Growing a following on Instagram (or anywhere!) can sometimes feel exhausting. After a lot of work, I finally hit 500 Instagram followers. It may not seem like a lot, but this has been my goal for a few years, so it’s satisfying to finally achieve it. Since joining Instagram in December 2012, I made a few mistakes and learned a few lessons along the way that I’d like to share. Here are my 3 Instagram tips to help you grow:
It’s amazing to see how Netflix transformed a classic book series into a modern TV series catered to Gen Z that’s still appealing to the millennial crowd who grew up with Ann M. Martin’s books. Watching The Baby-Sitters Club series is way better than how I experienced the movie on VHS in the 90’s. The movie was about them organizing a camp and I disliked the last two episodes set at camp.
Everything about The Baby-Sitters Club has improved, especially their style. For example, when Claudia puts on a preppy outfit to get ready for a quiz, she describes her look as “Ruth Bader Ginsburg chic”. Within a few episodes, I also spotted Claudia in red pants!
Breaking my ankle forced me to change which shoes I wear at home. I tried cute, furry slippers as a kid, but always abandoned them. In the last 10 years or so, I’ve worn Old Navy flip flops around the apartment nonstop. I’ve alternated different pairs and love my royal blue ones.
Yes, I’m aware that flip flops are bad for you. I’ve seen them ridiculed in many articles, but I ignored the comments and slipped them on at home daily. The only time I regretted wearing them was when I visited Madame Tussauds in Las Vegas.
I’ve been on a mission to build a powerful archive of my own pictures. I don’t always know what I’m taking or saving them for, but I’ve always had a feeling they would be helpful someday. That I would have the right picture for the right moment.
When the COVID-19 pandemic happened and we were all told to stay home, I didn’t want to be insensitive to my audience. It didn’t seem like the right time to do photo shoots for Instagram. So, I started posting throwbacks. Not baby photos, but throwbacks within the last 5-10 years from my camera. It seemed like the perfect time to take advantage of my archive.
The picture of Jessica Mulroney and I that I posted on the day of her series premiere? Taken 2 years ago. I posted 3 more latergrams before I posted a new frozen snack I discovered. I heated up SuperPretzels in the toaster oven and put them under good lighting on a red paper plate. Ta da, new post!
It seems like the white heart emoji is popping up everywhere, so I decided to poll my followers. Although only one person responded on Twitter, it’s clear they’re not a fan. Meanwhile on Instagram, 88% said they like it, which was based on a larger sample of 17 people. This poll also had more engagement on Instagram than all of my previous polls, so my followers were eager to say how much they love it.
The white heart emoji was added to iOS 13.2 at the end of October 2019. New emojis are released every year, but it’s usually harder to tell which ones become immediately popular.