I
enjoy social media; it's brilliant, clever and connects us all.
It's also terrible, toxic and at times dangerous. I know a lot of
people who go through phases of ‘detoxing’ now and again for self
care reasons, and others who have actually deleted any themselves
from every platform. Which is really quite sensible, when one thinks
about it…
But then I know folks who have made careers out of social media. This includes me. New job titles have come into being in the past few years at the most major companies and small businesses; places that suddenly need a social media presence and someone on hand to manage it. Then there are also the bloggers and ‘influencers’ (still hate that term), who are suddenly invaluable to brands and marketers, pushing products in #ad posts and live streaming comped events they’ve been invited to.
But then I know folks who have made careers out of social media. This includes me. New job titles have come into being in the past few years at the most major companies and small businesses; places that suddenly need a social media presence and someone on hand to manage it. Then there are also the bloggers and ‘influencers’ (still hate that term), who are suddenly invaluable to brands and marketers, pushing products in #ad posts and live streaming comped events they’ve been invited to.
I personally have found whole communities as well as individual friends online, over the years. To start with I was a tragic emo kid constantly switching up the autoplay music on my Myspace profile, desperate to prove I was cool and didn’t give a F*CK!!1! XD XD XD… then I became a Tumblr girl who reblogged everything from pop punk mash-ups to cute cats to the softest possible porn gifs, to moving quotes from wildly overrated YA books. I’ve also been a Facebook zombie, writing statuses in third person and stalking everyone within six degrees of separation. I’d say now I’m at my happiest as a self-professed Twitter addict, and Instagram lover.
...wait… ‘lover’ may actually be too strong a word. Yes, I am quite obsessed with this particular platform, because it satisfies my need for pretty pictures and connection with complete strangers you might share something in common with, but… do I still ‘love’ it?
Not as much as I used to, I don’t think. And that’s mostly because of what it’s become. A lot of people see it as a place to share their best photos and talk about only the good life experiences; somewhere negativity and, well, ‘real life’ isn’t welcome. This inevitably leads to envy, because you’re bound to have bad days, and when you’re under a dark cloud you’ll no doubt look on the app and see all those surrounding you supposedly living their best lives. That can be so crushing. It’s only in recent years I’ve got my head around the fact that social media – and Instagram in particular – is just a highlights reel. And you never know what's happening behind the scenes.
So
in the spirit of being real, I’ve posted a couple of times in the
past year or so with posts from my
Instagram and
captioned them, on here, completely honestly. Full disclaimer, though: this was NOT
my idea originally.
I saw the babe Hannah Witton do it once, and was inspired to give it a try myself.
So,
here are a few of my latest posts containing unseen fibs or just flat
out omissions. Enjoy…
You’d
think I’d be used to having photos taken by now, and yes, I am
almost always comfortable in front of a camera. But when these were
taken I was on the verge of burnout, and I think you can see how lost
I was when I ‘relaxed’ my face for this snap. Also,
I’m stupidly self-conscious about how much the swollen side of my
face STILL sticks out
and it’s so obvious from that angle… but then, I also weirdly
love this photo? God, that James is a good one.
I
felt a little unlike me
while having these photos taken with my beautiful pal Erin, just
because instead of the usual creative mischief we get up to (which
can involve putting up washing lines in the woods, wading through
ponds in a ballgown and stripping off awkwardly in front of her cats)
we had a specific goal in
taking these photos; to highlight a couple of things I’d been
#gifted by a brand. I feel like it would have been more natural and
fun if the items had been things I’d truly wanted... I've learned my lesson. I'll only collab with brands I know and love, in the future!
I
was low key horrified at
myself for posting a cute photo of someone I quite like, and risking
embarrassment if it didn’t work out – let alone with Taylor
lyrics in the caption that I genuinely felt related perfectly to him
and our exciting new relationship. Eww, feelings...!?
I
actually took this photo AGES ago. I know that’s often the case
with Instagram; people plan their posts weeks in
advance with barely any wiggle room for the fresher stuff, while
others simply forget and batch post later, in a frantic ‘catch up’
kinda style. Well, this was the latter (hehe). I literally scrolled
back through my camera roll, found this and thought ‘hey, that’s
cute. Why didn’t I post it?’ and posted it. Then my
Winchester-based pals were suddenly in my DMs, asking if I was still
there and why hadn’t I told them I was visiting!? Oops…
Oh
also, in the caption for this post I promised I’d be ‘relaunching
my newsletter soon’. It’s been 5 weeks, and this still has not
happened yet. Oops again.
I
wrote very honestly in the caption of this post that I was having a
bad brain day, and planned to break up the black cloud by dressing up
a bit, and going on a seafront walk. What I didn’t disclose is that
I was actually going on a… third
date,
I think it was? With
the
man who is now
my partner. And later that day, I went
back to his place for the first time… just to meet his 6 adopted
cats and have a cup of tea, obviously. Totally.
Now, let's finish with a juicy one…
Now, let's finish with a juicy one…
I
originally sent this photo to the aforementioned boyfriend, saying
‘your girlfriend felt cute, you’re welcome’. Then I realised it
was SO cute, and so #bodyposi, I had to share it with
everyone.
So,
there you have it. Some little snippets of my life behind the grid. I
hope you enjoyed, and that it maybe inspired you to be more honest
when posting about your lives, online. Comment below or tweet me with
any opinions or anecdotes or tips or ANYTHING!
I love these posts. Weirdly I think they work better as blogs than they would even if you included the "real" captions on Instagram, because we all scroll so quickly that we wouldn't read them properly in the quest to double-tap. Also the algorithm hates me and I tend to only see your latest photos when I click over after reading your blog. Which I'm about to do now.
ReplyDeleteYour boyfriend has cute arms.
xx