loopyloulaura

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Why I’ll never be Insta-perfect or a Pinterest mum

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I’m normal. Weird in my own way but generally normal. (Possibly a vampire…)

My life is normal although I am also a blogger, a social influencer, a digital creator. I am a family blogger: I write about the normal things we do, places we go and food we eat.
I love Instagram and Pinterest but I don’t feel like I belong.
At one conference, another blogger said they’d spent an hour editing a photo for Instagram. AN HOUR!
I have a problem with this for so many reasons. How does someone have that much time? How can one photo need that much work? What was so bad with the original?
Some Instagram feeds are spectacular but all they make me feel is inadequate and a failure as a woman and mother. I understand that they aim to be aspirational and inspirational but this is not the effect they have on me 🙁
My Instagram feed has totally changed this year as I have taken on the challenge of #project365. Looking back over the last 300+ photos has been a lovely way to celebrate our daily successes and appreciate our time together. They are not picture perfect. They are usually not edited other than being cropped into a square.

Occasionally I get arty or want to try something different but it is always in keeping with us as a family.

 

I use Pinterest mainly for crafts and food. I am not a fan of crafts so the word ‘easy’ in a pin is a surefire winner for me. Also mess free would appeal!
Pinterest is a very different type of social media as it aims to provide content and ideas. It is less personal as it is rarely for sharing information about yourself directly but instead about your activities and things you find interesting.
I cook and bake, sharing my recipes here on my blog and dutifully adding them to Pinterest. My food looks normal, achievable, homemade. I hope that others look at it and think ‘I could do that’ not feel the crushing disappointment when something doesn’t turn out like the highly edited pics of other bloggers.
The thing is, most bloggers are all lovely in person but due to their perfect feeds and the creation of their brand, they appear smug which may be due to my own insecurities and feelings of inferiority.
How do Instagram and Pinterest make you feel: empowered and inspired or inadequate and limited?


Categories: blogging.

/ 8 Comments

8 comments

  2. Lydia C. Lee

    I’m not on Pinterest. I do love Instagram tho. I don’t really look at people on Instagram tho (except Celeste Barber) – I just follow artists and travel bloggers, so it’s a very pretty and interesting feed….So I don’t feel inadequate – I feel inspired. As for my own feed, I can barely use filters anymore because I can’t be bothered. Who has time to spend an hour editing a photo?? For anything?? #Stayclassymama

    Reply
  4. Briony

    Bah, I cannot be doing with spending a load of time editing my insta pics. I kind of still like Instagram to be instant. I’ll add a filter maybe, but loads of editing and hours of posing aren’t for me. People can take me as I am or leave me, I’m genuinely not fussed #stayclassymama

    Reply
  5. Kim Carberry

    Oh my goodness. An hour editing a photo for instagram. Wow! That is crazy! I have better things to do with my time.
    I much prefer real, unedited photos to those perfect one’s that you see.
    When I look at Pinterest I feel very inadequate. Some of the stuff is amazing on there but it do prefer normal, realistic things to make.

    Reply
  6. charlotte Stein

    I love both Pinterest and Instagram. That said I do occasionally question my count and compare myself to others. I then usually have a word with myself and carry on doing my own thing on there. I love a mix of a few staged pics with mostly real life photos in my feed, as I don’t have the time to do staged ones really! An hour is serious stuff

    Reply
  7. Rosie Doal

    I do spend some time on social promotion but nowhere near what I know others do. And never ever an hour on a single photo? It’s not worth the time and effort. Social promotion is important but not at the expense of great content, which should always come first x #StayClassyMama

    Reply

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