That One Time I was Insta-Famous

About 6 weeks ago, I became a Suggested User on Instagram.  Being a Suggested User is somewhat of a social media accolade. Instagram sends an email about how much they love your account and your unique point of view and that they find your Instagrams, as well as the way you conduct yourself, to be what they want to see more of from their community members. So your account is suggested to new users when they sign up, and is higher visibility for the run of your feature. Of course it wasn't until three weeks after my feature that I received said notification, so I was a bit confused and conflicted while the whole thing was happening.

It was a Thursday, and I was putting my son down for a nap when I logged on to my favorite hobby/photo-sharing app to find a notification:  'Instagram started following you.'  Over the next two weeks, my followers list grew from just over 2300 to 32-thousand.  Everyday, the number kept growing until the day Instagram un-followed my account and I was left with a large following of new accounts and slightly confused. It became very hard to monitor the new accounts that were joining me and not all of those accounts are benign.  There's a lot of weird stuff out there.  In an attempt to try to screen new followers... I saw a couple penises (insert shocked-face emojji.)  You read that right. I saw wangs. (And reported them!)

A week later, this Direct Message (along with the aforementioned email) came:

I think I would have "enjoyed" the whole feature experience had I known that's what it was, for sure.  I also could have blocked the entire thing all together or have made my account private, but I didn't.  I went ahead and let it go, just to see what would happen.  There were a few well meaning suggestions that I not expose my children, and I thought it over and decided that I cannot make decisions based in fear. I am a protective, cautious mother.  None of my photos are geo-tagged.  I am thoughtful of my kids safety.    

Truth be told, I follow a few accounts on Instagram (some who are also mothers who share photos of their kids) that I admire who have large followings and have wondered what it would be like to have such and audience or whatever, and I still wonder what that's like. Gaining a Suggested User following is kind of a bit of tease.  The (lack) interaction of my followers with the photos I share actually makes me feel kind of crappy.  Hilarious, right?!  I've actually pulled up the calculator app on my phone and run numbers on the likes/followers percentage, and it's a fraction of a fraction of the reception that I see others with similar followings receive.  It's not about quantity.  It's not about the numbers but I can't not see that there is disproportion. I'm certainly not ungrateful for having been selected, though.  It did bring me joy, but I desire quality interactions, and am super grateful for those who are still with me and to those who have supported me and continue to encourage my growth as a photographer and human being.  

None of this is a big deal, or of any real consequence.  Instagram is not a big deal.  Blogging and making posts on social media are not a big deal, but how I feel about it is a big deal; to me. Recently, I have been feeling a lack of permission (from myself) to be myself.  I'm over thinking it, and I'd like to shed the excess number of "followers" and get back to doing my thing.  I won't lie, It'd be neat if my readership and following continues to develop and I connect with real people who share my interests or who are brought joy by the images I capture, and lifestyle that we cultivate around here. It's fun to share ideas and to be inspired by one another.  On the other hand,  it's just not fun when you feel like you are being watched by a virtual peanut gallery of thirty thousand and it feels like no one "likes" your stuff, even though there are hundreds that do.  I hate that that is even something I've spent any time thinking about.

After the initial surge, the number of followers and likes have steadily decreased (I've also gained some very quality new connections that I hope to keep, however- which is so great!)  There is a part of me that was hoping things would turn around and that the number at the top of my Profile page would get me noticed by the accounts that I admire, but that's just ridiculous. I don't think that my followers number should be a means for validation.

When you have your account rebuilt by IG Exorcist (which is the third party site that is culling all of my inactive followers on Instagram at this very moment) you are given a list to review (in my case 24,892) of followers who have not interacted with your account in so many months days.  The first several pages of the almost 25 thousand inactive followers were all usernames that were numbers-- totally Not legit profiles... which leads me to feel pretty good about this choice. 

IG Exorcist is a free, independent service operated by a guy (who has a beautiful Instagram account and a very quality following) that removes ghost followers. All I did was log on, had a report run on my account, then agreed to have the inactive followers removed- I think they can only remove 80 an hour or so, so my account will return to a smaller, more connected "following" by the weekend, and I'm happy about that. (There were a few emails exchanged, and I had a good reference from a former blogger who had her account rebuilt recently as well, and feel assured that all those who I want to stay will not be blocked) 

So, why am I even sharing this? 

  

Probably because I'm proud of myself. They say that outside of Motherhood, you should have something for yourself. Instagram is one such Hobby for me right now. I'm proud that I was an Instagram Suggest User! It's quite the compliment! And I'm proud of myself for making this choice- to choose quality over quantity.  And mostly I want to document that it happened! So I can look back and be like, "Remember that one time when I was Insta-famous for a couple of weeks."

xo