Ugh, I'm sick of social media

* This is about to be some word vomit, so be ready for the most random blog I’ve probably ever written*

Let me just say it…I’m SO tired of social media.

Here’s what I know about myself: I am creative by nature. I am outgoing and love connecting with people. I love giving advice and helping people (hence the enneagram 9).

Here’s what I know about social media (especially Instagram!!): it can suck.

It didn’t always suck, actually for a while it brought me a lot of joy and creativity. Since I hardly follow people I know in real life, it’s a great source of inspiration for me. I follow countless Utah bloggers and Oregon photographers who have no clue who I am but who inspire me daily.

But here’s the issue: I am a marketer. It’s my career. I live, breathe + sleep marketing. That’s what this blog is at the end of the day, a way to share and market myself, to showcase my ability to write and express my creativity. While I’m on it, let’s dive into this blog. It’s no secret that it’s taken a backseat for me in the past couple months and honestly, it’s because I’ve been feeling a bit uninspired. When covid hit, all my travel content stuff stopped, which meant I had to pivot. I shared more of my favorite things and life stories, but at the end of the day what brings me the most creative joy is travel. I LOVE it. I am manifesting a life full of travel as we speak. But it’s been tough in this period of limbo to find my groove.

Back to the point, here’s what sparked this post… last night I posted a photo on Instagram and it got roughly 150 likes. Bear with me because I know this is about to sound conceited, but that engagement rate sucks for me. I used to coast into the 250-350+ range without too much consideration of the caption or strategy. But, ever since moving to Cleveland my numbers have plummeted. Why? Because Instagram seems to change its algorithm and trends every other day, and it’s up to creators to figure out the secret sauce. How bull is that?! Just because I don’t like creating Reels doesn’t mean I should be pushed to the bottom of the feed. I try posting more authentic photos of my life, I try putting on my marketer hat + using a little more strategy… same result.

So what did I do? I deleted the app. Yup, swore off the thing for the week. But you know what is dumb about that? I actually love the community of friends on there, so when I delete the app I’m removing conversations and support from people who have become my pals over the years. That doesn’t feel great.

So what’s the secret sauce? I don’t know. Should I focus my energy on stories and post on my feed like once a month? That makes me sad because I really enjoy having my feed as a diary for me to look back on. But what’s my purpose? Am I still inspiring people?

It’s funny because I think back to a conversation I had with my mom and Peter last week. I said that if I died tomorrow, my only hope is that I’ve changed someone’s life for the better, and that I brought light into a room. Light is really the word that drives my life. As weird as it sounds, I think I might do that through social media. While I’m no massive influencer, I do think that I am meant to share my light with the couple thousand of people I reach, whether it’s to inspire you to take risks or show you how silly life can be.

It’s so therapeutic to write out my thoughts, no photos or frills, just me and the words in my head. If you’re a creator and feeling the same way, just know that I am with you and I’ve got your back. You’ve got a friend in me.