What happens when you go dark on social media?

So I’ve gone dark. Semi dark. Ok, to be honest it wasn’t one of those “I’m leaving social media for 30 days” endeavors but more along the lines of let me observe instead of serve.

Why? We’re all guilty of it. We have a inclination for one platform over the other and tend to treat the others like a long lost cousin - it’s there, valuable but you not exactly engaging every single day.

So I needed to hit reset. For the month of March I didn’t post a single image on Instagram. Instead, I observed and this break taught me the following: 

1. The Rut: it happens so easily. We gravitate to the same filters, the same approach to our captions. There is a sense of automation to it and to be frank, it sucks the joy out of the the creativity of the platform. Sometimes, you need to unlearn the rules to play the game differently.
2. Live in the moment: guess Eminem’s lyrics are poignant after all. We get so wrapped up trying to find that perfect Insta moment that we forget to live in it. Unlike Stories, the feed is not so forgiving and so you find yourself spending almost an hour trying to get it perfect. During the break, I observed others, how they posted, how they consumed content and best believe that is helping me understand my consumer better.
3. Be amused and fine a muse. The clean up allowed me to unfollow stagnant accounts and find fresh new content to inspire me. My collections on IG are neat and tidy, labelled to themes and I my feed is an eclectic mix that can take me to around the world and back. And no, none of that feed snobbery. Who I choose to follow varies from Tik Tok stars and fashion grammers to foodies and yes, Doug The Pug - inspo, as they call it, can be found anywhere.
4. Beyond the gram: sounds trivial but using this time I rekindled my love for Twitter. I’m an OG LinkedIn fan but I’ll admit, I’ve neglected Twitter. With Instagram, even if your words fail you, the pic does 80% of the work. Twitter, well you need to work a little harder. I felt more plugged in to the news, current affairs and my peers. 

The verdict? The break was good. It was needed. I’m more inspired with how and what I want to to shoot and share. My feed is refreshingly inspiring and I’ve reunited Twitter and Facebook with my Social Media family. 

Remember those rules? Out the window. I’m now embracing my Instagram as a micro blogging tool. My captions will be much longer, but it will provide context, it will teach and inspire and above all it will challenge me. 

Until the next post, see you on the gram.

www.instagram.com/desh_roxxi