We don’t know what’s going to happen with media in any format.  No one knows, because it’s new.  We have to adjust our sails as we learn.  I used to think using an Instagram filter was the WORST!  The filters lead to unrealistic expectations in viewers minds, blah blah blah.   I’m shifting my thoughts completely.  Two reasons: everything is already filtered, and why does the population deserve an unfiltered view, even if that was the reality?

Everything we’re seeing is filtered. It’s filtered snapshots of someone’s day.  Maybe there’s photoshop, maybe there isn’t.  Maybe there’s a professional photographer, maybe it’s an iPhone with a self-timer.  Maybe it’s “retro-009”, maybe it’s botox.  I used to pride myself on not using a filter because I don’t care, you know, this is me take it or leave it.  But then I realized everything I’m saying is filtered, whether intentional or not.  The lighting, my makeup that day.   Basically, I didn’t want anyone comparing themselves to me.  And not having a filter, is almost screaming for that comparison.

I started to unfollow anyone that constantly says they’re being “authentic”.   Or people who are “being real”. I have a hard time being authentic to myself & my own brain, much less comparing my authentic self to someone else’s.   How authentic are these people really being anyway?  Is that even possible at this point?  And why?

I say nothing is permanent because this is a category of people I never thought I would unfollow, but here I am, adjusting the sails.  Once upon a time, no filter & a fully authentic presence made sense, but now it’s almost screaming “follow me!” or “compare yourself to me plz!”.

2. Google Knows Everything You Teach It:

Ok next, our beautiful Instagram feeds.  For a long phase I was stuck thinking: what-the-fuck-Instagram-is-such-a-piece-of-shit.  The only thing I was seeing on my feed was the exact same Sam Eldeman boot being advertised by 159 girls that all look & talk exactly the same?!  I don’t want the Sam Eldeman boot, or any knock off boot either!  I want to laugh, I want to be happy, I want a minute of escape.  Or at least like a sneaker.  I don’t look or talk like any of the 159 girls that keep coming through my feed, what the actual hell? Who am I again?  Do I need this boot?  Literally everyone else owns them.

Little did I recognize, Instagram & analytics thought that’s what I wanted to see.  They were drowning me & making me think that the Sam Eldeman boots & a free people cardigan were the coolest things in the world.  I figured this out when I did an Instagram purge & unfollowed like 200 people.  I then started following comedians, doctors, friends, earth accounts & animals.  And just recently noticed, I rarely see any of those 159 girls anymore.  My feed is now full of comedians making me laugh, a few girls showing me their outfits, pretty earth destinations, and accounts that I find helpful.  No one category taking over another.  Somehow I think I’ve come pretty close to finding a balance & it’s like the clouds parted in the sky.