Why I won't make it as an influencer

Mo followers Mo problems

Why was I reluctant to gain followers?

The first thing they advise you once you've created an Instagram account is to seek followers to build a community. So when I launched my Instagram account, I automatically started to search for followers but then I stopped instantly. Was it really a will or was it a behavior induced by people? It was more of behavior induced by people than a will. Don't get me wrong, I know the importance of building a community on Instagram. But you have to let time runs its course...When you start on Instagram, I don't think that it is a good idea to build a community yet. Because the beginning should be a place where you can get to know what is best for you in terms of mood, pictures, focus...You need to be able to experiment with things, new things to get to know where you feel at your ease. Having no or few followers provides you a kind of liberty you need to do all these things. This is your moment. Your moment to let your creativity speaks out, out of any pressure. The question is  If you don't have any followers or a few, how will you know if your creativity has any resonance? Well, promoting your posts could help a lot. Promoting different types of posts could help you to meet your audience. You will be able to know the sex, the age, the city of your audience. This is a treasure. Knowledge is power. You will be able to make some adjustments if it's needed to meet your target then your community. Don't neglect this opportunity. And if it has to take you one, two, three months even a year, just take it. 

Be your first follower!

Actually, this is the best part for me so far. I felt free to think, to mature my project. I don't regret any time without searching for followers. I used this time to push my creativity, to take risks, to refine my positioning. This is how I kept the idea of shooting in unexpected places. Shooting infamous places that everybody knows is a way to get visibility, engagement quickly throughout hashtags, the interest people are sharing for those places...Unfortunately, doing so doesn't bring something new to the crew. You need to choose whether you want to be like anybody else or you want to distinguish yourself. For me, it took more than a year. To think but also I had a full-time job that required me to work a lot despite my hobbies. It made me a little sad...Now I'm learning to schedule my time and not to leave my hobbies behind for any kind of job. Anyway, getting free of the number of followers is a blessing. You can ignore any lost follower without being sick in your stomach. Because the reason behind the launch of an Instagram account should primarily be for personal reasons,  you should be your first follower. Just have fun. Just try. Do what you love to do as long as you can 'cause having a community is like living as a couple, you need to compromise. The problems start when compromise becomes compromising. 

You don't need to be connected to actually be connected

Have you ever found yourself taking hundreds of pictures to get the perfect shot to post on Instagram? Have you ever anticipated a place to go, a meal or an outfit to get likes or great comments or just because you have seen it on Instagram? Yes, you have. All of us have. You don't need to be an influencer to have dealt with that. This is how it works. This is how social media impacts all of us. You don't need to be connected to actually be connected. Your plans, your behavior, your actions, your moments of life are linked to it. Based on sharing, Instagram has got all of us sharing. Before you had postcards, now you have Instagram. Before you had a photo album, now you have Instagram. Before you had a story to tell, now you have your story on Instagram. And it's completely free. It became the simplest easy way to share everything with your loved ones, your acquaintances and more. Everything you do want to share has a mind for Instagram. Even when you don't, It always there, somewhere, on your mind. 

Don't let an algorithm controls your life!

If what consumes your mind, controls your life, then Instagram definitely controls your life. Having a bunch of followers might seem exciting at first but then starts to be a little cranky. Having many followers means having a community. A community which has a word to say on what you post (read some of the comments below any post to understand what I am talking about here), likes or dislikes what you post (hopefully likes will soon disappear on every post), supports or gives you up ( the number of followers is there to tell you so)... And this is so stressful. People who are actually doing it as a full-time job are putting themselves enduring stress every time they post something. If they tell you no, they are lying to you. How do you think they earn money? So everything they do must be in the adequation of their community wants needs. This is how you get trapped on this manipulative social media. You post things you like on this social media to start. You build a community. Once you have a community, you have to post what your community likes. And what your community likes is not necessarily what you like or want to post. And yep, this how compromise becomes compromising. You want to please yourself but you have to please themselves. Imagine a world when everything you do has to be liked by lots of individuals to be relevant... Every change, outfit, place has to be peered at. Every choice has to be discussed. I mean when do you stop being you to become the "you" they want you to be? Or the "you"  you think you should be? How could you evolve the same way than thousands, millions of people? I am so happy not having to face this kind of problematics yet. 

Sharing is not showing, sharing is living!

For now, I just want to do something that I love and share. Nothing more, nothing less. I am trying to find a balance between what I want to share, what I should share and what I want to keep for myself. And most important how I could distance myself from social media to simply enjoy moments of life. Sharing is not showing. Sharing is enjoying. Sharing is enjoying moments. Sharing is living out of any pressure, any pressure to get a perfect shot, any connected app, any smartphone. So I decided to have a healthy relationship with social media. I chose to choose when I would have a moment I would like to share and when I would just have a moment.