I opened my Instagram account back in October 2011 because I liked the (original) idea of it. It’s a little slice of life, behind the scenes, the whole idea of ‘this is happening right now’ captured forever and shared. It was also an additional dimension to my blog, a social media platform for another audience and as a content marketer by trade, well, it wasn’t something I was going to ignore. So I joined and I started to share like everyone else.
But then it changed.
I started noticing a weird shift over the last year or two – maybe you noticed it too – especially with the kinds of blog and accounts I followed (mostly interior/lifestyle/fashion). I started to see more and more perfectly styled images, beautifully lit, not a thing out of place. No more blurry and heavily filtered pics of imperfect life. Well, actually, it was heavily filtered – just in a different way. Everything was staged as wonderfully as anything you’d see in a blog post or hell, a magazine. That sort of ‘this is happening now’ thing was still going on but suddenly, everyone’s lives looked so perfect. It kind of made me uncomfortable.
So I started thinking, ‘well, okay… this is clearly what’s done now’ and I started taking more care of what I posted there. More and more, I started shooting images with my DSLR camera instead of the rubbish camera on my phone, I started editing the photos in Photoshop, cropping them to the perfect square and posting them. It felt a bit inauthentic doing this but do you know what happened? I started gaining more likes on my images than ever before. I started to get more followers. The people of Instagram had spoken and this is clearly what they wanted.
And I get it. Really I do. People want pretty images. Of course, so do I. I love beautifully styled, beautifully shot images – it’s why I love Pinterest as well. But I don’t know… I still felt kinda weird about it. Not just that, but I simply didn’t have that much to post to my feed. I was still trying to post ‘behind the scenes’ shots (and still do) but sometimes life is just messy and sometimes my house is filled with boxes or tools or dust as we’re working on projects and life isn’t always all that pretty behind the scenes (all you need to do is have a look at some of my blog posts detailing our projects to see that for yourself). So aside from sharing the ‘pretty’ things that you’d have seen on the blog eventually anyway and the odd snapshot of a vignette in my home from a slightly different angle, what else could I share on Instagram? It just wasn’t working for me and I started to wonder what the point of my having an Instagram account actually was.
Well, if you follow me on Instagram, you may already know where this is going. See, here’s the thing. I love interiors – you KNOW I love interiors. It’s my biggest passion in terms of ‘Stuff I Like to Think About All the Time’ – other than perhaps my boyfriend and the cats! But I’m not a 2 dimensional person and I’m guessing neither are you. We all like different things, we all have interests that lie in other areas, right? Me too.
The truth is, sometimes I feel like I can only talk interiors on Swoon Worthy. And for the most part, that’s fine because, I mean, it’s an interiors blog, and of course, I like talking about interiors and I’ve been writing about interiors for the past 5 years. Times when I’ve ventured into other topics on here has always felt like a risk for me – I never know if you will hate it or enjoy the little tangent.
Here are a couple of things that I don’t really talk about on Swoon Worthy that you might not realise about me.
First, I eat about an 80-90% Paleo diet. I started to venture into it back in November and took the plunge seriously in February. I feel great on it, I’ve lost weight, I have lots of energy, I sleep really well – I’ve just found something that works for me (and everyone is different here, of course, so what works for me might not work for you – that’s okay.). Sometimes I want to talk about a recipe I came up with or tried because both Wayne and I love to cook with fresh, natural ingredients – but I can’t post it on here. Because well, it’s a food topic and this blog is not about food.
Some of my food posts on Instagram
Secondly, I love my make up. The only other thing I enjoy spending my pennies on when it’s not for the house is stuff for my face. I have always loved cosmetics, trying out different looks and playing around with it. I rarely leave the house without make up – not because I hate my face and not because I have low self-esteem and not because I give a shit what anyone thinks of my naked face. It’s because I love the ritual, I love taking my time choosing eye shadows or lipsticks or creating a glow. It makes me feel like I’m taking 20 minutes to indulge myself completely – it’s my time for me. And I feel good when I take that time out for myself. But if I find a fabulous lipstick or a new bronzer or a contour palette, I can’t post it on here. Because well, it’s a beauty topic and this blog is not about beauty.
some of my beauty posts on Instagram
While I follow a few You Tubers who focus on beauty, one thing I noticed was that there aren’t a ton of beauty blogs sharing make up techniques for the ‘over 35’ set and there are even fewer for those of us over the age of 40 (I do follow some great ‘older’ fashion bloggers however, as they seem a bit more plentiful!). And so I have been doing sort of “mini blog posts” for those of us who may be a little older but still like to have a play with make up. That picture up there on the lower right hand corner? That’s my ‘Cosmic Space Chola’ look. I may be losing my marbles but I swear, I’m still having fun. I have never taken myself too seriously and that’s just not going to change, I promise!
So if you’ve noticed my Instagram account shows not just interiors but maybe what I had for dinner or me blathering on about how to get the perfect red pout, well, now you know why.
While I wouldn’t call myself any kind of an expert on either topic, over the years I have learned a few things about making some really delicious food and I have learned quite a bit about great make up techniques. And hell, I like talking about these topics just as I like talking about interiors. So yeah, consider it background information, consider it ‘behind the scenes’ or consider it just another means of getting to know me a little better as the 3 dimensional person that I am.
Ya know, the great thing about Instagram is that it’s quick and effortless to just scroll over something that doesn’t interest you. So if my talking about these subjects is not for you, that’s absolutely, totally fine. Just skip on over those posts because I promise I’m still talking interiors over there, I’m still sharing the behind-the-scenes stuff and sneaky peeks of what’s coming up on the blog and I’m still sharing the pretty as it happens as well!
And as for Swoon Worthy? Well, I have no immediate plans of taking this to the ‘lifestyle’ side of blogging. I’m not promising it will NEVER EVER happen but at the moment? Swoon Worthy will certainly be staying all about interiors. So, I don’t want this post to make you think that’s changing because for now, it isn’t.
But if you do like talking about interiors or recipes or beauty products or even if you just like a lot of pictures of a certain little bengal cat (who tends to make a lot of appearances on my Instagram as well), and you aren’t already, then come and follow me on Instagram and join in some of the other topics I’m covering. I’d love to see you there!
How do you use Instagram? What do you think of the way it’s changing? Have you changed the way you use it? I’d love to hear from you!
I’m dizzy with relief. I can feel my neck and shoulders unclenching as I type. Why, you wonder?
Because I am SO relieved to read that. I noticed your Instagram posting changed, and I love it. If I follow a blog I always want to get to know the blogger better (and if I don’t like them I unfollow them, because reading what a person I don’t like writes just doesn’t work for me, at least if I’m reading for fun instead of for work!).
I love reading about food and make-up and cats and your Wayne (;-)), and I am superhappy about the “Behind the Scenes” posts. This is superselfish of me, but it’s really tiring to read all the easy breezy posts about makeovers, without knowing what hard work and money went into it, and how much dirt it created! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve sat on a heap of rubble (I may exaggerate a bit), wondering why I couldn’t get stuff done as effortlessly as the internet made it seem. There may have been tears.
As to the pics: You are so right, and you are doing it right, so, you know, you do you, as the young folks say! :D
I can absolutely understand photoshopping some details out of a picture, like when Emily Henderson went all “And here’s where we photoshopped out the wires that were hanging out of the wall.” (I love EH!). But I also think the high stakes styling and photoshopping has gone so far that things don’t even look real anymore. For me, that’s not “inspirational”, it’s actually looks discouraging. Would I even want to spend that much time and money on a room, and then on styling it and taking pics? Am I a slob because I don’t? Do I even DESERVE a nice place to live if I don’t want/am unable to strip floors, spackle the walls, thrift astounding furniture and buy a new camera to photograph it for Instagram?!
Probably I’m not making any sense at all here, but I guess what I am trying to say is: You show us things before and after styling them or doing a full makeover, and the look REAL. You also tell us “Ok, here’s what we had to do, and this is how long it took.” <3
Aww thank you!! Your comment made me SO happy. And I admit, I totally love when EH tells all the juicy details of the stuff that’s totally photoshopped out of pictures because, yes, you then realise that even the powerhouse that is EM has shit wrong with her house and things aren’t always as perfect as they seem. I think that authenticity needs to come back a little bit – I’m all for pretty pictures but there’s gotta be a real person behind it all or else we might as well just be looking at Elle Decor or Living Etc instead of reading blogs…
Thanks for your support my dear! xxx
Commenting as lifestyle blogger ‘me’ on this post, for a change…
I also selfishly love that you are going this way with your Instagram feed. I follow your blog because I love your interiors stuff…but I also want to follow you as a person. Instagram is a great way to do this.
xx
Aww thank you so much Ally! I’m pleased – I really think that authenticity is why I follow so many blogs and that’s because of the PEOPLE behind them. Not just because they have great style. A little imperfection is endearing, right? xxx
Long-time lurker. I don’t use Instagram much but any images which aren’t set up always engender more of an emotional/human response in me – it’s not even, look they failed to be perfect, it’s more like: they aren’t worried about being perfect & have confidence to show reality which makes me admire them 10x any wonderful image.
I totally agree! We need that sort of ‘humanness’ coming through, otherwise we might as well just look at Elle Decor or Living Etc and not bother with blogs. It’s all about getting to know the real person behind the words. Thanks so much for coming out of ‘lurkdom’ for your comment, that means a lot to me! xxx
Love your blog, and, yes I have noticed the way Instagram in general can make us all feel a bit ‘less than’ for not having the perfectly curated life. Life is messy and all the better for it, and although I am delighted to see the pretty stuff I also like the multi-dimensional reality approach; so go you and keep doing what you love – it’s the only way!
Thanks so much Heather! I agree, I do love to see a pretty picture but knowing someone is HUMAN too is so important. xxx
I am soooo glad you touched on this. IG is my absolute FAV social media outlet. I love it bc of the fact that its candid and super personal and allows you to get to know people on a much more personal level…at least it should. Ive had this discussion several times with various bloggers and it seems that the most important things to many people is to have a pretty feed, so the photos are highly styled, over exposed, and gives the impressed of a life perfectly lived. Those are the feeds that are extremely popular and have like tens of thousands of followers. But those are the feeds I honestly tend to ignore. I actually really hate it. Its just hard to get away from it bc its become the IG norm. It just feels so fake to me alot of the times. I want to feel like I can relate to people and that they can relate to me, so I refuse to make my feed all about pretty pictures and the vision of a perfect life. I reserve my blog for photos with my dslr and thougtfully styled images. IG is for me to show a much more personal side of me. I feel like my IG followers get to know me on a much different level there. I looove that youve taken the same approach with your feed.
Yay! I’m so pleased you feel that way too – it’s so hard not to fall into that trap of doing what everyone else is doing (and to not see how many more ‘likes’ or whatever when you post the ‘perfect’ pic) but it just feels inauthentic to me. I love knowing the people behind the feed and showing those imperfections lets me do that. No one has a perfect life so why are we trying to perpetuate that notion? xxx
You’re always a step ahead of the social media world! I hope to see Instagrammers taking this direction, at least once in a while. I have noticed when my pictures are the clearest, brightest, styled, and most “perfect” that I get the more likes and naturally I started to trend in that direction myself. However, like you said, sometimes you just want to see the “realness” in someone’s life. Photoshop doesn’t exist for life, so I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it when people share raw glimpses into their lives. I also need to be more conscious of that myself, especially considering that is how we as people connect. I remember I once did a “social test” and posted a naked face selfie just to see how people would react. Admittedly I took it down after an hour (maybe b/c the number of likes weren’t as high as I hoped ha ha). I am not ashamed of my nake face and prefer a naked face sometimes when I’m in a IDGAF mood, but I wanted to see how the Insta community would react. Anyhow, this is a great post and thanks for being so open and honest. I support your new strategy!
It’s crazy isn’t it – I think there are a lot of us bloggers who feel a bit conflicted about it. Because yes, the pretty pictures are what get the likes and yet, it’s not truly ‘real’. I think if we REALLY just wanted pretty pics and nothing else, we’d all still be just reading magazines rather than reading blogs. But it’s the humans behind the pics that makes us come back for more. And I wish I had seen the naked face pic (because you’re gorgeous and I’m sure your naked face is gorgeous) – its an interesting experiment and I hope the IG community start to realise that it’s so much nicer to have a mix of ‘real’ and ‘staged’ in their feeds! xxx
I must be honest, I try and post pretty/nice pics, because what’s the point of taking a pic of something that’s ugly? I also love that I can have my photos made into fridge magnets or little photo books which I have done recently and it’s a great little memory bank of the different moments in my life. I post photos of interiors, food, places of interest and few total flops in between, I don’t do make-up posts but that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy liking these photos. Instagram is just a fragment of our real lives, which I am sure looks totally different to the glamorous, edited photos most of us share…
I totally understand where you’re coming from – I think to a lot of people having a well-edited feed puts that brand message across so much better than having a mix. It’s a difficult one because I totally can see both sides of it! Just a shame that people can’t accept the pretty AND the imperfect as it’s really who we are as a whole person :) Thanks so much for your comment! xxx
love this post! I’ve been thinking about doing a similar post about how much Instagram has changed and how it can make it discouraging to post on there. Even being a lifestyle blogger, i struggle with making sure my Instagram posts are pretty and well lit etc and it’s soooo much work! It’s nice to be able to just post a little snippet of life that is happening at the moment but not for a whole blog post. Kudos to you for taking IG back! Ha love it.
Totally agree Jackie, it does make it discouraging to post there and I found myself not posting very often because I didn’t have enough ‘pretty’ to share! LOL! I think it’s about finding the right balance for yourself and what you feel good about. So if you want to post pics of life, then I say go for it ;) xxx
I love it! And can I just say I had absolutely no idea you were in my age bracket? I completely thought you were in your 20’s!!! I’ll be religiously checking out your IG make-up tips now! :)
Awww thanks so much Tricia! You are too sweet (20s?! I wish!! LOL!) xxx
a to the men. i keep mine as i want it… i feel pressure to have perfectly styled pretty shots every time, but it’s a slice of my life and that doesn’t feel very authentic to me either. it might not help my numbers, but i gotta be me.
Love your comment Cassie! Totally agree, I think you really need to find the right balance that feels authentic to YOU. Good on you for keeping it real! xxx
I actually am having fun styling some photos for IG and that’s why I do it. It doesn’t feel like too much work and I like doing it with sprinkling in some real life stuff here and there. Now setting up pretty food pictures would feel like awful work because I just don’t really like doing it. I love you “Cosmic Space Chola’ you look badass and I love that you don’t take yourself too serious ;)
I still love playing with makeup too. A lot.
I like sharing pretty stuff as well, genuinely! I think I’m approaching it similarly – pretty stuff when I can with a little bit of ‘real life’ thrown in there too!
And thank you for the ‘badass’ comment!! LOL! I felt pretty badass ;) hahaha xxx
I love this post. I do follow a lot of ‘styled’ Instagram accounts myself but do I ever interact with them? Not really. In fact, I’m finding myself unfollowing more often because they may have beautiful imagery but it also comes across as quite disingenuine and a little bit too “show-off” to my taste. I love to see a mix of gorgeous interiors but then more about the person behind it and their other interests to help distinguish between another brand posting a photoshoot image, and the daily life of an interesting person. I think you’ve got a great balance :)
Totally agree with you – I think my feed of people I follow is similar. Of course, I love the pretty images as much as anyone else, but I also like a bit of authentic ‘human’ thrown in there as well. None of us have a truly ‘perfect’ life and I think it’s nice to be reminded that we are all just regular people getting by. Thanks so much hun, really appreciate your support! xxx
As a fellow Hunter Gather, interiors junkie and all round *good egg* I’m feelin ya with this post, I adore beautifully styled photo’s but prefer RL, I think its way too easy for people to feel crappy about being real and dare I say it “ordinary” blogs should inspire, amuse and entertain, yours hits the nail on the head, and this is coming from a 58 year old bird !
Love n Hugz
Lyn
thelavenderbaarn.blogspot.co.uk
Ohhhhhhh elderly typo error
thelavenderbarn.blogspot.co.uk
Sorry bout dat x