I mentioned that Instagram is the social media platform I’m probably most obsessed with, so I decided to conduct my project by creating a new account.
Background: Instagram is typically used as a way to connect with friends, family, and influencers by following them and getting a glimpse into their life via pictures and captions. You can like pictures, post your own pictures, create stories and even save a picture you like to your collection (only you can see this). More often than not, a user will usually only follow people they know along with a few accounts they’re interested in (celebrities, fashion lines, lifestyle accounts, etc.). They get likes based on their followers and like pictures with content that interest them.
Problem: Sometimes I catch myself scrolling through Instagram without being genuinely interested in any of the content because its either irrelevant or posted by a distant friend I’ve lost touch with. And while the mainstream use of Instagram has been similar to Facebook in the sense that you follow people you know and post pictures that you hope will get likes by your followers (aka friends), I started to wonder what it would be like if you used Instagram solely for it’s picture taking/editing properties.
Question: What if you used Instagram purely for your own satisfaction and as a platform to archive pictures that are important to you? What if you didn’t want to follow anyone? What if you wanted to search certain content when you were only in the mood and save it to your collection if you like it? What if you didn’t want to be subject to the posting algorithm of Instagram and your followers? Ultimate Question: If you created an Instagram account and used it in a “Pinterest” manner by not following anyone and only searching content that interests you, would it still be a social media site? Or in other words, would it still connect you with people by means of followers and likes?
Plan: to create a food account, in which I won’t follow a single account or like any other pictures. What I will do however, is search food related content and save it to my collection and post 4 pictures of food each of the three days. To keep things semi-interesting, in the captions of my posts I will include relevant hashtags that relate to the picture. I will also keep my account public instead of private. What outcomes am I looking for? Im curious to see if my account receives any followers or if my pictures get any likes if I don’t participate in any interaction (following accounts, liking content) except for making hashtag captions and locations.
The 3-Day Trial:
DAY 1 (Friday)- Created the the Healthy Happy Eats Instagram Account. First Post: Picture; salmon dinner. Caption; 14 hashtags. Location; The Streets of Wood-field. Outcome; received 5 likes and 1 follower. Second Post: Picture; lattes and a candle. Caption; 10 hashtags. Location; Grand Lux Cafe. Outcome; 12 likes and 2 additional followers. Third Post: Picture; fruit at European market. Caption; 13 hashtags. Location; La Boqueria Mercat. Outcome; 16 likes and 1 additional follower. Fourth Post: Picture; almond milk latte. Caption; 10 hashtags. Location; Galway, Ireland. Outcomes; 9 likes. DAY 1 REVIEW: the account has 4 followers and a total of 42 likes between the 4 pictures.
DAY 2 (Saturday)- Fifth Post: Picture; brunch table. Caption; 17 hashtags. Location; La Pain Quotidien. Outcomes; 11 likes. Sixth Post: Picture; tea in a museum. Caption; 12 hashtags. Location; Tate Modern. Outcome; 5 likes. Seventh Post: nuts at European market. Caption; 13 hashtags. Location; La Boqueria Mercat. Outcomes: 11 likes and 1 additional follower. Eight Post: Picture; carrot ginger soup. Caption; 11 hashtags. Location; Belfast, Ireland. Outcomes; 6 likes. DAY 2 REVIEW: the account has 5 followers and 75 likes between the 8 pictures.
DAY 3 (Sunday)- Ninth Post: Picture; fruit at European Market. Caption; 10 hashtags. Location; La Boqueria Mercat. Outcomes; 8 likes, 1 comment “Love this!,” and 2 additional followers. Tenth Post: Picture; banana oatmeal. Caption; 11 hashtags. Location; Carol Stream. Outcomes; 5 likes. Eleventh Post; Picture; brunch table. Caption; 6 hashtags. Location; Galway, Ireland. Outcomes; 5 likes and 1 additional follower. Twelfth Post: Picture; quiche breakfast and latte. Caption; 11 hashtags. Location; Prague, Czech Republic. Outcomes; 14 likes and 1 additional follower. DAY 3 REVIEW: the account has 9 followers and a total of 107 likes and 1 comment between the 12 pictures.
Please View Account at this link:
https://www.instagram.com/eatshealthyhappy/?hl=en
Conclusion: In my opinion, it’s pretty incredible that this food account I created received a total of 107 likes, 1 comment and 9 followers after just 3 DAYS and NO interaction with any other accounts whatsoever. This reveals several things about Instagram. 1) The power of the HashTag and Location: the accounts that liked or followed my account were generally in relation to my hashtag or location features. For example, user dan0964 commented “Love this!” on my photo of fruit at the Boqueria Mercat. In my hashtag I included #travel and I can clearly see from his profile that he is a world traveller and food enthusiast, who was just recently in Barcelona. Another example would be that I received a follow from Capones Restaurant Galway account after they liked the picture of my almond milk latte with the location of Galway, Ireland. 2) Instagram is meant to be a social media site. It has all the necessary features to get users to connect with one another, and on the contrary, it would actually be hard to create an Instagram account that didn’t receive any interaction at all, because thats not what its made for, it wants users to connect with one another. 3) Instagram is not just a “fun” social site, it is very much oriented to a business-driven market. The way in which users can search and interact with other accounts similar to them has a networking feel to it, in my opinion. For example, when I would post a picture of a healthy breakfast and #nutrition #healthyfood, I would have nutrition related accounts like and follow my platform. This is a great way for them to network and connect with users that are similar to them, and maybe sell a product or start a marketing contract.