How I feel about Instagram these days…

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What was Instagram before my account got hacked?

Well I really enjoyed browsing through images there, was inspired by breathtaking travel destinations and creative pictures and really connected with other users and bloggers. It was fun, not stressing and I loved getting feedback there.

Then my account got hacked (see here) and it all changed. I got my account back, thanks a lot, but ever since I felt that my reach got limited.

Some told me it was because my account got hacked and Instagram ranked my account not as good as before.

But I also realized how easy it was to loose an account. An account that you use for work, which you maybe even depend on. It can just be taken away from you by seconds and all the work, time and effort you put into it are gone.

I also realized how many mistakes I made in the past. I spoke to some Instagram experts who explained that some stuff I made are not good for my account (like deleting pictures or blocking users, which I believe are spam). I had no idea how many mistakes I had made in the past and how much these mistakes now affect my account. So Instagram now is not as fun anymore as it used to be.

The algorithm is doing another thing to me – it limits my account sometimes a lot, from getting seen by my followers and by new users. I love the chronological one and I still sometimes wish we could just go back there. To me Instagram now is work – producing great images, connecting and engaging and getting likes and comments. Engaging is something that I still like but since Instagram is pushing you more if you stay within your niche, it is not as much fun as it was before. I loved following accounts that I like (from every niche). But that is apparently not good… and yes I love liking cute dog pictures (who doesn’t?). But apparently liking pictures and following accounts outside your niche is also not good. Instagram is dictating me how to behave and makes us spend more and more time online, every time when the algorithm changes.

So where will that all end? As much as I love the creative aspect of Instagram it has become more stress sometimes than it is good and the possibilities to buy followers (and hence get more jobs, even though the followers are fake) are endless. I am very sad when I see that accounts that bought followers are more successful than accounts who grew organically. I mean it is fraud, as hard as it is to say that. These accounts are destroying the reputability of real accounts.

So what I think about Instagram right now… well, I am not happy where it is going and I really hope it will change for me again. I want to continue using it, because I still see big potential in it but I just wish it would be less stressful sometimes.

How do you feel about Instagram? Let me know, I would love to hear your thoughts.