Instagram is not what it used to be.
Once the pinnacle of popularity gauges, it is now a messy world of selfie videos, dwindling following and confused content that travels and shape shifts faster than you can say social media influencer. Content that is posted without advertising investment, “tanks” to quote the technical term used by my social media associate Lauren Dudley. This is affecting those who have historically relied on it to build brands, grow fans and following, showcase their work/talent and make money. Yet, social media is a necessary evil for many reasons. How best do we navigate the strains?
When Instagram arrived on the scene, it enjoyed substantial adoption buoyed by the three Fs – food, fashion, and fitness. In fact, any products, services or talent that lent themselves to a glossy visual medium. It is no suprise then that the pressures of the dwindling likes, and changing requirements on Instagram are having a profound, transformative, and anxiety-inducing effect on food writers/creatives, product brand owners, hospitality entrepreneurs and more. As food writer Niamh Shields says: “It’s like having your vocal cords cut at a party. It has become quite toxic in how that algorithm makes people feel.”
How did we get here?
To understand where we are at with Instagram requires a bit of a potted journey through the world of social media. I’ll start with Facebook, which opened to the public about 2006. It was all going swimmingly, attracting more and more people onto the platform until the amount being shared on it became unwieldy. Algorithms got involved to organise the content, or algos as they are lovingly known in the communications world. These are mathematical equations that determine who see posts and when. Our ability to be visible and reach the right people was in the hands of unseen powers from early on.
Of course, these unseen powers also need to make money. Social media platforms are not charities. Why would they allow you to make money off their technology without any commercial benefit? So Facebook started mining our personal information to build advertising databases. Then they made it harder for those making money off posting on it to get visibility and reach unless they invested in ads (ad spend). Without giving my age away (!), we were lamenting the lack of organic ((i.e., free) growth, reach and visibility eight years ago as senior directors in the London communications world.
Facebook created a slick ad machine, with the ability for digital marketers to reach the most specific groups of people spawning a new form of targeted advertising with questionable ethics and indispensable commercial value. Even today, despite much general irritation with Facebook, most industry experts will agree that digital marketing on the new mega social that is Meta Social is a must have for any food, drink and hospitality brands. Meta Social is the new rebranded combination of all Zuckerberg’s apps and technologies, including Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.
A culture of external validation from strangers
I digress. While Facebook was busy leaning into revenue generation, Instagram was born in 2010. By this time, we live in a culture of seeking affirmation and validation from strangers to build brands and business. Suddenly, you could enjoy a considerable fan base online irrespective of your education, background, experience and more. A highly attractive medium for pretty pictures, aspirational lifestyles and creative inspiration, Instagram became the platform of choice for “social media influencers” who were able to drive buying decisions, generating profit for themselves and the brands they promoted.
It also became a simple and effective way of identifying talent in the food world. Where to eat? What to eat? Whose cookbook to publish? In 2014, when I briefly switched literary agents to find a publisher for my second book Masala, I was told in no uncertain terms that I would need to be Instafamous. I soon learned that this wasn’t a requirement for all publishers and that many food writers had bestselling cookbooks with hardly an online presence. Although that didn’t stop me fretting, obsessing and posting, while managing a full time senior corporate role and two young children, setting off all my childhood body image issues along the way.
By this point, Facebook was spooked by the success of Twitter and decided to acquire Instagram. Not content to let the profit opportunity slide, they parked the executive who commercialised Facebook in Instagram. What followed is a steady clampdown on freeloaders. Ads and paid brand partnerships would need to be visibly flagged. Good ethically and morally, but off-putting for users and anecdotally reduces the reach of the posts too. Then came the decline in organic visibility and reach for Instagram posts generally, designed to push you to pay if you want to promote something.
But it didn’t stop there. Not only was FB Towers policing its users and making them pay, it was also keeping a keen eye on the competition ready to pounce on their popular features. Cue Instastories and filters a la Snapchat. This brings me onto its latest bone of contention and chapter in its development – the growth of TikTok.
TikTok sets the clock ticking for Instagram
TikTok is fun, light and has a huge following among young people – the pipeline of adoption social media needs to grow and succeed. For Gen Z, Instagram is not cool (my 13 year old and her peers have confirmed this ). Unsettled by this upstart, Instagram has introduced a plethora of video tools, taking on the competition by transitioning from a still image to video sharing platform. The algorithms suggest posts you may want to see as “recommended posts”, rather than those you follow.
Worse still, visibility and reach for brands or those working with brands is vastly diminished unless you line their pockets with ad spend. Ads are everywhere, the ones you post, the ones you need to bypass to get to posts that you want to see, plus posts they recommend you view. It’s one big pushy ecommerce site with a jumble of ways to share content that no one asked for.
The result is mixed and confusing. You see the food world enjoyed Instagram as it was. We liked sharing our words and pretty pictures, connecting meaningfully with others. It also remains a very visible measure of fans and following. Instagram vehemently denies this, but anecdotally experts agree there is a cap on how many likes/views posts get – anywhere between 5-10%, more if you create exceptional content or go viral. Oh and going viral doesn’t equal sales either. A like can often be a superficial engagement that doesn’t lead to much else apart from an ego boost.
Techsperts and extroverts rule an exclusive space
A new class of digital content creators have emerged who have technological prowess and a keen eye for video production. Meanwhile, a whole load of still photography and written word lovers with deep knowledge are baffled about the lack of interest anyone has in their creativity and are struggling to transition to video. Social media is also rife with individuals who have no business anywhere near the front of a video camera let alone be allowed to post any videos they create (putting myself in this latter bracket as I know where my skills lie).
Social media is increasingly not an inclusive space, as talent cannot be determined by your ability to video yourself or capture your talent in a reel. Making videos online is naturally suited to digital natives or those able to afford paid video production support. It is also better suited to those who have time. For a vast number of food writers and start up entrepreneurs who have day jobs to provide financial stability and security, commenting, replying, posting regularly and second judging algos are a tall order.
As for the love online of close-range self-feeding, I can think of few worse things to put me off my dinner. Not to mention the migraine-inducing speed at which these reels and toks move. Even using hashtags, once the holy grail of Instagram growth, won’t help visibility.
All these changes have unsettled social media users. I met a lovely bunch of “digital content creators” across food, lifestyle and interiors on a recent English Wine Week tour hosted by Waitrose. The challenges with Instagram were discussed at several points. Katie Woods, a talented former dentist turned interiors blogger threw the question out to her 263,000 followers and three times as many respondents had a moan compared to those who enjoyed social media. She said: “Number 1 dislike by far was reels, people saying they prefer the calm and the stillness of an image, people loving the ability to zoom in at their own pace.” In its race to win, has Instagram left its customers behind?
It’s hard to watch your hard work receive less and less love by the day, heart breaking in fact. For those new to Instagram, it is tough (if not impossible) to build a substantial following unless you invest in ads or work the algos. There are also lots of fake accounts and bots about, which get in the way. Unsurprisingly, publishers are noting that large social media following doesn’t equate to big ticket cookbook sales. While Instagram can be an eye-catching shop window, you still need a great product and even if you do, it doesn’t always shine.
How to cope
So, if you’re a small business, a food and drink writer, a talent scout, what do you do next?
1. Put it all into perspective. If your posts are not getting the love they deserve, remember it’s not you. It’s not your talent. It’s algos and a bunch of tech bros who are so intent on keeping up with the Joneses that they’re confusing and alienating their users and making it a less inclusive space
2. Spread the love. Hedge your bets. Don’t over rely on any one social media platform. Pick one or two that suit your personality and style, where your audience is likely to be and then invest time, effort and ensure consistency
3. Take a fresh look at established platforms. LinkedIn has turned into the Facebook for Business over the pandemic and is no longer the place you go to only for a new job. It’s fun, relaxed and has high amounts of spending power on it. YouTube too, offers great visibility and growth, and is the second most popular social media platform after Facebook
4. Explore TikTok. If you have a specific subject matter, niche area of specialism and enjoy posting selfie style content get on TikTok now. There are no caps on reach and visibility. While the jury is out on spending power (and indeed audience demographic) on it, it is lighter, brighter and a tad less hectic to navigate.
5. Invest in ad spend. This is particularly important for food and drink, and hospitality brands. Meta Social ads will keep you front of mind of customers, consumers and diners. Don’t rely on organic reach as it won’t deliver ROI (I would argue that digital marketing is as important as PR for businesses, if not more!)
6. Take control back. Handing over full control of your personal brand online is risky as overreliance on Instagram has amply demonstrated. Let this be a lesson for the future. Use social media to network, build your tribe, share your work but have your own digital channels – website, newsletter, blog etc
7. Be intentional. Social media needs you to give more and more of yourself away to atract attention online. By all means do this if you want to, but standing in the top of a mountain, taking all your clothes off isn’t for everyone and can affect the mental health of even the strongest among us. Ask yourself why you are posting something. Will it help? Is it relevant?
Reset reset
To conclude, Instagram isn’t dead yet, but it does need revisiting. We are used to checking in, and big number following does carry cache. The trick to navigating it successfully lies in reassessing the role it has in our lives and the importance we give it. Here are my top tips for the food world and beyond:
Use it as a shop window and personal brand summary
Find a basic format that you feel comfortable with, and use it to create a content strategy, then post at a time you get lots of visitors (this is 3pm for me, which I invariably miss)
Turn off the like count so it’s only visible to you and stop caring about how many you get
Spend the time building your professional networks, tribes and loyal following instead replying to anyone who comments, leaving comments on like-minded accounts and sliding into DMs
Remember you validate you, not algorithms. The people who want to engage with you will find a way if you give them options. And if you’re using Instagram as a solo indication of talent, it’s time you asked yourself if you’re moving with the times and being inclusive in your thinking.
This is a subject close to my heart both because I have used social media to share my work and because it is a core part of the strategic communications offer at my business consultancy: www.basuconsulting.co.uk.
Great analysis and reminds me A) why I love Substack so much and B) why I barely look at IG anymore.
Great writing Mallika. Just reread it for a better understanding of what’s going on. Thanks