instagram changed my life.
It might seem like an exaggeration, but this is the truth.
When I was a child, I had many hobbies because I was the type who would easily warm up to things and just as easily cool down.
This also applied to SNS– Facebook, and before that, mixi… I never stayed with anything for very long.
Only with instagram was I able to continue for three years.
Hmm…why is that? I wonder.
・it may seem obvious, but it’s because it involves photos I really like
・LIKEs are tangible
・you are free to create as many images (photos) as you want in the way you want
・you can effectively transmit and communicate your idea or your perspective
It is because of the confluence or alignment of several elements, I realized, that we end up continuing something without tiring of it.
But what is the biggest reason?
What is it that maintains my attention so well and allows me to concentrate so intensely？
I think it ‘s what I mentioned before: LIKEs.
For creators, people who make things, having other people see their work and recognize these is very important.
Through the action of LIKING, or thanks to it, the things you see with with your own eyes can stimulate your motivation.
I’m looking at one of my works I posted 5 years ago. I only received 5 LIKES for it and these were all from people who follow me. I nevertheless continued seeing the photos of others, following their creators, and LIKING them. My followers’ LIKEs started increasing day by day. One year, I had over 1000 LIKEs on instagram. That was almost exactly two years ago–I remember being ecstatic.
It was at that time that I started understanding how to get a lot of LIKEs.
It’s by uploading beautiful pictures with vivid colors…
…photos that make people think: “What’s happening here? How uncanny!”
…and then by maintaining the consistency of this theme.
From a long time ago, I have hardly uploaded monochrome photos.(The eye is naturally drawn to the colorful pictures with vivid colors.) This was my personal philosophy and I didn’t expect others to subscribe to it.
My followers have mostly ended up following me after having seen one of my posted photos.
Therefore, if I all of a sudden I started uploading cute animals or food pictures, wouldn’t my followers start thinking: “…what’s going on here..?”
I consider my followers to be my fans. If I want to maintain my LIKEs, I must make sure not to upload pictures that betray my fans.
You are probably thinking that taking photos just to increase the number of LIKEs is questionable.
But that is not what I am advocating here.
The most important thing is to have the things you like successfully communicated.
As I started getting more and more into it, the number of my fans increased, my LIKEs increased, as did my confidence and motivation — it was almost cyclic.
It is by continuing in this way that I have been able to win over the readers now following my column.
I would almost say it has changed my life.
Wacamera
wacamera.com
Profession: cameraman/photographer. I started using instagram 3 years ago. Through instagram, I create images based on shapes etc. that appeal to me. The only processing I use is that offered by my iPhone and iPad. I mostly go on photography expeditions with my friends. Next month I’m going abroad to take photos.