Musings from an Ordinary midlife

Subtle faintly pleasant music plays, a woman wafts into the frame holding a vase with a spray of tall branches, she doesn’t speak or turn to the camera. She places the vase on her marble kitchen counter. The music continues, serenely plinking its way through the scene. Next to the vase, an object is placed - no one can tell quite what it is but it looks “right”, a candle is lit. She drifts off out of shot.

Scroll.

Looking down. Hands slicing, chopping, dicing, food tumbling into a bowl. And then something being spread on a toasted piece of bread. Chop. Chop. Smear. Drizzle. The up close sound of food. We’re so close to the action I have to turn the phone volume down.

Scroll.

Pop music plays in time to interior photographs which flash by rhythmically so fast you can’t actually take in anything you’ve seen. You play it again to try and see that second image that appeared in the montage, the one that looks lovely. Oh crap. Its gone in a nano second. Watch again. Try and use your finger on the screen to stop the action. Nope. Missed it again. Damn, this house and the interiors look lovely. I’d love all this manic switching of images to stop.

Oh well. Scroll.

Cheesy fun music plays (but I can’t hear it because I turned my phone volume down when the ASMR video was playing). I know there is music because the person on screen is looking bemused and pointing at words that are appearing on the screen. Point, words. Point, words. Wry smile. Point words. Shake of the head with both hands palm up and slight shrug of the shoulder to conclude. I couldn't catch the meaning because it was going by pretty fast and I was distracted trying to watch the person pointing and reading the words simultaneously.

Scroll.

A photograph of a delicious looking dessert beautifully styled. I stop to look at it and read the caption which is witty with a hint of a storytelling and a recipe attached - I like it and save it to my ‘recipes’ folder because it looks like it might be good for when I next have friends over.

Scroll.

That song that I just heard a few posts ago is back again. A stylish man places an object on a bookcase, he goes out of frame and finds another object to place and then in a blink of an eye (and a trick of editing) the whole bookcase has been styled, before the video gets to its end I…

Close the app.

And am left wanting. I’m sure I used to enjoy Instagram more than this. Didn’t I?

Depending on the accounts you follow, the above scroll through Instagram will be familiar - if not in the food and interiors genre, then a version of it for whichever topics interest you. Instagram’s move towards video has gathered significant speed in the last year and our feeds are increasingly video posts. It does not come as news to anyone that Instagram’s move towards video is a result of trying to compete with Tik Tok - the relative new kid on the block that has racked up audiences with lightening pace. It makes sense. The Instagram execs have surmised from the rise of Tik Tok that everyone loves video - that video is the future and still photography or simply words alone will no longer capture our attention. But I beg to differ. In pushing video with a change to their algorithm, Instagram has forced creators of all kinds to dream up video content where it doesn’t naturally fit - because it’s been made clear that if you’re not creating video on Instagram, you won’t be seen. I take my hat off to every account that has yielded to this algorithmic change and is creating video (don’t hate the player, hate the game) because they’re putting in time and effort to create these videos and doing what they have to. Feeding the ravenous beast that is social media.

a quick trip down memory lane

I joined Instagram in 2014. It was a pretty loose time in social media. Facebook was still the dominant channel with Instagram its up and coming cooler cousin. People posted nice photos and somewhat entertaining captions. There wasn’t a plethora of professional images or captions that had been expertly crafted by copy writers and it wasn’t yet a place for businesses. There was no such thing as a personal or business account and there wasn’t any advertising. I started my Instagram account alongside launching the Lottie blog. I would write one blog article a week and would post that on my Instagram and capture one or two other ordinary things in my week- #cornerofmyhome #butfirstcoffee were big trending hashtags so I was probably taking my cues from that.

a move towards the curated feed and professional looking content

This looseness didn’t last long. By around 2015 the curated feed had become de rigueur. Users of Instagram would scroll through their chronologically organised feed, see an image they liked and then click through to the account to explore what other content the account had to offer. This meant that having a feed that looked visually appealing was pretty important. You wanted any potential followers to, at a glance, understand your brand, like it and follow you. I love things being aesthetically pleasing so I was quite happy with this new direction - and I still hang on to this in my feed now, even though it’s a completely lame thing to do these days. (This whole article would indicate I’m not moving with the times).

The rise of the hashtag strategy also became important. Users would visit a hashtag to find content that interested them so being at the top of the hashtag search was key to finding new followers. There were no Instagram stories, or carousels, or shopping, or links, or gifs. There was just a move towards really high quality (often professional) photographs and clever, interesting, engaging captions. People spent time liking posts. And they commented too. It was a place to be social. I made some really lovely contacts during this time with accounts all over the world who I still chat to today. But it was the beginning of the end. The purely fun aspect of Instagram was dwindling - by the time Stories and Carousels were introduced and even more content had to be produced each day, “Instagramming” had become a time consuming aspect to any small or large business. But as business owners, we had become hooked. Instagram actually worked. Yes, it took time, but the effort you spent crafting imagery and words helped to drive and grow your business and Instagram gave you the chance to really connect with your audience - to get to know them and vice versa. And I think this is partly what has changed. The effort required now doesn’t always seem to have the pay-off to match the output because your audience just might not see anything you share anymore. Or they simply might have ‘content viewing’ exhaustion, having looked at so much content they no longer react to any of it.

don’t stop now, just keep creating - and make it video while you’re at it

Creating any kind of content for social media is a huge undertaking. Most small businesses are not equipped to create engaging video content multiple times a week. And so it is not surprising at all that many accounts have (sensibly) found solutions - something that is formulaic and possibly a repost straight from Tik Tok. If setting up your iPhone in the corner of the kitchen and filming yourself gliding in with a vase of flowers and then finding some stock music to put to it will suffice, then job done. Because tomorrow you’re going to need to do it all over again. And again.

But even when following a formula many of these videos will have taken so much more time that you can imagine. There may be multiple takes to get it right, a trip to the flower markets, an outfit change, maybe some hair and make up considerations. Then taking the footage, finding the music, editing it all together and finally posting it. What is most heartbreaking is that the video is over within seconds and the speed of which we all scroll and consume content now means that most likely we will bypass it without even really watching it or taking it in. We will barely register which account has posted it and we are probably unlikely to engage with it. Plus because it follows a formula, we feel like we’ve seen it all before. The same can be said for all forms of content these days so some of these observations are just as apt to still photography too. It’s just generally hard to keep inventing engaging content daily - video or otherwise - and all content takes some measure of time to get right.

an argument for why videos on instagram are less engaging than photos

Put aside for a moment the creator, crafting endless content, and let’s turn our attention to the audience. I would wager it is harder to engage with the video format. Instagram’s differentiating factor is engagement - it crushes other social media platforms when you look at the metric of engagement, which is why it has remained so popular. It’s the engagement angle that makes it so fun and so useful for businesses trying to speak with their audience and for users who are looking to be part of a community. Some videos move so fast that often no discernible value can be derived from them. It just becomes flashing images moving across a phone screen which is also moving because you are in the midst of scrolling. It’s like nothing stops. Everything on hyper speed. Which is why engaging with it becomes hard. For this reason I feel that photography still has so much to offer on Instagram. The still image is like a breath of fresh air. A moment to stop. To soak in and enjoy something that someone has created and shared. Coupled with a caption that makes you laugh, or gets you thinking, or in some way imparts value through knowledge, or starts a conversation with your community, and you have the Instagram of old. A place where people feel they have the time to stop, comment and like. A place to be social.

equality for all content

Of course there is a place for videos on Instagram - and I have noticed that since the introduction of videos about a year ago, the quality and creativeness of videos is getting better and better each day which is lovely to see. My argument is that I don’t believe Instagram accounts should all be shoved down the same conveyor belt of content creation. What would be ideal, is an algorithm that ignores the medium of the content and instead focuses on delivering all content. Over the summer I was one of the unlucky accounts to have the new video look rolled out on my feed. It was not good. The background to the app was black and still image posts scrolled upwards under your finger with a black sheer overlay applied so that the caption would scroll up over the image as you moved your finger. It was disorientating and not enjoyable. It really meant you couldn’t see the image at all. This Instagram test was swiftly brought to an end when the likes of Kim Karadashian et al complained publicly about how terrible it was. Instagram sensibly back pedalled on the roll out but also indicated that video was the future and changes were inevitable. It seems extraordinary when the audience that the platform serves is asking to have it go back to how it used to be, they continue to forge ahead with the video angle. Obviously I can’t see the data behind their decision, but I would guess that social media users would probably be quite happy to have Tik Tok and Instagram be different platforms rather than becoming one same-y experience. From a content creator point of view, it would be nice to be able to craft content in a variety of formats without worrying about reach. Under this scenario I think you would get the best of all content creation - great photos, clever videos - and an Instagram audience that felt happy to hang out on the platform again.

what is the solution for content creators?

When it comes to social media, I think we should all pursue the mix that feels most comfortable for our skills, budget and time whilst also considering our audiences’ preferences too. Yes, Instagram may downgrade how many people see your posts if you don’t include video, but if you don’t have a point to make with your videos then creating them is just noise and a waste of time. It may be “seen” by more viewers but the key question is, are those viewers taking the kind of steps you want them to after they’ve watched? Blindly creating content to satisfy Instagram’s algorithm will not necessarily help build a genuine following or support your business. If anything, you may find that it detracts and ultimately takes from your business as the time you spend crafting videos might have been better spent communicating with your audience in another way. In general a good rule of thumb when creating content for a business is to ask yourself does it… entertain / inform / or educate? If it doesn’t do one of these three then it’s probably not going to engage your audience.

what is the answer for users?

After the debacle over summer when my feed became exclusively video, I took the time to indicate to Instagram the accounts that I actually wanted to see. I added to my ‘favourites’ a bunch of accounts that produce beautiful and thought provoking posts. These are what I love most and want to see. Since taking this step, the random video posts in my feed have significantly reduced and I am back to seeing more of what I love. So, if you want to see a particular type of content or specific account, I can recommend this as a strategy to take some control back with your feed.

For me, in terms of video creation, I am undecided. For the past year I have felt unable to keep on top of social media full stop so I am not going to add more to my plate just now (after 8 years of posting on social media I think I hit exhaustion last year and ran out of ideas). I can slowly feel a little creativity creeping back in, but let’s see. I like to give myself leeway on these things and not force it. If I do create videos, I will try and think about what you might find genuinely useful, or amusing or engaging in some way.

I’d love to know your thoughts on my musings above. Do you love videos on Instagram? Which ones do you love best? (I think I love the ‘talking to camera’ and ‘how to’ videos best - especially when the content has lots of value for me - think fashion styling, beauty and fitness). If you are a content creator or business owner, how are you coping with creating video for your business? And do you think it’s working?