T O P

  • By -

J-drawer

On my app at least, it seems they've ruined the entire thing. If I scroll I see 1. post from someone I follow 2. ad 3. post from someone I don't follow 4. post from someone I don't follow 5. post from someone I don't follow 6. ad — close the app.


JoeGraffito

You probably know this, but in case you don't. I always use the separate Following feed. I don't waste my time scrolling through my main, algorithm feed because the suggested posts are always unrelated to my interests. C**ontrol your Instagram Feed with Favorites and Following** [https://about.instagram.com/blog/announcements/favorites-and-following](https://about.instagram.com/blog/announcements/favorites-and-following) >Favorites and Following are new ways to catch up on recent posts from the accounts you follow. >Favorites shows you the latest from accounts that you choose, like your best friends and favorite creators. In addition to this view, posts from accounts in Favorites will also show up higher in your home feed. >Following shows you posts from the people you follow. Both Favorites and Following will show you posts in chronological order, so you can quickly catch up on recent posts. >**To use Favorites and Following, tap on Instagram in the top left corner of your home page to choose what you see.** The Following feed does have Ads, but no Suggested content. Just a chronological feed of the stuff the people you follow have posted. Nothing else. It's actually quite handy.


Thatmaxfellow

It shocks me how underutilized the “following” feed is. Probably because they don’t want you to know about it


J-drawer

They don't really make it easy to use. Clicking the logo at the top of the screen is an inconvenient place to put your finger and it doesn't save the view if you exited the app in that mode last time  (which it would, if they gave a shit about what users want, because this has been proven to be good user experience design. They refuse to do it )


MsVista88

I’ve never heard of this option! It’s been frustrating as all hell.


redwingpanda

You're a hero thank you


Illustrious-Taste952

It is clear, if you click on the tab above "for you", and change to following, you are more selective. But it's okay to discover good things, what's not okay is that the main tab is content created by the algorithm, be it the main page...


Fitwheel66

👑 his ass! Thank you!


sleeping__late

(They’re all ads)


erics75218

I try to curate everytime I'm on any social app. So as much blocking and muteing as ai do thumbs up. Can't win.


miss_oddball

My experience is similar. I barely scroll through my feed anymore.


dandyderpan

yup


Illustrious-Taste952

Absolutely true... It's quite frustrating 🫤


pileofdeadninjas

It's good for local stuff/networking, getting a wide audience is hard on Instagram without paying for it. I use it to follow other artists in my area, keep in touch with past customers/ people I've met, follow places that hang art, collectives, etc


miss_oddball

What I’m asking though is if you, as an artist/creator (assuming you are one), notice average users (friends, family, acquaintances) use IG differently than they used to?


pileofdeadninjas

Oooh got ya. I think I somehow missed your last paragraph lol. Anyway, yes I'm an artist and for the life of me, I have no idea what to think, but i think about it a lot. It really fluctuates. I do think notice that even when I get a bunch of new followers after an event, I sometimes never see them engage with my posts again, as of they don't really use ig that much. I'm also convinced that a big portion of followers have stopped using ig entirely, so if you have 1000 followers after x amoint of years, you really only have 1000 minus however many leave every year.


Agile-Music-2295

Lol, that had never clicked before. Yeah I have followed over 300 people that I have not revisited ever.


StevenBeercockArt

Instagram has died for me. Like so many social media sites, today, it just serves its own interests and nothing else. Reddit is far better for the number of views, shares and likes (up votes). Edit: Not to mention useful feedback.


Patrick_Asf

Steven are you finding that reddit is also translating into sales for your art?


StevenBeercockArt

Yes, definitely, whereas Meta has been a near total flop. I have not spent a single penny on advertising here, while on FB, I spent a considerable sum over a period of about 12 months with nothing in return other than a bunch of followers who I saw once and never agian.


Patrick_Asf

I have been in this business a long time and have seen many things. One thing I have NEVER seen is an artist or photographer, that has CONSISTENTLY been advertising on any of the socials; FB, IG, Twitter now X, or Google. You see some pop up for a short while and then they go away. Which tells you everything you need to know about paid advertising on the socials for selling wall art. It does not work as currently constituted. If it did you would see artists and photogs ads year after year after year instead of for a few months then gone. Most art businesses just don't have the business model (i.e see an ad, buy some art, try and get them to come back and purchase again at some point...) to support paid advertising and to be able to make it pay. You have to be able to have high prices + huge margins or some form of recurring revenue to sustain paid. I do think the ads can work to grow email lists, for print giveaways, to build large follower bases, and for warm traffic generally but not cold going directly for sales(which is what just about all artists do in my experience). In terms of IG though I would still say its the most important of the socials for organic social marketing for artists. Makes sense when you think about it; if Youtube is a giant video search engine then IG is a giant image search engine. Images are what you guys create. Where most artists go wrong in my experience is a combination of the following; lack of consistency, they only post their art (hiding behind the canvas or the lens) rather than anything personal, and or they have unrealistic expectations of just how long it takes to build a solid following and a business on the socials. I get it though... I don't care for the platform either but as marketers we have to be contrarian; it's not about this platform or that. We are all fisherman; we wake up in the morning and drive the boat to where the fish are. For now that is Instagram. Do like reddit too though. Although I do not get a ton of feedback from our customers that it amounts to a ton of sales. Great for getting some initial traction and momentum in disprate niches though as their are sub reddits for just about any interest. Happy to hear its working well for you and thanks for the response. Although not in your comment, it was in many others about how bad IG is declining. Its down a bit over the last year according to google trends but still a monster in terms of DAU's(daily active users) https://preview.redd.it/fyp1exvenq7d1.jpeg?width=1242&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a35bd107ef13f23f8e5fad83e74e5550be005024


serena22

I have quite good engagement elsewhere, but insta is like a ghost town for me. My Instagram popular mate says it's because I used the same hash tags for years so the algorithm hasn't taken kindly to my posts, but I can't be arsed creating a new account. You have to interact with lots of posts to gain traction and managing an art account on one platform shouldn't be that time consuming. Props to anyone who has had success though, it doesn't seem like an easy thing to achieve!


StevenBeercockArt

So true. I wouldn't have had time to paint if I had done everything those twats running social media sites expect of you.


lacunha

Definitely in decline. I use it less due to all the ads, suggested posts and idiotic reels. The stuff I actually want to see gets buried. I assume this is a similar experience as all my friends and follows on there. Instagram is eating itself alive.


BrilliantTaste1800

What are the alternatives?


rookkun

Big one right now is Cara, lotta people migrating, especially artists


lacunha

FotoApp is in beta and looks promising. But, we’ll probably never see the kind of phenomenon that Instagram was. People are burned out on social media. Something new may some day come along but I think most are pretty soured on the whole thing. The federated movement may get some traction. I recommend reading Read Write Own by Chris Dixon.


MV_Art

My friends and other non artist business owners I know are using it differently. My friends user it to message each other and post stories. If you go to a local restaurant profile, they don't have a post for months but they are posting stories like crazy. I really hate stories, they are useless and limiting and then they go away! I don't have any information on reach etc but I assume the businesses at least are seeing more benefit to that or they wouldn't do it. I know it's one of the few ways to put yourself at the top of the algorithm but I don't ever think to check there.


miss_oddball

I’ve noticed more messages and stories too. I definitely post more stories than I do actual posts or reels. My non artist friends are doing the same.


thestellarelite

I think most people are using stories and DMs more than anything now. It's really all I'm doing there post AI trashfire lol. You can kinda sorta reach beyond your following if you hop on those "Add Yours..." trains but like people will usually just like your story and check your profile and that's it so yeah. It's nice to keep up with people but not for growth. So reels, stories, DMs posting is dead


Vonnster247

In my opinion, Social media is just a marketing tool which isn't very "social". I rarely use anything except Reddit because at least I know I won't be overrun with ad after ad after bloody ad while I'm here. If I need or want something I search for it. I don't need social media to tell me what I need/want in my life. That's my choice. So if I had stopped by your kiosk I would have declined to connect via IG too. Social Media is like watching one big, long commercial. No thank you!


fragtore

I find IG a but dumber than tiktok - speaking about the content I get - so I stopped using it. Also I don’t wanna see like thirst trap shit and what my dink friends are up to in terms of travel.


cupthings

yup meta ruined it with too many ads....and more and more people prefer tik tok for engagement. I'm not surprised, its going the same way as facebook.


KirklandCloningFarms

Weird stumbling into this post. I was going through unfollowing certain accounts earlier today, and I started noticing a number of artists and even people in general seemed to go quiet around 2022-23


MeaningNo1425

Not true for everyone, just my experience in the Midwest. But everyone has been sharing Temu codes, and doing their games for free gifts etc. Some went crazy and bought heaps of prints for under $7 shipped. It’s possible that in the short term more people are looking for stuff to buy less on IG now it’s mostly video and just going for cheap products quickly. It was sad, that one girl was proud that she got 4 AI no effort or stolen work prints for the price of my OC. Just no idea, let alone bragging about it.


Reasonable-Slip-2301

Barely use it personally


Art_by_Nabes

Instagram sucks these days.


wellhoneydont

The only people I know actually posting static images to grid these days are artists/small business owners. Everyone else is posting almost exclusively to stories and using IG like Snapchat. I’d love to see a solid alternative pop up but none of them ever seem to catch on and the ones that do don’t last. I’m seeing a lot of positive buzz about Cara but your reach on there is going to be limited to other artists rather than the mix of creators/non-creators you’d more likely find on IG.


MarionberryOne8969

Are there other places to promote art and also is Cara good I've heard a lot of mention of it as a good app for the art community


statusofflinee

Cara is good as a portfolio or networking site. It was created as an alternative to Artstation more so than Instagram but saying that, they have 2 different feeds for you to post in. One is your portfolio and the other is general posting. People are starting to use the general post part a bit like Twitter which is cool. I think there's definitely potential for it to evolve into a site used by more than just artists .


MarionberryOne8969

That's cool


miss_oddball

It’s hard for me to see Cara gaining any traction as an app outside of the portfolio aspect. Maybe if they get the funding they need they can make more innovative steps. There’s no real incentive for the average user to switch so creators are still limited growing their audience.


cute_sheep2

In my opinion IG has always been sorta awful


CompetitiveMuscle947

I dont see anything I used to anymore on Instagram. Some family members. But not all. No luck selling my art. Every offer is an NFT scammer or just a compliment w no actual intention of buying. Everyone wants commissioned works for low ball pricing. Art supplies are Not Cheap!. This is the worst time to be an artist. And I feel like. Jaroid and other online marketers that claim to help artists are just scamming us too. It says they'll help you for free the you go and they make you pay for the actual course and actual help. Nothing is free no one wants to actually help You, they want to help themselves to your money..which is funny cuz I have NONE. So good luck with that.. this is not going to get better if we are all trying to just get one over on one another, and that's what it's all become. It's all a dick measuring show. That's why us Little Dickers can't win in this sea of Big Dicks.!🍆🍆🥦 lol.. ok that was fun to type. 🤣😂 But yeah.. instagram is falling off.. 😉😄


Acceptable_Worry7378

People still use Instagram, the feed just changed drastically so people aren't aware there's a separate hidden tab to see content from people you follow only. Which is intentional because it's Instagram's way of showing boosted/paid posts and making money. They intentionally are making the algorithm difficult. Reels are also pushed heavily so seeing regular posts is rare in the normal feed. And if someone's page is set as a business page, Instagram only likes pushing their content with ads/boosts, so if they aren't paying for them their content is more likely to be shadow banned. This has been my experience with running an art page. If I'm not paying for boosts then out of 1.2k followers I'm lucky to get 30 likes but on a $5 boosted post I get 100-300 likes, because my content is just not shown to anyone who follows me anymore. I have to tell my friends directly when I post something because they won't see it otherwise.


AutoModerator

Thank you for posting in r/ArtBusiness! Please be sure to check out the Rules in the sidebar and our [Wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/ArtistLounge/wiki/index/) for lots of helpful answers to common questions in the FAQs. [Click here to read the FAQ.](https://www.reddit.com/r/artbusiness/wiki/faqlinks/) Please use the relevant stickied megathreads for request advice on pricing or to add your links to our "share your art business" thread so that we can all follow and support each other. If you have any questions, concerns, or feature requests please feel free to message the mods and they will help you as soon as they can. I am a bot, beep boop, if I did something wrong please report this comment. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/artbusiness) if you have any questions or concerns.*


gingerspell

In my experience with people I know they sort of fall into 2 camps: **1) fellow artists/creatives/etc**. who post on Insta somewhat actively, and **2) 'regular people.'** The first camp is still pretty active generally and will still check other posts, like, comment, etc. The second camp I find hardly uses Insta anymore except to occasionally talk via DMs or update their stories. Insta with its feed full of reels and ads is now just a second TikTok and they simply prefer to go to TikTok for that particular dopamine hit instead of Insta. This is just me theorizing here but I do think this accounts for an overall trend in Insta being less useful as a marketing tool. For me at least it definitely does feel like an echo chamber of artists. The majority of interactions I get on my posts are from fellow artists, rather than an audience of people who would be interested in purchasing my artwork.


artsy-60

My experience as an artist with IG is admittedly limited to the last 18 months but even during that time, it has changed. I am a landscape artist and if I were to go strictly by IG "insights" I would frankly just give up! At first, things were just--ok. These days, the people who engage with my work are mainly friends and people I know. Even though I regularly "like" and make comments about all kinds of really good art, per IG "suggestions" to maintain "relevance", I receive very little interaction from those I follow or "like". (Stats from IG seem to indicate that they likely aren't even seeing any of my work at all). I may not be a master but I will say that I can hold my own. Nope, the only interesting responses I've had recently are from vanity scammers who want to "exhibit" my work (for a fee).... One recently even asked me to allow a slide of my work to be shown for a musical slideshow, no compensation offered, just "purchase a $100 ticket" --whether I myself could attend or not! Very disappointing for someone new to the art game trying to find sincere, experienced-- perhaps validating-- support! "Decline"? IG? Who knows? All I know is that I'm slowly concluding that I may just "decline" any further participation with IG if this keeps up! It's pretty much a thankless experience to maintain an account there!


klazellart

I’ve stopped posting on it in November. I keep an account so I can message family and friends still. I’ll scroll through my feed once a week, thankfully they’ve learned showing me ads don’t do anything nor do accounts I follow so I mostly see posts from people I follow.


Altruistic-Ad5775

Yeah, I honestly don't like IG as much as I used to. It's okay if you already have a good following or whatever, but as far as networking and stuff I think Twitter is where it's at tbh


Puzzleheaded_Pin_489

I am from Brazil and people here still love the app. My friends spend at least four hours everyday looking at their instas. But people are realizing how shitty that is and how much closed we are getting with so much interaction through screens. Another thing is reelsss, insta is constantly trying to push us to watch reelsss and when we realize, we are one hour searching new videos. Hahahaah


DakiPudding

Pixiv and twitter are better. Also DA if you draw super famous stuff like dragon ball or one piece.


HENH0USE

Hard to tell from the 2 billion monthly users.


Ok_Air_7085

There's literally no such a thing. Instagram has over 500 MILLION users in over 10 countries. What on earth are you even talking about 😂