooo much easier to post!  

- In my motivation - doing something because you want to is a lot more entertaining and personally rewarding than doing it because it's 'routine'! 


So that's my little ramble about my recent Instagram changes. Some aspects might sound counter-intuitive, but all in all I am glad I made this choice :) 

Stay bookish!