A Picture says a Thousand Words

I love social media but my likes and loathes have changed as apps move with the times.

Twitter used to be my social media platform of choice when I first joined it all the way back in 2009 and I mainly used it for football banter and chat when I was on the bus too and from work.

Fast forward to 2011 and I discovered the world of the “Mummy Blogger” whilst feeding Eliza through the night. The #3AMFC hashtag became my go to place to chat to other Mums up feeding their little ones through the night.

I started blogging thanks to twitter and the rest is history. The trouble with twitter now is that although I am part of a fabulous community, the banter has gone. None of my older football follower friends wants to follow someone who regularly shares posts and too much information on the trials and tribulations of parenting. Likewise, I follow parent bloggers and my timeline is full of links to their posts!

I know, I know, I need to set up lists, but that is for another day.

I have never really been a huge fan of facebook either. I find it hardwork, especially since the algorithms changed. I don’t even see my own kids posts half the time.

Instagram has to be my favourite social media platform of the moment, despite a brief wobble with their new facebookesque algorithm as I am a very social creature.

I love taking pictures, sharing pictures and most of all, looking at others’ pictures. It gives me inspiration for days out, gifts, meal planning and even decorating (not sure Hubby is best pleased about that bit).

Love that Sebby is trying to chase after us #dorsetsegways #uptoncountrypark #poole #dorset

A photo posted by Kara Guppy (@chelseamamma) on

Instagram is the platform I spend the most time on these days and am working to grow it, but it all takes time and effort and my three top tips for helping grow it are:

  1. Use quality images and sparingly – I used to spam my feed with images of us on days out, but now I am much more selective and find that 2 or 3 good images get more interaction then 8 or 9 uploaded in quick succession
  2. Interaction is essential – don’t expect others to see your images if you are not interacting and liking theirs too
  3. Use Hashtags – I am late to the hashtag game as, if I am honest, I really dislike seeing lots of them. However, a good hashtag is worth its weight in gold and can be the difference of your photo being seen by 10 people, or 1,000!

If you are using Instagram for business, your goals maybe different and you may not have the time to sit on your account liking other images, but it is worth mentioning that there are companies such as Vibbi.com who can help with all your marketing needs.

There is no hard and fast rule on what works and what doesn’t when growing any social media platform as this video of CharlieMoos and I shows just how differently we do things.

Don’t forget, I run a couple of weekly linkies too where you can link up your instagram posts:

Saturday is Caption Day #satcap – for funny photo’s that are calling out for an amusing caption

#Vloject52 – for videos under a minute long so perfect for instagram, vine and snapchat!

Please do pop on over and follow me on instagram, you can find me at Chelseamamma and Are We Nearly There Yet?

 

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