How many pictures do you post regularly on Instagram? People don’t seem to complain about having too many tweets — unless it’s game day. They have Fancred for those couched sports commentators. One reoccurring trend I am seeing is people posting too many pictures on Instagram. It’s actually causing me and others to fabricate our personal feeds and not post what’s on our hearts. We want everyone to see us at our best. We spend $5 on the App Store offering lens enhancements and countless hours trying to get the supreme camera angle. Heaven forbid we didn’t use the autofocus on our iPhones.
Are we really passionate about what we are releasing to our friends/followers, OR are we posting what is going to get the most Likes? Don’t hear me say that you shouldn’t be artsy. Filters are there. Why not use them? But I too can’t stand to be in the “Instagram Purgatory”, and only see 10 names like my photo. Crank it to 11, right?
You may have had a similar conversation.
Opie: Pa, check out my last Insta post!
Andy: What’s the picture of?
Opie: I captured this moment as Aunt Bee was sitting one of her famous pies on the window. I skipped a meal to get the picture, but it was worth it. You can even see the steam! I even gave it a fun title, “Hot and Fresh Out the Kitchen”! You know, like that song?
Andy: Why did you go to all that trouble of waiting on Aunt Bee and everything?
Opie: People have been posting pics of food a lot, and I bet I could get 39 likes. It could be my best picture yet!
Andy: Son, that shouldn’t be your motivation. Do you post everything?
Opie: No sir. Just the best.
Andy: Well, does that really tell your story?
Opie: You know… I guess it doesn’t.
Andy: Why don’t you post everything? If you’re going to go through the trouble to take the picture, I would say post everything that comes to mind. That picture is special because it was seen through your eyes.
Opie: Yeah, but I don’t want my followers to get mad that I post too much. I don’t want to be “that guy”.
Andy: Well Opie, then they can unfollow you. Social Media is a platform developed for us to express our thoughts freely, the moment that we start to tailor information based on their demand, you can loose creativity.
Opie: But Pa, we learned in school to post substantive information for businesses and potential connectors. That would mean that if we didn’t post our best then we could lose our reach.
Andy: Like I said son, do what you want. If someone doesn’t want to follow you because you posted two additional pictures, it doesn’t matter. Not having a follower or friend on a social network does not remove them from your actual friend list.
Andy: What’s the last photo you took on your phone? Is it uploaded to Instagram?
Opie: No sir. I didn’t think anyone would “like” it.
Andy: Son, if it’s special to you, then share that image with the world.
Opie: Gee Pa, I never thought of it like that before.
Riley Blogging Off
The WILLing Testament 