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Blogging is Not About Instagram- The Truth behind Beautiful Feeds

January 24, 2018

Blogging is Not About Instagram

Happy Wednesday loves! Anyone else feel like this week is never ending? It’s like the days are refusing to move faster, maybe this week is just rebelling or something. I want to talk about something that might be a little bit of a touchy subject for some and for some of you it might not interest you at all. I want to talk about why I believe that blogging is not about Instagram.

 

When I first decided to start a blog I spent hours working on my website, tweaking the design and trying to learn everything about widgets. Over the past year I have had so many late nights working on content, designing images for my blog posts and embedding them with lord only knows how many links. All this time I was searching Instagram, looking at different blogger’s images, feeds and then their blogs. These blogs were beautiful and so well put together, everything seemed to flow perfectly.

One day I came across an Instagram page and in the profile it said she was a blogger. After looking through her beautiful images, I went back to the bio to find the link to her blog. There was no link anywhere in her profile, but there was a small blurb that said, “blog coming soon.” This account had over 100K followers and the posts went all the way back to 2013. I thought it was a little strange to call yourself a blogger and not have a blog, but it’s not my place to say what is right and wrong. Fast forward five months and I’m scrolling through the Instagram discover page and I see one of her photos again. I click on it and the same blurb is in her profile. I’m not discrediting the work she put into her Instagram account, but why call yourself a blogger? You can label your account as an Influencer or Public Figure instead.

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As a community we are told that in order to work with brands we must grow our following on Instagram. But why? I do not claim to be a public figure, I am a blogger. I have a website, I purchased a domain and I spend countless hours developing content for my blog. Why is it so important that I have over 10,000 followers on Instagram, to be considered for paid collaborations? I’m not promoting Instagram, and I’m definitely not writing 500 plus words in my captions.

blog·ger
ˈbläɡər/
noun
a person who regularly writes material for a blog.
I love social media, it is a powerful and mighty world that allows brands to reach so many new people. But social media is not my end goal. Building my website, growing my email subscribers, creating new avenues for my content and building a brand is my end goal. Instagram could disappear tomorrow, and if that happens what would become of your blog?
See, it has taken me a year to realize that blogging is not about Instagram. It’s easy to get caught up in the numbers game of social media, to constantly try and beat the algorithm (let’s be real we wont,) all the while letting a platform that we own and control receive less attention. I’ve paid to be a part of Instagram giveaways that promise to generate followers and I’ve implemented so many Instagram growth strategies. All because I want to have enough followers where brand’s do not think twice when it comes to paid collaborations.
This year I’ve made a promise to myself to stop fixating on growing my Instagram account and instead enjoy it for what it is, a way to connect with others. Well when I say this year, I really mean this week… but details details. I want my time, energy, resources and money to go towards building a new website. I want to focus on growing the reach of my blog and improving the SEO strategy. If everyone stops using Instagram one day, I want to be prepared and ready. I don’t want my brand to disappear just because an app isn’t popular anymore.
If you’ve felt overwhelmed by the social media world please comment below! I would love to hear your thoughts on the pressure of building up Instagram over your website!
XOXO
Emily

19 thoughts on “Blogging is Not About Instagram- The Truth behind Beautiful Feeds”

  1. Yes yes yes. This is so important and so true. Blogging is my #1 priority, and while social media can be helpful, it is not my main source of joy. Thanks for sharing, girl!

  2. I love this perspective and I agree! But my case is a little different! My blog has been my source of creative outlet and my Instagram is my source of business!! I’ve never worked to make my blog my business!! But I want to eventually! Social media is weird LOL

  3. I love this perspective and I agree! But my case is a little different! My blog has been my source of creative outlet and my Instagram is my source of business!! I’ve never worked to make my blog my business!! But I want to eventually! Social media is weird LOL

    1. I love hearing that! It’s nice to hear that Instagram has been your source of business, especially when everyone only seems to be talking about the algorithm struggle. Thank you for sharing!

  4. Such great points, Emily! I agree with you 100% and have stopped worrying about Instagram as much too. Not to mention it doesn’t really refer people to my blog that often. Which I get, as I’m guilty of it too. Very rarely will I leave Instagram to look at a blog/website. Susannah said it best above: “Social media is weird”! Haha, love it!

    1. Completely! It’s such a weird and strange world, amazing but weird haha.
      I’ve come to realize that the stress I was putting on myself to gain Instagram followers was so unhealthy!
      Thank you for reading!

  6. Yes yes yes!! I love this!! This year I am also focusing on establishing the relationships I have with my followers and also working more better towards my blog.. I love blogging and I’m going to work at keeping up with it and working more on it!

    1. Thank you for reading! And yes! That’s what I’m trying to switch my focus to as well. Use social media for connecting and not obsess on growth.

  7. I’ve been thinking about this for a long time and I couldn’t agree more with you. I made this very promise to myself too “to stop fixating on growing my Instagram account and instead enjoy it for what it is, a way to connect with others.”

    – A WAY TO CONNECT WITH OTHERS –
    I decided to use it as a place to meet people and make friends (and yes, I have less than 300 “followers” and I don’t freaking care haha)

    Great post, Emily!
    Thanks for sharing!

    1. It’s something I feel like I have to remind myself of daily, not fixating is so difficult! Thank you for reading!!

  8. This is such an important topic right now and I love reading articles like this. The ones sticking up for people who are putting in the work on not just IG, but on a blog and elsewhere. I get so, so frustrated with IG and watching other accounts grow like crazy while mine sits still half the time! However, when I’m on my site, I feel at peace, because you’re right – it’s the one place we truly create on our own and have control over! Thanks for sharing!

    http://www.agneswright.com

    1. Thank you so much for taking the time to read! It’s something I have to remind myself of daily. Have to keep moving forward with growing a brand, regardless of IG!

  9. I so needed this put into perspective! I’ve been realizing that I’ve put waaaay too much focus into Instagram and neglected my blog. IG followers aren’t the only thing brands look at if your blog has enough traffic. I just keep forgetting this and ignoring my blog and subscriber list lol

    -Jessica

    http://www.linnstyle.com

    1. You’re so so right! And I completely agree!
      I’m trying my best to focus on all aspects of growth this year!

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