Your Wattpad Agony Aunt! (On hold)

#73 - Instagram Blues!

Dear genie_us/Agony Aunt,

I got Instagram almost 3 years ago before about 95% of my friends (no one really used it). It sucked because there was no one to follow but I convinced a few to get it and eventually most of my friends got it. Most got it last year.

Fast forward to now and they all have more followers than me! I know the time doesn't matter but I'm kinda embarrassed and feel like my follower count represents my popularity and this might be wrong but I can't help it.

I have a lot of friends and I even moved schools 3 times, so I have met more people.

People have been unfollowing me and that might have something to do with it being so low. I have a tracker to see who unfollows me and over 80 accounts have and it makes me question how much friends I really have. It's taking a toll on my self esteem.

I post maybe every two weeks on average and I don't spam. I never take selfies and all my pics are of traveling because I love to travel. The follower thing doesn't bother me all the time, just sometimes (especially during that time of month)

How can I feel better about my social media life (and maybe earn more followers?)

~Social Media Sucker

::

Helloooooo!

So I will admit that I'm basically obsessed with Instagram and therefore this is probably one of the most interesting questions I've gotten recently! Hehe.

I think firstly we will address the bit where you ask how you can get more followers. I don't claim to be an expert on Instagram, but based on my experiences I may have a couple of tricks up my sleeve.

1. Hashtags

Using hashtags helps rack up your likes, and, subsequently, more people notice you, which allows for them to follow you if they like your page.

It's definitely more effective to use few hashtags that are popular rather than using many hashtags that barely anyone uses. I usually tag my pics #vsco because I use the app, as well as #travel and #traveldiaries (I like to travel too). But that's just me. You can always find out what the most popular tags are and use them.

You could also tag your photos #f4f #follow #followback #followme which are relatively popular and they encourage other people to follow your account, particularly on the promise that you'll follow them back (#f4f means #followforfollow).

You don't need to use too many, but just remember to choose effective ones. If you find that certain ones really work for you, then stick to them.

2. Be Active

The thing about social media that depends on gaining followers, i.e. Twitter, Instagram, and even Wattpad, is that they require you to continually be active to get more notice.

By being active, I mean:
(1) like other people's photos, whether it's your friends or random people's photos you find when looking through hashtags. Chances are that people will often return the favour, and maybe follow you back in the process.

(2) you can follow other people. I'm not sure if you're the type that is pissy about following more people than those who follow you, but if you aren't, then you can definitely gain a large number of followers by following other people. That is, on the assumption that a certain percentage of them will follow back.

To know whether they're more likely to follow you back, you can either search for these people who use #f4f or you can look at their following vs followers: if they are following more people than their followers, then they're more likely to actually follow you back.