Hello Lovelies! My blogging life lately can be pretty much summed up by two words, Writer's Block hence why things have been on the quiet side around these parts. Oddly enough despite the fact that I've had all the free time in the world, I can't for the life of me write anything, and yet when I'm busy I write more than ever but hey that's a rant for another day. Recently I decided that I wanted to try and improve my Instagram, because whilst being one of my favourite forms of social media, I've never really felt proud of my feed or liked it. So I thought I'd try doing my own Instagram theme, to see if it changed anything or if it was just a waste of time and effort.
Throughout my blogging journey I've always gone for bold colours, and even borders around my photos at one point so I wanted to try something a bit prettier and cuter that would really match the 'brand' of my blog. As well as that I decided to keep my activity similar, eg. posting similar amounts and interacting as I normally would to see what really changes when you switch to an Instagram theme *cue dramatic music*.
This is what happened when I tried an Instagram theme for a month...
1. I Gained More Followers
Before starting my theme I was stuck in a frustrating limbo of hitting 500 followers, then losing followers then popping back up to 500 again. It's a well known blogger truth that as soon as you celebrate a milestone, you lose a follower or two and then want to crawl under a rock out of embarrassment. But after using an Instagram theme for a month I've seen a growth of 50+ followers, which whilst on the small side is more than double of what I usually gain a month.
2. I Spent More Time On My Instagram Photos
When you really start paying attention to your theme, you start to get a little bit picky and honestly a bit frustrated. Suddenly photos aren't the right shade of white, and you find yourself taking about 50 photos of one thing in an attempt to find the perfect one. But whilst this is time consuming, I actually found that it's brought out my creative side and I've loved finding things to use in photos and really trying to achieve a certain look. So yes time consuming, but honestly pretty fun too.
3. I'm Prouder Of My Feed
Looking at my feed today, I've actually never been happier with it. As a lover of all things cute and girly, I really feel like my feed reflects who I am and what I love and I'm actually quite proud of it. And because I'm having so much fun with it I've even started posting more selfies which if you know me is a big deal, I'm super camera shy.
So you're probably wondering now whether you should start one of those controversial Instagram themes (if you haven't already) and honestly my answer is it's up to you. If you try an Instagram theme and you have fun with it, then that's great but if you feel restricted by the idea of it then don't because that's no fun at all. The most important thing is that your Instagram reflects what you want it to be, and that you enjoy doing it because ultimately that will shine through in your feed.
Thanks for reading lovelies! Have you ever tried an Instagram theme?
This was really interesting to read, they seem like a lot more work but maybe they are worth it!
ReplyDeletemoremindfulyou.blogspot.com
You got so many positive things out of having a theme, that's great! I also feel like when you stick to a theme, you put more work in the whole photography process and you end up prouder of your feed. After all, it's a public photography feed, so working on it almost feels like working on our blogs. It's hard to stick to a theme though, I still struggle with it haha.
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Last post: Bloggers vs. Perfection | http://juliaspeaksbeauty.blogspot.fr/2016/07/perfection-is-just-concept.html
Your Instagram definitely looks worth the time, it's really pretty! I've kind of got a theme as most of my photos look similar but I don't go out of my way to achieve it, just a little bit of editing. I also really agree with your third point of being prouder, I feel te same about mine now to be honest! Lovely post! xx
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I have to admit, I did notice and I think your grid is looking so dreamy because of it! I'm toying with a theme at the moment - this is really encouraging! x
ReplyDeleteMartha Jane | www.marthajaneedwards.com
Ah sounds like you got amazing results from using a theme! Since using a theme I've been so much prouder of my feed too, and now I quite obsessively plan it out using VSCO to make sure all of my photos look good together before I hit 'Share'. Posting selfies is a massive deal for me too as I always find faults with mine, so it's definitely encouraging reading that it's made you want to post more - thanks for sharing this :) x
ReplyDeleteCharlotte's Road
i really like your new feed and I agree it takes so much time which is why I dont have a theme, I post whatever I like :)
ReplyDeletePam xo/ Pam Scalfi♥
I love your instagram! I show it off to people who don't know what a theme is, I hadn't realised it was a recent change. I've been trying a vague theme recently and it has definitely helped with my follower count.
ReplyDeleteJess - jessandjoshcook.com xx
I love it so much and I actually stalk it now... oops
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I find there are definitely positives and negatives - i know for me i end up deleting photos as perfectionism gets in the way TOO much, but i do love being proud of it! When soneome comments "i love your feed/photos" i feel really happy. As i want to improve my photography, it is a nice endorsement. Ultimately my IG is part of my blog, which is a bit like a job! So it's nice to get recognition and feel happy :) what filters do you use? I'm using Photoscape more, but really like Arden on IG!
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