I started a new Instagram account a couple months ago called @36filmpics, so that I could get that sort of niche account popularity and show off my film pics without compromising the privacy of my personal account. I saw lots of other film accounts with thousands of followers, and thought "That could be me!"
Thus far, it's growing a lot more slowly than I thought a public account would. I think one of the main factors holding it back is that sex sells, and I'm not selling sex. I'm a 36-year-old guy, and...while I'm sure there's a niche for that, too, it's not what I'm into. I remember I used to complain about that on Flickr years ago, too -- not about young women showing skin (let's be honest), but about them being able to use the "hot" factor to become more visible.
But more importantly, even if I did get 100 likes on a photo instead of 10, would I be happier?
No. And the same goes for Flickr. Most of my pics these days get maybe 3 to 7 likes. When a pic on Flickr gets 17 likes, that's something. But what I really want is meaningful engagement. Comments are more important to me than likes...because someone put some thought into it; a bit more than clicking the star or the heart or the thumbs-up.
I'm satisfied with the engagement I get on some Flickr pics, and some Facebook pics, and the occasional Instagram pic, so...although I find myself chasing the dragon of social media fulfilment, what makes me happy is the process of choosing a photo to post, editing it, and typing a story to go along with it. The process of curating and creating...and hearing what you like about my product; that's why I keep doing this.
As a 9-to-5er who happens to also be a photographer, it's really all I can hope for without devoting my life to photography and growing a brand.
And of course, now that I have a little girl, one day she may stumble upon this account and find it interesting and/or thoroughly embarrassing, so there's that!
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