{Top L-R ~ Walk of shame Moscow, Rennes, JacquesMus, Caron Callahan. Bottom L-R ~ Simone Rocha, Caron Carahan, Rejina Pyo, Rachel Comey}

 

I recently executed an enormous Instagram cull and un followed about 400 people.

Big news I know but this needs to be discussed.  Like the majority of the world I found I was spending far too much time on my phone and it needed to stop. Mainly to regain the hours I lost and redirect them to watching TV instead but also because I didn’t want a really big thumb. I hear that’s a thing and I don’t need a big thumb as well as big ears.

What I came to realise is that what I was actually looking at, as I scrolled through hundreds of strangers images for hours on end, was essentially a variation of the same thing.  I obviously chose to follow similar brands as I have a certain style I like, right? Sure, That part I’m fine with. That’s simply personal taste. I like looking at houses full of plants and beautiful clothing that doesn’t look out of place on the set of Godless. I also like Streetstyle, bloggers I used to follow back in the naughties and Celine Dion {follow her and you’ll see why} The trouble is that following just one of these brands/people/pages is great to look at every once in a while. When you start to follow three or four of a similar ilk they all start to blend into one. They all seem to be influenced by each other and all seem, to me anyway, to just be posting the same thing.

Well, I’m over it. I need to see something new and something unique. I’m so bored of the monotony of these pages and their ‘same old same old’ images. I’m bored of straw hats, velvet hair ribbons, muted pastels and billowing white, cotton dresses. Of high waisted, wide legged pants and millenial pink walls. Of clay pottery, images of the ocean and gingham ruffles. Of pretty much my entire feed going to the ballet in Copenhagen all invited by and wearing the fashion brand Ganni. Don’t get me wrong I love these things. I really do but when I see them over and over again on page after page I think ‘Who started this and who’s copying who?’ ‘Why are we all posting the same thing?’ ‘Can we not think of something else?’ I understand that this life and fashion style is on trend with some people ~ Cotton workwear, white denim, black and white gingham, low heeled mules, oversized dresses, lilac, ruffles…. and if you follow Rejina Pyo, Rennes, Rachel Comey, Simone Rocha, Walk of shame Moscow, Caron Callahan you’ll see all these images simply blurred into one.  But…but…How many times do I really NEED TO SEE THE SAME IMAGES!

I have followed the humerus fashion blog Manrepeller ever since it launched, back in 2010. It was started by Leandra Medine, a journalist major who, along with a team of writers, delivers good quality journalism on predominantly fashion based subjects. I like to read the debates some pieces provoke, in the comments sections, and often enjoy waying in with my say. My latest comment however made me extremely aware of my disdain for a life spent online….which, at it’s core, means that at 39 I’m just not getting it.

Leandra wrote a piece entitled ‘How to get more Instagram likes: A theory‘ Displeased with my intrigue I clicked on it and read an article about posting selfies, which gained more likes, as opposed to posting professional pictures, which didn’t. My reply to this useless piece of information came mid my aforementioned Instagram following cull and was as follows ~

Red shoes No knickers 7 days ago

For me I’d already seen and liked the first photo in my feed so when pretty much the same image comes up I didn’t need to like it again. It wasn’t a case of one looked better than the other it’s a case of what are we actually clicking and liking pictures for? For the sake of it or because we genuinely like it? Why would you need to do that twice?

It got six likes which was interesting but it also got the following comment ~

M Rae Red shoes No knickers 7 days ago

but this brings up an interesting point about the individual like-algorithms we all house in our own heads regarding what/why we are communicating via likes…is it purely selfish (i want more of this in my feed from the content creator and similar content on my discover page) or is it support (ill like anything leandra (sic) or MR post because i want her and the brand to grow forever and ever) or is it social (i want my followers to be able to see i already liked these) etc etc….

I agree with the majority of M Rae’s statement about algorithms and why are we communicating via likes but reading ‘I’ll like anything Leandra or MR post because I want her and the brand to grow forever and ever‘ prompted me to cull even more from my Instagram page. Liking images and content that people post just for the sake of it surely isn’t helping the brand evolve? How will that brand or person learn what works and what doesn’t? If everyone is clicking like after like on the same variations of the same big sleeved white dress simply because they want the brand to succeed how will that brand know if the work they’re producing is actually good/thoughtful/sellable? Also, if you’ve seen similar images elsewhere are you still enjoying looking at it or are needing a different visual stimulation?

For me it all boils down to the following questions…other than the four questions I just posted above. What can I say, I’m confused and I need some answers. Is the problem the people/brands I’m following? Is it what they’re posting? Or how often they’re posting? Or is the real problem how often I’m looking at Instagram?

I think I know the answer and it’s the same as what it is for everything at this moment in time. It’s to put my phone down and lift my gaze. To Engage, Listen, Dream and Think. I’m tired of looking at the same old things….I’m on the hunt for something new.

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