What made you start focusing on Instagram?
**** This post is the same as the one posted on "note" ****
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I want to enjoy my work.
This doesn't mean I want to enjoy work just because it occupies a large part of my life.
As a self-employed person, if I were to be critical, I don't think the world is so lenient that you can succeed with work you don't enjoy.
Talented individuals other than myself are an exception.
At least for me, if I were to do my work reluctantly, I wouldn't be able to compete at all.
Ideas don't just appear unless you're constantly thinking about them.
Sometimes they come suddenly, but that's because I'm always thinking.
When I'm not thinking, they never come.
When you're enjoying something, it's always on your mind, so the volume of thought is different, and ideas come more easily.
However, that being said, it's not so easy that you can only do what you enjoy.
SNS was something I didn't enjoy.
But as a self-employed person, I reluctantly did it because I couldn't avoid SNS.
On Instagram, I would take random photos and post them.
I wasn't even doing it every day.
Of course, my follower count was low.
Even so, I was satisfied with the fact that I was at least on Instagram.
However, since the beginning of this year, I started updating daily and uploading videos.
My follower count is gradually increasing.
There was a trigger for me to start putting in effort, even as late as 2022.
It was when I saw an account of a certain artist.
They were making really good things, but for some reason, they had few followers. It was strange.
Conversely, another artist's account had a large number of followers, but I honestly didn't think their work was that good. This was also strange.
But comparing those two accounts, one thing became immediately clear.
It was evident that the latter artist was putting a lot of effort into their posts.
Of course, each artist has their own circumstances.
The former artist seemed to be operating alone and might have already established reliable sales channels, so there was no need to put excessive effort into Instagram.
Conversely, the latter artist seemed to be operating with multiple people. Perhaps there was someone dedicated to SNS.
This time, objectively comparing these two accounts, I felt that the former account was a great waste.
Since I also work alone, I want to focus more on creating things than on Instagram posts. That's why I kept the time spent on posting to a moderate level.
Looking at Instagram, I felt that the quality of work was easily judged by the follower count.
I had felt this before and was dissatisfied with it.
A large part of it also stemmed from my jealousy of not being able to dedicate time to Instagram and having a low follower count.
I arbitrarily assumed that a high follower count equaled good work, and I felt a sense of aversion towards actions to increase followers. It was pure jealousy.
However, this time, after objectively comparing both accounts and researching the fundamental mechanics of Instagram, I finally understood Instagram.
I learned that Instagram is not easily disseminated when the follower count is low, and you have to steadily and diligently increase your followers.
The latter account also steadily accumulated posts.
And the latter account also functioned as a place for interaction with followers.
There was indeed a meaning behind operating that account.
You might think, "What now?" but I'm embarrassed to admit that I only realized it now.
If that's the case, I thought I had to work hard on Instagram.
If I'm judged by follower count, then so be it.
I just need to increase my followers.
However, conversely, I'm not convinced if people think that an account with many followers produces good things.
But that's an unnecessary worry.
Why should someone like me worry about having a large number of followers? Unfortunately, they won't increase that much.
But it's frustrating to be thought of as not producing good things just because of a low follower count, so I want to increase it to some extent.
With that thought, I've been focusing on Instagram since this year.
Doing Instagram now that I understand it, it somehow feels enjoyable.
I've always liked taking photos, and I enjoy watching the videos I've taken myself.
Above all, receiving comments from followers makes me happy.
But I'm not spending as much time on it as before.
The biggest difference is that I'm enjoying Instagram.
As I started enjoying it more, my follower count also began to increase.
It's interesting how, once this happens, I stop caring about the follower count because I'm having fun.
I never thought that Instagram, which I used to do so reluctantly, could become this enjoyable just by changing my perspective, so that was a great gain.
I'm starting to wonder if Twitter, which only links to my Instagram posts, can also become enjoyable depending on my perspective.
This is my Instagram, where I'm doing my best.