Check out my Instagram feed for my nature pictures, wisdom, and fun.
Previous posts of this series:
 | How To Create Black Background Photos Like An Amateur ๐๐ |
|---|---|
 | Insect Pictures: My Photography Progression, Cool Stories, A Tip and A Game |
Instagram 2k Followers: Style Change = Engagement Drop ๐ฑ
๐ Almost 2000 followers HYPE!!! ๐
๐ค Over the course of roughly one week and six successive posts on Instagram, my engagement rate dropped down from up to 50% to as low as 20%. ๐
There might be other factors playing a role too, but the most apparent is the change of style in six of my recent posts. I decided to post some picture collages to thank my most active and loyal followers and commenters as well as my own top nine most liked and my favorite pictures. Quite different from my usual nature photography posts. As there were nine individual pictures in each post, the hashtags I used were all over the place. On top of the top nine grid-style, I created a special cover page for each post. My thought behind that was to give the viewer a sense of discovery, raising interest to make them wanna swipe to the actual picture. It was a white, semi-transparent overlay with description text where the underlying picture would shine through. I even put in some effort and created videos for my Instagram Story that I published each day alongside the respective picture post (View the highlights here).
Not too shabby and cool to look at, in my opinion.
Not according to the majority of my followers and the Instagram algorithm, though. The reach per post also dropped from between 1.8k and 3.9k to between 1.3k and 1.7k. These six posts seem to have messed up my account and it is yet to recover from the drop in reach and engagement.
Stay tuned to find out how this plays out. I'll keep posting updates on my Instagram progression here on Steemit.
If you're interested and you like my stuff, please consider following me on Steemit and Instagram ๐๐๐๐.
Now here are the actual pictures I'm talking about. Please let me know what you think about the content and my theories regarding the engagement drop.
Top 9 Followers 2019
Instagram pictures with original text:
๐๐๐ค A special THANK YOU to my ๐ Top 9 Followers Of 2019. Category: Most likes. ๐๐๐๐
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๐ Thank you from the bottom of my heart, my friends! You are my most consistent and loyal followers on Instagram. I started about a year ago and since then you have continually shown tremendous support and engagement. Without you, I wouldn't be where I'm at today. ๐ค๐ Wherever that may be, I'm not exactly sure...but still! ๐
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๐จ As a small gesture of my appreciation, I created a photo collage from your pictures. ๐ท๐ผ๏ธ I had a lot of fun browsing through your lovely galleries. Choosing from so many amazing pictures, it was no easy task to pick only one picture per person. I hope you're as happy with my choices and the end result as I am! Also, thank you for granting me your permission to use your beautiful pictures for this collage!
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๐ค๐ Before you start praising me for fitting the images together so well, I can't solely take the credit for it. Of course, I arranged the pictures on purpose but I picked my favorites without the "greater picture" in mind. But consider these other factors playing a role:
- Some elements, forms or colors are fitting out of pure luck or coincidence ๐ฒ
- Human brains evolved to make us pattern-seekers ๐ค
Have a great start into the week, everybody! โฎ๏ธ Peace. โค๏ธ Love. ๐ Live long and prosper.
Top 9 Commenters 2019
Instagram pictures with original text:
๐๐๐ค A special THANK YOU to my ๐ Top 9 Commenters Of 2019. ๐ฃ๏ธ๐ข๐๐
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๐ Thank you from the bottom of my heart, my friends! ๐ช๐ฆพ๐๐ค๐ฆธโโ๏ธ๐ฆธโโ๏ธ๐ฆนโโ๏ธ๐ฆนโโ๏ธ We are like a team of superheroes. ๐
๐ With both your and my writing powers combined, we could do anything. Like for example break the record of the most commented picture in my gallery (which is at 150 comments on the one with a cute baby cat ๐ป, so it's no easy task). This was just a crazy fantastic idea with no importance to it, but it's still a funny thought of the top commenters' joint forces accomplishing never foreseen greatness. Hahaha ๐๐๐๐.
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๐ I love interacting with you and responding to your thoughtful, witty and kind comments. ๐๐
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๐จ As a small gesture of my appreciation, I created a photo collage from your pictures. ๐ท๐ผ๏ธ I had a lot of fun browsing through your beautiful galleries. Choosing from so many amazing pictures, it was no easy task to pick only one picture per person. I hope you're as happy with my choices and the end result as I am! Also, thank you for granting me your permission to use your beautiful pictures for this collage!
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Keep on staying true to yourselves! Peace. โค๏ธ Love. ๐ Live long and prosper.
Top 9 Most Liked 2019
Instagram pictures with original text:
โก๐ Swipe to see the 2nd ๐ท picture with the actual ๐ Top Nine ๐ ...obviously! ๐
๐๐ After my previous two altruistic posts to thank my followers, I relapse back into my narcissistic self again. It's all about me now. Me me me! ๐
Here are the nine pictures of mine that received the most likes and comments combined in 2019. ๐ค๐ A huge thank you to everybody who liked, commented, followed, interacted or engaged in any way, shape or form. ๐
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๐ฅ๐๐ Much love. ๐๐
My Favorites 2019
Instagram pictures with original text:
โ Which picture is your favorite? โ
โก๐ Swipe to the 2nd slide ๐ท for the actual photo grid ...obviously! ๐
๐ท๐ฅฐ These are pictures of mine that didn't necessarily get a lot of likes or comments, but that I myself like the most, besides the Top 9 featured yesterday. Beauty is subjective. And on top of that, pictures you take yourself have a sentimental value to them. ๐ When you think about the mood you were in taking it or the people you were with. ๐ง๐ฒ The smell that was in the air ๐ฎ๐ผ or the full 360 degrees look upon a majestic landscape ๐. The effort it took to shoot it or the amount of work you put in editing ๐ป (which is little to nothing in most of my pictures, but I can relate to others who heavily edit and improve every image). ๐ All that comes together and creates a strong mixture of feelings. ๐ That's part of why I love photography. ๐๐
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"There are always two people in every picture: the photographer and the viewer." - Ansel Adams
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Have a great weekend, everybody!
๐ Love and peace โฎ๏ธ. Live long and prosper. ๐๐
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...to be continued...
...continuation of yesterday's post, my favorite pictures of 2019 part 2. ๐โค๏ธ
If you're already sick of all those photo grids and collages - don't worry, this will be my last one for this year...definitely...probably...maybe! ๐
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Again, these photographs didn't receive the most likes so my reasons and methods for choosing them are solely subjective. Many of them are first tries of a technique, lucky shots or I just like them for no particular reason. ๐ท๐ฅฐ
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I'll say a short sentence about each of the nine:
- ๐ Sunset, crane, street lantern through window screen - long exposure and interesting effects.
- ๐ท๏ธ๐ธ๏ธ Cross spider against the light - contre jour, contrast, abstract shapes with minimal detail.
- ๐ฆ๐ Grasshopper on blue rope - lucky spot and shot in automatic mode with flash.
- ๐ Pear perfectly lit and shaped - low exposure and natural sunlight diffused by an acrylic glass roof.
- ๐ Funny b&w portrait of myself, using natural light, tripod and cable release.
- ๐๐ง๐ Strong sunlight, reflective surfaces, a water jug and a blue hue.
- ๐๐ง Berries after the rain, desaturated green - one of my first edits to successfully modify the mood.
- ๐งก๐ค Orange daylily - early experiments with indoor shooting, black background and one-directional natural light through a window.
- ๐ Apple with wormhole on a water glass - all artsy-fartsy looking and stuff.
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๐ Love and peace โฎ๏ธ. Live long and prosper. ๐๐
Any feedback is highly appreciated!
Let me know what you think...general thoughts, tips, tricks, questions, advice, funny comments, disses, bashes, whatever!
Thank you to everybody ๐.
Have fun and stay awesome! โค๏ธ ๐
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How strange! I really wouldn't have expected the activity to drop from these posts! Usually people (myself at least) like these kind of highlights!
Can't wrap my head around why it changed the engagement so drastiacally!
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