Creating Content For Yourself vs. Conforming to 'the Algorithm' | Being Creative Online
‘The algorithm’ is something that is ominously referred to by pretty much everyone who uses social media for creative or commercial purposes. It is basically what Instagram uses to determine whose photos will be placed at the top of people’s feeds and will be allowed the most engagement, which Instagram gained the power to do after it got rid of chronological feeds (this article is much better at explaining it than I am). No one really knows how it works although there are many theories and assumptions surrounding it, for example, that ‘the algorithm’ prefers iPhone photos to photos taken on digital/professional cameras. But who knows if it really is the algorithm that prefers that or just users of Instagram? Either way, it is true that some posts do better than others based on many things that are often different for everyone.
Because certain posts tend to do ‘well’ (i.e. receive good engagement), it can be tempting to only create the kind of content that performs well. But what if that’s not your favourite kind of content to create? I’ve been blogging for almost a year now and the lines can sometimes become a little blurry when it comes to thinking about what the content I like to create is, because I think I can become subconsciously influenced by the likes and the shares to think the content I enjoy producing is the content that performs well, when that isn’t necessarily the case.
I’ve been thinking about it a lot recently because I really want my blog and social media to remain as a creative, fun and positive space for me to be in. As soon as I started going through my blog and Instagram and picking out the images and posts that were my favourites, it became clear that my favourite imagery is always film photography based. Creating imagery using film photography is, annoyingly, the most expensive and time-consuming way to do so, which is why I haven’t done it consistently, but it’s undoubtedly my favourite.
Despite this, not one of my top 9 images on Instagram are film based. 2 of them (including my post with the highest engagement) are mirror selfies, 2 of them are photos in which I’m wearing outfits I threw on quickly, that I didn’t like very much, and then asked my boyfriend to quickly take a photo of me in outside a train station. The others, minus one, were all taken on my iPhone during day-to-day life. Clearly then, my photos that receive the most engagement are actually the ones that require very little effort to create. This sounds good right? Quick outfit shots are easy enough for me! This is definitely what I thought for a little while.
But I started to feel so creatively stifled in creating this kind of easy content. This wasn’t so much with my blog, as this content largely stayed the same other than the imagery, but very much so with Instagram where the content is purely visual. Just because it was easy, and maybe purely because it was easy, it doesn’t mean it was fulfilling. So I’ve recently decided to shoot more and more of my imagery using my film camera, like with this post! I’m not currently making any money from my blog or my Instagram and I’m trying to look at this as an opportunity to create content that I personally love and creatively fulfils me because there is no real gain to my content performing well other than that it feeds my ego!
Sam, my boyfriend, very kindly spent a day in Liverpool with me last weekend shooting lots of photos on my film camera, some of which I included in this post. I love how all of the photos have turned out, especially these ones! I originally wore this outfit to London Fashion Week but didn’t get any photos of me wearing it, so I thought I’d take this opportunity to re-wear it and capture some images in one of my favourite parts of Liverpool, the beautiful Georgian Quarter.
I’m feeling super excited about more of my content being film photography based! Although it is expensive, it’s an investment I’m willing to make because there’s nothing I love more than sharing my film photography (as well as my writing) and photos taken on my film camera are ALWAYS my favourites.
My content isn’t going to change too much though, especially over here on my blog as I’ve never really felt the creative restrictions I sometimes experience on Instagram through blogging, probably because there aren’t any algorithms trying to dictate what I should post over here! Just expect lots more film photography and maybe some more style/fashion content on the blog.
I’d love to hear about your experiences with the Instagram ‘algorithm’ and being creative online. I am also interested, despite my ramblings about my creative freedom, to hear what content of mine, or generally, you like to read/see online, so please let me know in the comments!
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I Don't Feel Guilty About Unfollowing On Social Media and Neither Should You
Cardigan- & Other Stories
Trousers- New Look
Bag- ASOS (sold out, similar here)
Shoes- Converse
Necklaces- Missoma X Lucy Williams Mini Fang Necklace & Missoma Body Language ‘A’ Initial Necklace
I spend A LOT of time on social media, an embarrassing amount of time to be honest. The new iPhone feature that tells you your daily and weekly screen time has made me very aware of this. On average, I probably spend about 2 hours a day on Instagram, according to my phone. That’s 14 hours a week, 60 hours a month, 730 hours a year! I’ve tried SO much to cut down on my screen time but, mostly, it feels like a losing game. The truth is, we live in a society that is addicted to social media so breaking the habit of scrolling isn’t as easy as we might think.
So if I am inevitably going to be spending this much time on social media, I want it to be a positive space. I want it to add something to my life! I definitely don’t want it to make me feel bad about myself or my life. I recently watched Lucy Moon’s video about organising her life and putting mindful habits into place for the new year and one of the things she did was go through all of her Twitter and Instagram followers and unfollowed anyone who didn’t inspire her or wasn’t her friend. I thought taking the time out to do this was such a good idea as I’ve never gone through my followers in this way and I had been thinking a lot about how I wanted to make social media a more positive and productive space.
So I did just that! I started with Twitter because I’ve been using Twitter for a long time, probably about 8 years if not more, and I’d never really thought about who I’m following. Plus, Twitter had been one of the spaces I found to be stressful because of the sheer amount of words that were thrown at me, many of which were from people I’m not really in touch with anymore or accounts that I’m just no longer interested in, which meant I was consuming a lot of information that wasn’t really positive or productive for me.
Like Lucy, I wanted to continue following all of my friends, as well as accounts that I find inspiring, informative and/or positive. I didn’t actually check how many people I followed before my ‘cleanse’ but I think it was between 400-600 people and I now only follow 113 people on Twitter. My following now mostly includes my friends, bloggers/social media people whose lives I find interesting, authors and musicians and newspapers/online platforms that I enjoy (e.g. Man Repeller and The New York Times).
Even one day after my little unfollowing spree, I noticed how much more I was enjoying scrolling through my Twitter feed, and it’s actually meant that I’ve gone on Twitter less too because there isn’t as much to see so I don’t have an excuse to endlessly carry on scrolling.
I haven’t finished ‘cleansing’ my Instagram following yet, purely because it was taking a little longer as I have to look at everyone’s feeds and decide whether I think they’re adding something to my life (in the form of inspiration, positivity or information) rather than, like with Twitter, just knowing straight away whether this is the case. But I know when I do get the chance to finish clearing up my Instagram, it’s going to make scrolling there so much more positive for me too.
Despite the fact that I am doing all of this unfollowing to make social media a better space for me personally, there is still some guilt in unfollowing. Even if you haven’t spoken to someone for years, it can feel a little bitchy or arrogant to unfollow people. But it really isn’t! It’s a positive thing for you and your mental health. And after seeing how much my social media use changed for the better after doing my little ‘cleanse’, I really don’t feel guilty about it all.
I personally wouldn't be offended one bit if someone wanted to unfollow me, for whatever reason. Whether it’s because we’re not in touch anymore and they’re no longer interested in what I get up to or if it’s just that they just don’t find my content particularly interesting or inspiring! That’s fine! I feel like I’d have to be pretty vain to think that everyone is going to care about my life enough to hear about it pretty much every day.
Unfollowing people is an act of self-care, which means it’s absolutely nothing personal towards the people you’re unfollowing, in fact it’s the complete opposite, it’s all about you! And it’s okay to be selfish here. You can’t please everyone and you shouldn’t have to and if people are going to be offended that you’ve unfollowed them, it really is their own problem/issue, not yours.
So if you do have some free time over the next few days, take out an hour or two to go through your following lists on social media and cleanse it of anyone/anything that isn’t a positive influence on your life. If you spend as much time on social media as I do, it’s kind of necessary for it to be a source of positivity because if it isn’t, just think how that amount of time spent in a negative space will affect you, your mental health and your general mood. And please don’t feel guilty about it! You should never feel guilty for looking after yourself and if people are going to make you feel guilty about that, they’re not really people you want in your life anyway, so you know you’ve made the right decision in unfollowing them!
I’d love to hear how you feel about unfollowing on social media. Is ‘cleansing’ your following something you already do regularly or have you never thought about it before? Is your screen time as high as mine (please say yes)? Let me know in the comments or send me a message over on social media, speak of the devil!
Despite the fact that I’ve just referred to it as satanic, social media and a high screen time does not necessarily need to be a bad thing, as it’s often made out to be. If you can make your social media into a space that provides inspiration, positivity, information, or whatever else it is you want to get from it, it can be an amazing place to spend your time!
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Where I Find Style Inspiration
Where I Find Style Inspiration
Jumper- ASOS, Skirt- Old Zara Dress (similar here and here),Shoes- Vans, Bag- Old Zara (similar here), Necklace- ASOS
I have been feeling so inspired by and excited about fashion/styling lately. I think it's partly because we're having a very mild autumn, which means I can actually wear autumn/winter clothing that I like without freezing! But it's definitely also because I've found so many new ways of finding style inspiration. The outfit that I'm wearing here was very much inspired and something I had wanted to put together for a while. It's so 'inspired' that it basically is copied, but that's a whole other post (one that I've already written, about the difference between copying and taking inspiration).
Anyway this outfit was basically inspired by two outfits I saw on social media (see below) and it got me thinking about where I get my style inspiration from. So I thought I'd share it on my blog! I don't think it's anything revolutionary but it can be interesting to see how other people decide what to buy and what to wear and it's also part of my effort to think more consciously about why I'm buying my clothes and if I truly want/need them.
Where I Find Style Inspiration
Where I Find Style Inspiration
1. Pinterest
I am so late to the party with Pinterest but, now I've finally hopped on the bandwagon, I love it! I find Pinterest such an inspiring place to be. It's really just about finding images that you like and there's no obligation to engage with anything you don't want to. Plus, because it's basically a search engine, it's so easy to find exactly what you're looking for whether that's 'autumn style' or 'check blazer and midi skirt' so it always helps me find new ways to style things I already own. Whenever I'm feeling uninspired I always just scroll through my Pinterest feed and come out the other side wanting to put outfits together. It's actually one of the only forms of social media that I use for style/fashion that makes me want to shop my own wardrobe more than I actually want to buy new things because you can really curate it so images come up with people wearing similar things to those that you already own. My 'Autumn Style Inspiration' board has been my go-to place for inspiration whenever I can't decide what to wear.
2. Instagram
Again, there's nothing revolutionary here. I use Instagram for style inspiration like most other people. The save button was one I used to make use of quite often but now I have Pinterest, I tend to curate boards over on there rather on Instagram now. So, Instagram is mainly just a place that is constantly providing me with inspiration because I'm constantly on it (whether this is a good thing or a bad thing). The thing that can be tricky with Instagram is, unlike Pinterest, I'm always liking things and I think, because I'm not curating my own board and a like is something I never have to look back on again, I'm a lot more frivolous with the photos I'm liking and therefore it's hard to tell if I really did actually like the thing that I just virtually liked. A very complicated sentence, but hopefully you understand what I mean, Instagram can be much more mindless than Pinterest. But, nevertheless, because I spend so much time on Instagram and can at least curate who I follow, I am always feeling inspired by the photos on there and it's definitely the most consistent form of inspiration for me- it's like a constant flow that keeps the wheels of inspiration turning.
Where I Find Style Inspiration
Where I Find Style Inspiration
3.IRL Shopping/Browsing
I know I mentioned earlier that I'm trying to be more conscious with what I own and what I'm buying, but I can't deny that shopping is a big source of inspiration for me, particularly in store but also online (especially when brands release editorials; my favourites for this are Mango, & Other Stories and Zara). But the buzz I get when I'm walking around a store and seeing clothes laid out in an intentional way really does make me feel inspired. And whether it is how the shopping experience has affected me (which I think it's at least partly this) or just the novelty of new clothes, I always feel excited to style outfits when I get home from a day of shopping, in a way that shopping online just doesn't allow me as much.
4. People Watching
Another in real life method of inspiration! Although social media is essentially the virtual way of people watching I guess? But people watching in person, in the least creepy way possible, is a really great way of finding style inspiration. I don't think it's an intentional thing and I'm not really the type of person to park myself in the window seat of a cafe and take in the clothes people are wearing. But being out and about, especially in 'cooler' areas of city centres such as the Northern Quarter in Manchester or the Bold St and Baltic Triangle areas of Liverpool, always sub-consciously makes me feel inspired. I have been known to hunt down pieces after seeing them on other people or made it my life's mission to find something similar (something I did with this polka dot skirt, which is actually a dress, after seeing the original on Georgia) and most of these hunts stem from real life experiences, despite the example I've just given. The online world makes it so easy. We are handed shoppable links quicker than we can ask for them, which can obviously be really useful and time-saving. But I think hunting for a particular/similar piece that you've seen someone look amazing in IRL is more of a creative, exciting and rewarding process that will really get you feeling inspired!
Where I Find Style Inspiration
Where I Find Style Inspiration
I hope you've enjoyed this post and maybe even found it useful in some way. It's certainly got me excited to get styling some outfits. As I mentioned earlier, I'm currently trying to dress and, even more so, shop more consciously than I have in the past and thinking through the reasons why and ways in which you dress the way I do is a really important part of this. Because I'm never going to be a minimalist or a person who doesn't want to shop, but hopefully I can stop being the person who buys something that I will wear once purely because it's cheap or impulsively makes an ASOS order because I'm bored! Baby steps are still steps and hopefully they will all add up. If you haven't seen Stacey Dooley's brilliant documentary 'Fashion's Dirty Secrets', which I'm sure you've heard about, do go and watch it because it will make you think differently about the fashion industry, something we all need to do
Where I Find Style Inspiration
Where I Find Style Inspiration
Where I Find Style Inspiration
Where I Find Style Inspiration
Where I Find Style Inspiration