"With the slightly desperate air of a balding man rearranging his comb-over" - what a perfect description of what these changes have felt like 😂 As always, love your grounded and thoughtful perspective Sara. I think the pressure to fit into the popular trends of Reels is what gets overwhelming for me. I'd much rather find simple ways that I can make them that fit into my own artistic style and require less effort to film, even if they don't reach as many people. I've kind of come to the decision that it doesn't matter if my IG stays small, so long as I like what I'm sharing. It has to work for me first.
One of my biggest takeaways with all the changes on the app has really been realizing that you can't put all your eggs in one basket. We don't own these apps, and as we can see they'll change them on a whim to suit their own interests and bottom line. I think it's really important to have a separate space that you own, like a personal blog or website, where you can share in whatever format works best for you. IG can then just be a way to share snippets of what you have elsewhere, so you don't feel boxed in by the format restrictions. Like you said, it's just packaging.
Ah, what a refreshing read, Sara! You always have the ability to shoot straight but in a hopeful, "let's get to work" way. Thank you for that. Looking forward to attending the class. I've already sent it to someone else and basically demanded they sign up as well because I KNOW it's going to be good.
Beautiful writing and I ABSOLUTELY agree on the gram! I’ve signed up.
I found carousels were performing better for me so instead of squeezing time into reels I do one a week for my own feel good factor and do carousels the rest of the time.
I surveyed my audience and over 70% said reels were too fast and they couldn’t focus in on the images/ message/ intent. It was a relief as I felt the same! 🗝👩🏽💻💼
I’ve signed up to the workshop and can’t wait. I have to admit to hating reels one minute and then desperately wishing I could create them like some of beautiful ones that appear in my feed.
I think we all have to be willing to evolve and to lean into creating and consuming the content we feel most aligned with. ❤️
You’ve hit the nail on the head once again Sara! 🧡 I’ve got to say, I agree with you regarding the vibe here on Substack, very much Instagram of years gone by. Your great grandmother sounds like an incredible woman 🧡🥰. Here’s to creating content that serves, calms, grounds and ensures people feel less alone and more connected 🥰
I've only just heard of substack today and I'm trying to work out what this all is! It feels very much like the blogging days preceding Instagram!! Already, after only reading a couple of 'posts' (??), I've somehow found you- who I have lost touch of on Instagram- but remember from the earliest of Instagram days when we were friends and you had that very exciting instagram feature. I'm so intrigued!!
Just to say, I really enjoyed the workshop! I never hated reels the way many people do, but I do resent the time they take as a self-employed creative who has a million balls to keep in the air. The other day, I put up a reel of myself working with my cat and it got over 100k views in a few minutes, unheard of by my standards! But truly it didn't mean that much to me in the end, it was nice, but I don't need likes and high view numbers. I stay with Instagram for the true connections, the creativity. What motivates me is to be of help or inspiration to people with my content, not flash videos that go viral quickly but get forgotten just as quickly later on.
I’ve watched your Reels Workshop twice ( thanks for all the tips) and what I gleaned from it, as well as from your podcast about “ why niching is bad” is that it’s OK to just to be yourself, your wild self and it’s OK to resist and rebel against the pressure to have to put yourself in a box. How liberating!! Thank you so much!
I’ve been wrestling against this notion of having to choose one thing to focus on and reluctant to discard all the other important parts that make up my complex creative self. I now feel free to shine my light in the world any old way I want, and no, I will not be pressured into labelling and boxing in my gender identity either.
P.S. I also am in love with your idea of sharing glimpses of tiny moments and leaving stories unfinished…
The bit about your great grandmother not having a voice really got me .Great article Sara. I think I can get into reels, you can still write a longer caption and I’m happy to focus more on using my phone rather than lugging the SLR that I convinced myself was a better choice.
"With the slightly desperate air of a balding man rearranging his comb-over" - what a perfect description of what these changes have felt like 😂 As always, love your grounded and thoughtful perspective Sara. I think the pressure to fit into the popular trends of Reels is what gets overwhelming for me. I'd much rather find simple ways that I can make them that fit into my own artistic style and require less effort to film, even if they don't reach as many people. I've kind of come to the decision that it doesn't matter if my IG stays small, so long as I like what I'm sharing. It has to work for me first.
One of my biggest takeaways with all the changes on the app has really been realizing that you can't put all your eggs in one basket. We don't own these apps, and as we can see they'll change them on a whim to suit their own interests and bottom line. I think it's really important to have a separate space that you own, like a personal blog or website, where you can share in whatever format works best for you. IG can then just be a way to share snippets of what you have elsewhere, so you don't feel boxed in by the format restrictions. Like you said, it's just packaging.
Ah, what a refreshing read, Sara! You always have the ability to shoot straight but in a hopeful, "let's get to work" way. Thank you for that. Looking forward to attending the class. I've already sent it to someone else and basically demanded they sign up as well because I KNOW it's going to be good.
Beautiful writing and I ABSOLUTELY agree on the gram! I’ve signed up.
I found carousels were performing better for me so instead of squeezing time into reels I do one a week for my own feel good factor and do carousels the rest of the time.
I surveyed my audience and over 70% said reels were too fast and they couldn’t focus in on the images/ message/ intent. It was a relief as I felt the same! 🗝👩🏽💻💼
I’ve signed up to the workshop and can’t wait. I have to admit to hating reels one minute and then desperately wishing I could create them like some of beautiful ones that appear in my feed.
I think we all have to be willing to evolve and to lean into creating and consuming the content we feel most aligned with. ❤️
This is brilliant, thank you Sara! The story about your great grandmother really puts things into perspective - incredible.
You’ve hit the nail on the head once again Sara! 🧡 I’ve got to say, I agree with you regarding the vibe here on Substack, very much Instagram of years gone by. Your great grandmother sounds like an incredible woman 🧡🥰. Here’s to creating content that serves, calms, grounds and ensures people feel less alone and more connected 🥰
Thanks for this Sara. Perspective is everything. ❤️
Love this ❤️ I'm at the point now where I barely post anything anymore, really need a kick up the insta arse! Looking forward to the Reels zoom!
I've only just heard of substack today and I'm trying to work out what this all is! It feels very much like the blogging days preceding Instagram!! Already, after only reading a couple of 'posts' (??), I've somehow found you- who I have lost touch of on Instagram- but remember from the earliest of Instagram days when we were friends and you had that very exciting instagram feature. I'm so intrigued!!
Just to say, I really enjoyed the workshop! I never hated reels the way many people do, but I do resent the time they take as a self-employed creative who has a million balls to keep in the air. The other day, I put up a reel of myself working with my cat and it got over 100k views in a few minutes, unheard of by my standards! But truly it didn't mean that much to me in the end, it was nice, but I don't need likes and high view numbers. I stay with Instagram for the true connections, the creativity. What motivates me is to be of help or inspiration to people with my content, not flash videos that go viral quickly but get forgotten just as quickly later on.
I’ve watched your Reels Workshop twice ( thanks for all the tips) and what I gleaned from it, as well as from your podcast about “ why niching is bad” is that it’s OK to just to be yourself, your wild self and it’s OK to resist and rebel against the pressure to have to put yourself in a box. How liberating!! Thank you so much!
I’ve been wrestling against this notion of having to choose one thing to focus on and reluctant to discard all the other important parts that make up my complex creative self. I now feel free to shine my light in the world any old way I want, and no, I will not be pressured into labelling and boxing in my gender identity either.
P.S. I also am in love with your idea of sharing glimpses of tiny moments and leaving stories unfinished…
The bit about your great grandmother not having a voice really got me .Great article Sara. I think I can get into reels, you can still write a longer caption and I’m happy to focus more on using my phone rather than lugging the SLR that I convinced myself was a better choice.