Making Instagram a happier and healthier place

Tory Fox-Hill

Posted on May 03 2019

Fox and Moon Planner

Are big changes on the way for Instagram?

This week Instagram made a big announcement: "We want your followers to focus on the photos and videos you share, not how many likes they get" they have said.

In an effort to try and make the app less of a popularity contest, Instagram is testing a new feature (initially in Canada) of removing/hiding the total number of likes on a post. The account holder will still be able to see their own total but it is in hope of creating more genuine interaction and authenticity across the app and less feelings of inadequacy/comparison.

There have been a number of studies assessing the links of social media and mental health - and anxiety, depression, loneliness, negative impact on body image have all been reported.⠀

Fox & Moon perspective on Instagram

This bid to make Instagram a healthier place has definitely got my vote!

As someone who spends a lot of time on Instagram for Fox & Moon, it is hard not to compare myself with others. Although I try not to get hung up on the likes, sometimes I'll admit to worrying about them a bit too much.

However, I pride myself on the authenticity of Fox & Moon and what you see is what you get. I would never buy fake followers or likes and I love the community of people I have connected with since starting Fox & Moon.

At Fox & Moon we:

  • Remember to love ourselves even after a bad day
  • We know that we do not need to be perfect to live a full, happy and healthy life
  • We accept that stumbles are part of the journey
  • We promise to be kinder to ourselves
  • We value spending time with the people we love doing what makes us feel great.

As a mum to a young daughter who is currently too little to use social media, I want her to grow up and enjoy the fun of social media without getting drawn into a stressful and alienating popularity contest.

"Don't have to post it to prove it"

The other big struggle with Instagram is to remember that we do not need the validation of social media likes to prove our worth.

As someone who can flip between over sharing (if you've seen one of my post workout sweaty Insta stories then I'm #sorrynotsorry) and wanting to bury my phone for days, reminding myself that 'I don't have to post it to prove it' is really powerful.

Life goes on whether we share it on our feeds. If we're not posting about it, we're probably letting ourselves relax and enjoy the moment much more than if we're worrying about capturing it all to share later.

The pressure we put ourselves under to post it all online just really isn’t necessary and I remind myself that it will all still be there in a day or two if I take some time off.

Top tips on boosting your Instagram

I get asked for help on Instagram and what it’s like starting a business all the time, so I wrote a blog post on how to be the boss of your own business. This included some tips on growing your instagram, which I’ll share here again for you:

Here are my top tips:

  1. Set up a business account
  2. Have an idea of how you want it to look
  3. Post consistently
  4. Get involved with Instagram Stories
  5. Act with integrity

Full the full post, click here to read.

Growth doesn't happen overnight and it takes a lot of time and effort to beat the algorithms and come out smiling on the other side!

And sometimes when you just want to give up - do it. I find a digital detox helps me massively when I just unplug for a day or two and come back again feeling fresh! ⠀⠀

Over to you!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

What do you think about the Instagram changes?

 

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