How I've Kept Instagram a Positive Part of My Life
I'm not giving up yet.
Four years ago, I wrote a post on my Instagram habits. In that post, I also shared that I despaired a bit over all the air time we (collectively) were giving to the question of how to engage with social media. It seemed to me that we were spending far too much time thinking and talking about it, that it wasn’t worth that much of our time and attention.
I still believe that. But as the platform has continued to evolve, it’s also become clear that we do need to share what’s working if we want to try and retain the good in it. Because for me, there is still good in it — enough that I don’t want to throw in the towel altogether.
(If you do want to — or have already — thrown in the towel, I sincerely respect that. There are excellent reasons for doing so.)
If you’re still logged in with me, though, I thought I’d share a quick list of eight ways I’ve kept Instagram1 as a value-add in my life. Spoiler alert! They mostly boil down to this: actively choose rather than passively consume.
Snaps from my private account
1. I’ve named why I consume and why I create. This is what that looks like for me:
As I consume: I want to get little peeks into my friends’ worlds, especially those I don’t see often, and I want to learn from a select handful of women I admire, most of whom have kids in a stage slightly ahead of mine.
As I create: On my public account, I want to share the goodness, truth, and beauty of a life spent following Jesus, and winsomely invite folks to join me here or at Em for Marvelous, where I feel I can provide the most value. On my private account, I want to share my family’s adventures with extended family and very close friends.
Naming your why doesn’t have to be fancy. Just sit for a few minutes, maybe with a pen and piece of paper in hand, and write out some thoughts about why you like using Instagram, and how you hope to use it. Once you’ve got something that feels right, use it as a guide for some of the next steps.