Some of you who’ve been following me for a while – whether through my videos or my blog – might remember my extended break from Instagram in 2024. That break was a conscious decision, and honestly, it did me a lot of good. After about six months, I decided to give the platform another try.
Now, once again, I find myself at a point where I’m asking: is the effort really worth the outcome? And at the moment, the answer is no. The effort clearly outweighs the return.
I spend many hours creating content, developing ideas, and designing posts. Still, it often feels like I’m not truly reaching the audience I want to connect with. The numbers keep going down. While that’s not the reason I create, it can still be frustrating.
It’s not about likes or saves. But with the limited time I have alongside my studies, I want to put my energy into something that feels meaningful. As a regular user, I would never have downloaded Instagram in the first place. And if I weren’t trying to build a community and reach people with my work, I’d delete it without hesitation.
I also felt increasingly constricted in my profile. I had somehow outgrown it. The framework no longer fitted. That's why I was determined to start all over again. To start a new notebook, so to speak. I didn't want to delete my old account in the hope that it would show young artists that not everyone else knew what their niche and style was right from the start.
My old account was a space for growth. I developed as an artist, explored different approaches, and gained a lot of experience. I’m really thankful for that time. But now, it feels like the right moment to turn the page and begin a new chapter. I’m excited to see where this will lead.
My content strategy would have been worked out. My style defined, content pre-produced, the blog post written, the video edited and planned, even the reel, the stories and the posts were ready.
But I wasn't.
Over the last few months, my vision has become clearer. I now know more than ever in which direction I want to develop (for the time being). What my goal is, what inspires and motivates me. Much of this has to do with fundamental values. And these have always been in conflict with Instagram. Because the inner conflict wasn't getting any quieter, I kept pushing video and blog posts further and further back.
Youtube is full of videos on how to build your community on Instagram, how to get 10000 followers in 30 days and soooo on.
But is that what I want?
Instagram makes it very easy to reach a lot of people, make money, get brand deals, build a community and drive traffic to your desired pages. I wanted to reach people and hope to inspire with my posts. I still have relatively few views on my page and thought I had to be where the people are. At least that's what they tell you.
But then a crucial thought occurred to me:
The only thing I personally really appreciated about Instagram was a few inspiring content creators. It's unfortunate that their content often only exists there and not in other, more sustainable formats.
This very thought got me thinking.
If I want more people to find the courage to step out of the storm of constant stimuli and seek deeper inspiration - how useful is it to create content myself on a platform that burns me and my own inspiration out?
Wouldn't it be contradictory to be part of a system that I question?
And that was realisation enough for me. I want to take the risk. I still have some doubts about whether and how it can work.
But that's exactly what I need to find out now.
If you'd like to find out more about my time on Instagram or what's coming next, feel free to drop by my blog every now and then and subscribe to my channel on YouTube. I'll still be active there.