I considered re-joining Instagram today.
I thought that with the development of my book and the need to market myself, it may be a good idea to rebuild my account (and my “brand”) through meaningful, inspirational, and quote-driven content. With living in such a beautiful and thought-provoking region, I figured the photo content already exists and the written content will help drive my story-telling and manuscript construction.
And then I signed onto the application via my computer just to have a peek, and was instantly fed really depressing, overwhelming, and nauseating content in my feed. The first content shown to me by the algorithm to try and hook me back into the app were about horrid things happening around the world, vegan/vegetarian content about slaughtering baby animals, and the occasional dog video.
This application thrives off of your pain and energetic suffering. Whether it’s scrolling through the photos and videos of people whose lives are seemingly better than yours or triggering emotional reactions in you so you scroll longer to fill the void, there is something seriously wrong in this space. It makes you feel awful then satiates you with a cute animal video until it makes you feel awful, sad, or angry all over again.
I genuinely felt sick to my stomach as I scrolled and, of course, reconsidered my brief thought of returning. Of course, I want my book to be successful but at what expense? The loss of my energetic peace?
It’s foolish to live your life and be blind to suffering, but I also don’t think it’s necessary to have constant triggering exposure to it, either. I don’t believe you need to see it to know it, to want the change it, and to work on your personal betterment so that the world becomes a better place, overall.
It made me physically ill to sign onto Instagram and to know that this application thrives on getting those emotional responses from users so they become dependant on it to help fill the void it just created, and I decided against returning. Though I live in 2022 and know that self-marketing is the key to the success of all entrepreneurs, I also will not risk my energetic health and happiness through this exposure. I do believe that people who need me/my words/my work will find me, and I’m still trying to navigate how to use authentic marketing for my business while also protecting myself in the process.
It is an ongoing energetic dilemma and I am still learning. Do you have any advice or suggestions?
xo C
lifeofcloud 
Hello lovely Claudia! I so resonate with the lower energies that float around on IG. I will say that I haven’t seen the things you mentioned. I think I have “trained” IG a bit as I often only see what I’m interested in. What annoys me the most is the how it constantly triggers my mind to stay active as you’re bombarded with video content. I will say that I don’t really spend much time on that app anymore. I was on a 3 month break and when I got back, I indirectly used it in an old way and I got very frustrated & confused with everything again. At the moment. I try to post every other day on either account and I also limit myself with replying to comments or dms. I’m not forcing myself to do anything on that app anymore and I will just focus on my energy and how I want to use that app so it works for me. It’s an ongoing learning journey indeed! I do hope you’re well!! Sending much love your way. 🤗❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi hi hi TJ! Thank you for reading and for sharing your own tips and tricks with navigating the space. I am still debating how I can dip my toes in to keep my spiritual work more alive but I know it will require a massive cleanup of the accounts I follow, and may need me to not linger on the negative content so it doesn’t mistake it as interested. I’m unsure at this point if and when I’ll come back. But if I do, I’ll have the same approach as you: not forcing anything and making sure I use it in a way that works best for me.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hii! Ahh I wanted to be a lot more active on your posts and even wanted to send you an email a couple of weeks back when I saw that you were away from IG. However, I had very little energy to do more than what I had to for a while and I’m only now coming back to my more grounded self.🙏 Ohh yes! I did clean up my list a lot and I’m due for another cleanup soon. It’s very frustrating as this should be a simple app in theory, but it just makes your braincells fly away, haha. It’d be amazing to see you back on IG, but definitely at your pace and in a space that’s aligned so your energy doesn’t get muddled by all the nonsense that also lives on there. It’s such a duality, huh? 👀
LikeLiked by 1 person