This post contains affiliate links marked with [*] and gifted items marked with [gifted].I took a week away from social media. A proper week away, where I simply signed out and didn't constantly check up on my Instagram likes and follower count. It's crazy how often I still gravitated towards the app and was greeted with the login page as opposed to new notifications and a feed full of images to lust over. I knew I needed to take a break from social media because I kept feeling a huge wave of uncertainty pour over me every time I opened up Instagram and I was starting to dread it.
 |  |
*SHOP THE POST*
My break was purely brought on by the lack of engagement I had been experiencing on Instagram, it was so disheartening. I create a lot of content for my Instagram, I post images on my account twice a day (usually one in the morning and another in the evening) but I noticed that my photos were just not reaching as many people as they used to. It's practically impossible to know the reason why content doesn't perform as well on Instagram and it always leads me to question myself. Is my content not good enough? Is it the Instagram algorithm? Are my photos just sh*t?
I find myself constantly questioning whether it's me or the Instagram algorithm and it has a big impact on me. Whenever I say or write this I always feel a bit silly because it's just an app after all and it really shouldn't dictate how I feel but Instagram is a big part of my job. When my posts aren't being shown to the majority of my followers and not performing well, it puts a downer on me, my mentality towards work and even my personal life which isn't good.
In a blog post I shared last month, I touched on the idea of allowing myself to have weekends off so to speak and just trying to create a bit more of a detachment from my work-life and real-life and that's what I'm going to try and do from now on. Read my blog post: April 2019 for a bit more on that.
Signing out from Instagram for the week was a really good thing for me. Having never actually signed out from the app since I first joined (I don't even know how long ago that was!) it was daunting but needed and I'm glad that I did it. I thought a lot about it, I think I made quite a big deal about signing out from Instagram - which in hindsight was unnecessary - but I had so many questions I wanted to ask and decided the best way to get answers was to be honest about how I was feeling and just ask. I received a lot of feedback and it really inspired me to think about my content and the direction I want my social media platforms to go - not only on Instagram, but on my blog and YouTube too. This was when I decided to spend the week away from every platform, it meant I didn't need to worry about creating content to stick to a schedule and rather gave me some more time to brainstorm ideas.
I find myself constantly questioning whether it's me or the Instagram algorithm and it has a big impact on me. Whenever I say or write this I always feel a bit silly because it's just an app after all and it really shouldn't dictate how I feel but Instagram is a big part of my job. When my posts aren't being shown to the majority of my followers and not performing well, it puts a downer on me, my mentality towards work and even my personal life which isn't good.
In a blog post I shared last month, I touched on the idea of allowing myself to have weekends off so to speak and just trying to create a bit more of a detachment from my work-life and real-life and that's what I'm going to try and do from now on. Read my blog post: April 2019 for a bit more on that.
Signing out from Instagram for the week was a really good thing for me. Having never actually signed out from the app since I first joined (I don't even know how long ago that was!) it was daunting but needed and I'm glad that I did it. I thought a lot about it, I think I made quite a big deal about signing out from Instagram - which in hindsight was unnecessary - but I had so many questions I wanted to ask and decided the best way to get answers was to be honest about how I was feeling and just ask. I received a lot of feedback and it really inspired me to think about my content and the direction I want my social media platforms to go - not only on Instagram, but on my blog and YouTube too. This was when I decided to spend the week away from every platform, it meant I didn't need to worry about creating content to stick to a schedule and rather gave me some more time to brainstorm ideas.
 |  |
So how was my week off? Well, I've just felt so detached from the social media world. I only allowed myself on to Twitter to keep up with what was going on (the birth of the Royal Baby, the Tati x James Charles fiasco..) and I scrolled through Facebook a lot to fill that void but neither live up to Instagram in my opinion.
One thing that surprised me was how often I still received notifications from Instagram, despite being signed out. I didn't get anything specific but on a near daily basis I got a notification saying You have 100 new notifications on Instagram and honestly, I'm still surprised it didn't tempt me to sign in and have a look. I'm genuinely impressed by my willpower these days (following on from giving up chocolate and crisps throughout Lent, I feel like I can take on any challenge!)
I worked on creating new content and taking on board all the feedback I received which was really interesting and so helpful, I wish I had asked what you'd like to see on Instagram sooner! It was eye-opening and reassured me that I can try new things and venture away from my personal style posts. That's not to say I'll stop sharing fashion content because of course I won't, it's what I love and the whole reason I started blogging in the first place, but I'd love to share more lifestyle and beauty across my platforms. I've always been afraid to try something new because I thought people wouldn't want to see that from me. So even just having a fraction of my audience come back to me and say that they would like to see more makeup and beauty posts really inspired me to work on that new aspect.
Over the past week I've been working on creating new content, which I hope will be well received, and just taking some time to chill too. I've got some new ideas for my blog which I'm hoping will work out and I'm looking forward to sharing it all and hearing your thoughts and feedback!
One thing that surprised me was how often I still received notifications from Instagram, despite being signed out. I didn't get anything specific but on a near daily basis I got a notification saying You have 100 new notifications on Instagram and honestly, I'm still surprised it didn't tempt me to sign in and have a look. I'm genuinely impressed by my willpower these days (following on from giving up chocolate and crisps throughout Lent, I feel like I can take on any challenge!)
I worked on creating new content and taking on board all the feedback I received which was really interesting and so helpful, I wish I had asked what you'd like to see on Instagram sooner! It was eye-opening and reassured me that I can try new things and venture away from my personal style posts. That's not to say I'll stop sharing fashion content because of course I won't, it's what I love and the whole reason I started blogging in the first place, but I'd love to share more lifestyle and beauty across my platforms. I've always been afraid to try something new because I thought people wouldn't want to see that from me. So even just having a fraction of my audience come back to me and say that they would like to see more makeup and beauty posts really inspired me to work on that new aspect.
Over the past week I've been working on creating new content, which I hope will be well received, and just taking some time to chill too. I've got some new ideas for my blog which I'm hoping will work out and I'm looking forward to sharing it all and hearing your thoughts and feedback!
 |  |
Honestly, the past week has felt so long. It hasn't been so bad but I'm not going to say I loved every minute of my time away from social media because truth be told, I didn't. I miss Instagram! I've been so excited to come back (I'm writing this post Sunday evening so I haven't signed onto Instagram since last Friday!)
I like social media.
I like what I do and I like that it plays such a big role in my job, so for me to turn around and say I really enjoyed life without social media would be kind of crazy... I think I would be really worried if that were the case, it simply wouldn't make sense to be in an industry which relies so heavily on social media and not enjoy it.
I missed scrolling through my Instagram feed to see what everyone is up to; I missed seeing what people are currently wearing; I missed feeling inspired by the people I follow (I ended up spending a lot of time on Pinterest for a daily dose of fashion inspiration, you can follow me on Pinterest here). I spend a lot of time on Instagram, I use Instagram for a lot of different things and I'm sure I will continue to do so.
This week away has definitely helped me feel re-inspired when it comes to social media and one thing I want to try and do is to not let Instagram likes have such a big impact on me personally. If a photo doesn't do well, that's fine. If I want to give myself a weekend off without feeling the need to upload, that's fine too. If this week away taught me anything, it taught me that I don't want social media and certain platforms to dictate how I feel because honestly, there's so much more to life than how many likes a photo gets on Instagram.
*SHOP THE POST*
*Dress - Oasis [gifted]
*Espadrilles - Mint Velvet [gifted]
That Bag and Heels! And you styled it so effortlessly. I loved your watch too! Where is it from?
ReplyDeleteThank you! The watch is from GUESS.
Delete