It’s a love & highly dislike relationship… me and Instagram.

It’s a love & highly dislike relationship… me and Instagram.

10 things I love about Instagram:

1. Creative outlet
2.  Inspires me
3. Learned how to style photographs
4.  Learned more about photography than I ever imagined
5. I have met people from all over the world I would never would have met otherwise
6.  I have collaborated with brands and been given opportunities I never imagined I’d be given
7. I made a goal to reach 10k following for no other reason than to say I did for social media experience. And I met my goal. I am proud of myself.
8. It’s a collection of photographs. I really love photos!
9. Always room to grow (if you view the platform like a business which I do) I can challenge myself to make new goals.
10.   The people who follow and leave me sweet comments, words of encouragement. They are the best part about Instagram!

 10 things I highly dislike (because the word hate should never have been created) about Instagram:

1. Comparison (it’s the thief of joy) you have all heard that quote and it is true. Comparison is an ugly word and act!
2. #9 above in the “I love” section also falls in the “I highly dislike” section too because its easy to be hard on yourself (and that’s not always good)
3. People feel the right to say whatever they want to others. That’s not okay and hurtful.
4. You can be who you want to be. That’s a great thing! But also a difficult thing as I wonder if feeds are often times a lie (as in its not really someone’s life if that makes sense)
5. I only want to post the pretty, good photos. Hard to post the icky photos.
6. On my android I could see the specific following count (I now have an IPhone so I can’t see) but I would get sad when I’d post a photo and lose 15 followers. It was a sick game!
7. It’s a time sucker (I let it! It’s my own fault!)
8. If you are “good enough” you can participate in “liketoknow.it” etc. I on the other hand was rejected and I still disagree with that decision. I really think that anyone who wants to participate in an app like that should have the opportunity as I want to link items feature in my photographs for all of you
9. Doesn’t have a smooth feature in the edits
10. It’s an amazing hobby but hard sometimes to find balance with the other areas of my life (my full time job, relationships etc.)