Oh, boy. That title alone is capable of causing a reasonably-sized uproar. Patience, my friends. Hear me out.
I started an Instagram account a couple years ago after a very close friend of mine began her IG journey. If it's alright for me to say, she actually used to [kind of] hate Instagram, too. We saw only the flaws - how others could invest hours in boasting about their lives in order to become famous enough to earn a free hat.
But one day, she said, "I did something really stupid. I joined Instagram." And even then, she cited her enthusiasm about the potential to receive discounts while traveling and I agreed and said that I'd join, too. She couldn't have been more thrilled and I began sharing old photographs and following tons of complete strangers in hopes of getting a return follow and some likes.
It didn't take long for me to see that this Why - my reason for investing my time in such a platform - was not working. Sure, Instagram made sense for me. In fact, it should have been a shining, blindingly obvious answer for me. You see, I'd become passionate about photography and travel and all things related to nature and wildlife years and years before this and had tried hosting a website on numerous occasions since 2010. But of course no one was seeing any of that and I told myself that it didn't matter. Art was still art even without an audience.
I had previously developed the Art of Life Photography in hopes of becoming a better version of myself. A giving, humble, service-oriented soul that cared less about the way others felt about her and more about the way she made others feel about themselves. I wanted to share my photographs and my travels as a form of encouragement - that yes, life is hard, but still it is beautiful.
The reasons I had joined Instagram did not align with the reasons I had started the Art of Life. There was a massive disjuncture between the two. I wasn't giving myself the chance to create meaningful relationships with people that I felt were truly inspired. I was using IG in a way that only enabled me to use other people. And I hated it, so I quit. I temporarily disabled the account with the intention to revisit it later if I felt I could do it in a way that I felt good about it.
And then the man that I had worked for since I was eighteen and had become a grandfatherly figure to me - the one who had first encouraged me on my photographic journey and nurtured my interest in nature - passed away. We'd spent the last few years working together on our photographs, digitizing his old biology slides and identifying plants I'd captured in recent travels. He and his wife were a wonder and joy to be around, and my heart was plenty full just seeing them marvel over my photographs. His wife remarked that she had never been able to travel to such places and felt as though she were able to through the memory books I created. What a gift, to be able to show someone a part of this world that doesn't cause heartache but rather brings joy. Once Carl passed, I knew his dream of me "making something" of our photography had to be realized, but I had to be careful about just what that "something" was.
I remembered my friend once telling me about the way she does Instagram differently now. How happy she is because she's inspiring others to travel and showing others places they've never been. She's found success and is truly striving to create a network of followers that encourage each other in a more authentic manner. Instagram is trying now, too. They're making policies to ensure that users are real people. And while yes, it really only requires that you prove you're actually human, I do think that they're moving in a more authentic direction. And with their current impact on our society, them defining human is a pretty big deal.
To date, 1 billion people use Instagram each month. That is a lot of people, which means there are a lot of ways that the social media platform is being utilized. Not everyone is on there to make a dime or save a penny. Not everyone is on there to earn a like or gain a follow. Many use it simply to keep in touch with friends and family while others are strictly business.
Just recently, I reactivated my account. And I am one who is wanting to expand my community beyond my existing friends and family. To do so, I'm pulling nearly all the stops. I'm tagging every photograph and posting as consistently as I can and hoping that I will gain followers.
I refuse to interact with others on the sole basis of wanting their follow, despite the countless articles available on the internet that essentially encourage you to be fake to other users so you can benefit yourself. Many famous philosophers and writers have spoken of our moral obligation to love others and use things, and not the other way around. I can't see how any dream or ambition is worth pursuing if it should require us to neglect such morals.
But, I am doing everything else to chase down a certain degree of IG popularity and I can't help but feel that I am "playing the game." It seems funny to me that it should bother me any more to add carefully chosen hashtags to a photograph than it did to add SEO tags to my photographs for a stock photography agency. It is, after all, the same thing. I just can't seem to forget how it once caused me to become something I wasn't. I'm afraid of relinquishing the part of myself that exists at my core. Afraid to find myself looking back saying, "All that for what?"
So what are we to do? What do the starving artists in this day and age do? What about those who have found passion in things that are best shared by use of a technology that could so quickly and easily become the catalyst for egocentric, prideful tendencies? We just want to love life and to share that love. We want to encourage others and support them. We want to offer our unique skills and talents to the world, as we were created to do. And truly, Instagram was made for all of that.
We only need to remember our Why. Why did we start this in the first place? Why are we sacrificing the sweet moments in time that we spend here? Why are we becoming something that we, only yesterday, were not? What is it we are growing into?
We are a community. We're in this together. And together we make the difference.
I hope to use my writing and photography to show others:
- This world is beautiful.
- I accept you for the difficult moments in your life and how they have defined you.
- I will be here to help encourage you and support you. You're not alone.
- The magical moments found through travel are worth pursuing. I will help you do so.
- Love is greater than fear. Fear is not a valid excuse to avoid that which you love.
So, that is my difference. That's my part in this community. Hey there, Instagram. I [kind of] love you.
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