I may have a case of social media fatigue and I don’t think I am alone. Yesterday Instagram was abuzz about the upcoming change to an algorithmic curated feed, something similar to Facebook. Honestly, I couldn’t care less about this change; I think social media fatigue has set in.

It doesn’t matter what social media platform you play on, if you listen closely you will hear the sound of users complaining. I hear a fair amount of grumbling on all the platforms I play on and its making me wonder if I’m not the only one with a case of social media fatigue? We’ve all heard the bevy of complaints about Facebook: my feed isn’t in chronological order, there are too many ads, people only post memes, cat or baby photos. Twitter isn’t much better; the complaints usually focus on the typical it’s hard to understand, no one users it anymore except for so called social media experts or if there is a world crisis. Flickr seems to be struggling now that groups having less relevance since it’s 2013 upgrade and Google+ is once again trying to reinvent itself with collections and creator driven content. No platform seems to be immune, yet new social platforms spring up every year. No wonder I’m feeling fatigued, who can keep up?

Instagram continues to tinker with its platform, first with ads and now with curated feeds. Needless to say the natives are panicked. Personally I’m not worried because there is more to life than pursuing likes and followers on social media. There is a reason that major celebrities are outspoken in their objection to this upcoming change, they know that it’s only a matter of time before Instagram asks them to pay to have their posts seen similar to Facebook.

But lets face it, thats not us. Are we really so shallow that we’re only posting to Instagram for the likes and followers? My favorite quote I saw yesterday came from Bobbyhundreds

“Make superior content and your Instagram will be seen. As it should be. For the rest of us remember: YOU ARE BIGGER THAN YOUR INSTAGRAM. Maybe this will restore some sense of humility and sanity to this social media game. Instead of chasing validation and racking up some imaginary popularity score hopefully we can return to sharing things we are proud of, regardless if they are Liked. Don’t turn on your notifications for me, unfollow me if you prefer – I will continue to create, whether people are watching or not.”

While I’m not a huge account like Bobby Hundreds, I couldn’t agree with his opinion more.

I’m going to take this upcoming change as an opportunity to adjust how I approach my social media time. My current goal is to post less content and hopefully better content and only to the platforms that I care about.

Quality really is better than quantity.

If you’re like me and you have a case of social media fatigue I think you should be celebrating this latest news from Instagram. If this change helps people to focus on creating good content and engaging in meaningful ways with their community I think we will all win.

With this latest change to our social media universe I’m sure followers and like counts will fall, but If you’re engaging on social media to meet interesting people and create a community, that shouldn’t matter. And if increased followers and numbers of likes per image is important to you, I have faith that you’ll find a work around.

I’m not going to be changing anything that I’m doing on Instagram; you don’t need to turn on notifications to my account. Know that I’ll still be hanging around the edges. If we’ve meet and you’re a part of my Instagram family, rest assured I will find you and support your creative efforts no matter how much Instagram changes how they deliver the photos to me. Instagram is still my creative home as is G+ and more importantly here at Stuck in Plastic.

~ Shelly

Have you read any good books lately? I’m currently reading The Player of Games by Iain M. Banks and I’m loving it. I recently finished Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card and The Wise Man’s Fear by Patrick Rothfuss. Both excellent books if you enjoy science fiction or fantasy genres. Did you know you can also find me on Goodreads? 

Taking photos of LEGO is more fun when you are with friends. This photo was taken on a recent rip to Portland, USA when I hung out with three lovely lady toy photographers. We captured the last remaining light of a beautiful day together. For me, that's social media at its best.

Taking photos of LEGO is more fun when you’re with friends. This photo was taken on a recent rip to Portland, USA when I hung out with three lovely lady toy photographers. We captured the last remaining light of a beautiful day together. For me, that’s social media at its best.