15 Reasons Why I Still Love Social Media
Iâve been writing here on Substack for two years now. I came here because my friend, , told me to. Well, sort of. I came because Iâd been writing a blog for ten years and it had stopped bringing me joy. Iâd started writing weekly back in 2016 because I was posting daily on Instagram and was asked so many questions about how I decorated my house that I wanted to add extra information that wasnât possible in the captions. I set up my own website on Squarespace with absolutely zilch idea of what I was doing, and that was that. Every Saturday I posted thoughts, ideas and ALL the stuff, whether it be decorating projects, vintage finds, holiday write ups or recipes that Iâd made for dinner parties. It was hugely fulfilling, writing down thoughts and ideas on a platform of my own and combined with Instagram (which was rather a different place back in the last decade), it created a career for me that was entirely joyous. But then it sort of stopped feeling joyous and started feeling a bit static. To quote Aristotle, âpleasure in the job puts perfection in the workâ and the pleasure had gone, girl. So I emailed my loyal subscriber list and moved them here, to Substack. I spent a day setting up my page and then started to write, every Saturday. It was transformational, if Iâm being honest. Because itâs a shared platform, it immediately felt like being part of a âgangâ. I transferred over some of my most popular old blogs but basically started afresh. New year, new me, a me that went back to posting once a week because I really enjoyed it, a key factor that had gone missing when managing my own website for a decade. Anyone who has managed their own blog will know that it can feel quite isolating at times. But Substack took my writing and then it presented me with loads of OTHER peoples writing too that I could read, comment on and share. When I first started posting here two years ago, it had the âfeelâ of 2016 Instagram, a time during which it all felt new and shiny, with lots of potential and a feeling that just around the corner, something BIG would happen. And as we all know, it did. During that year, Instagram went from being a photo only site platform to video content, Stories and ALL the stuff. There was limited home content when I first started sharing my home there daily and engagement scared the SHIT out of me. I can recall posting of photo of my DFS French Connection Zinc grey sofa (now THATâS a throwback) and someone that I didnât know commented on how much they liked it. I thought that it was very likely that I was possibly being groomed; imagine commenting on someone elseâs photograph? What sort of fresh hell WAS this? I was British and also from the South; I wasnât keen on having conversation in general with new people, let alone on a social platform. And then, all of a sudden, it kicked off. It was very different from the ubiquitous Facebook (still ranked as the biggest and most used social channel) where you followed only people you were friends with (allegedly) or Friends Reunited (social stalwarts will recall this site where you could catch up with all the people you fancied at school and stalk to see what they looked like now). It grew outwards. On Instagram, you followed people that you found interesting and who inspired you, not just Sally from primary school or your second cousin in Clacton who you only saw once every decade and whose political views made your eyes bleed. It felt CREATIVE. You followed people that you had never met and didnât know. That was the difference. But recently, Instagram as a platform has been feeling a little dismal. The vacuous rise and algorithm feeding popularity of trending videos can feel quite mind numbing and donât even start me on the grammatical issues around these (âgoing to the shopsâ is not a POV - you canât just write POV at the start of a caption and make it a point of view, ffs). Iâve noticed complaints about lack of engagement, sad story Reels about how ânobody sees me anymoreâ thanks to the algorithm. Announcements that people are casting off social media altogether for a better life. Last night whilst my sons were watching the Masters (God help me for the next four days), I found myself âdoom scrollingâ Reels, TikTok stylie, and was presented with iced coffee made out of a dark chocolate Magnum, a talking British Shorthair cat, GLP-1 stories, belly overhangs and proclamations that smoking is the new cool (even I canât justify that one). Itâs a far cry from the calm, seamless interior shots that I used to slowly scroll and comment on a decade ago. But has Instagram had its day? The computer says no. Itâs users are now six times what they were a decade ago and itâs ranked above YouTube and TikTok for social usage. However, there is no denying that it doesnât feel the same as it once did. I started posting on Instagram for interior inspiration and Iâm finding it sadly lacking in this department, my feed full of âquick hacksâ and budget DIY decor that is often non sustainable and wonât last the course. I want to see beautiful rooms, curated with second hand finds and styling inspiration - this was how it was ten years ago, with the major interior accounts being almost entirely thrifted decor. But fear not - Carousels are coming back to popularity, baby, and not soon enough in my book. Research has shown that users are bored of the quick flick and they want to learn, they want to take away knowledge from the time that they spend scrolling, they want to read and save. They want to come away feeling that theyâve GAINED something from time spent on socials, not glassy eyed and needing a bit of a lie down. Which is where Substack comes in. This is exactly the reason WHY it feels so fresh. Yes, itâs still a social media (with tens of millions of users) - you subscribe, follow, share, comment, save; all the things that you do on Instagram or TikTok. But you spend longer on the posts, you read them or save them for later - youâre not swiping past manically until your brain explodes. If you sit down to read a post and get up half an hour later, itâs because youâve been enjoying reading or learning something new, not because youâve got carried away down a rabbit hole of talking cats or bonnet wearing rabbits. Itâs very refreshing and even more inspirational - ANYONE can write on here. It matters not whether you are a seasoned journalist, a blog writer, an occasional journaler or poet or even if you just want somewhere to document your thoughts every few weeks. You can post whatever you like and there will always be someone to read. Itâs like being part of a community and it feels GOOD. And is, hopefully, a move forward in the future of social interaction. But although itâs easy to diss Instagram, I will not be joining the throng of departures. There is no denying that it can be addictive, but the trick is to be able to, in the words of Billy Connelly, âput that purse (phone) awayâ and know when to have a break. I still love what it brings to my life and if it wasnât for posting my DFS French Connection Zinc sofa all of those years ago, I wouldnât be sitting at my desk now doing what I love. Posting my home on Instagram led me to writing a blog, led me to running workshops, led me to writing a book and led me here, where I now write three times a week. It was game changing. So in the midst of change and dissent, what is it about social media that I have always found so attractive? Here are 15 reasons why I wonât be leaving anytime soon. Iâve made some of the closest friends in my life on social media, which is quite astonishing when you think about it. Why is this? Itâs because the people you meet on social media, whatever niche you are in (interiors, food, running, kinky sex, animals - hopefully not all at the same time) love similar things to you. I always used to say that I could push a trolley around Tesco or enter a school playground environment and not meet a single person who enjoyed the same thingsâŠ
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