Last Updated on February 20, 2022
Are you on Instagram? If so, I’d like to invite you to follow me here. As you might have guessed, this week’s Sunday Seven focuses on Instagram.
There’s an excellent chance that I will follow Instagram users who follow me, but just like Twitter, I don’t automatically follow every one of my followers.
I’m a lot more selective on Twitter, because a lot of businesses that have absolutely nothing to offer me follow me, hoping to increase their own follower count. Sometimes, Twitter users themselves don’t tweet things that I find either shareable or interesting; in those cases, while I appreciate their follow, I don’t return the favor.
On Instagram, there are several reasons why I’d be perfectly happy to return a follow — or even beat someone to clicking the “Follow” button. And that seemed to me to be a perfect topic for this week’s Sunday Seven.
7 Reasons I’m Most Likely to Follow You on Instagram
1. You know how to compose a photo.
This one may seem like the ultimate no-brainer, but it’s worth pointing out, anyway. I’m not so picky that I’d insist that your portfolio look like it was ready to hang in a New York gallery. But if you’re the type who takes a picture with your own thumb in the shot covering up the subject, well, it’s going to be difficult for me to find another reason to follow you.
2. You show me cool places.
Yes, thanks to the internet, the world is a shrinking place. I like being able to momentarily live vicariously through the lens of someone else, experiencing, to a much smaller degree, what they experienced in person when they stood somewhere else and just looked around with their camera. It doesn’t have to be a place I’d like to go; tropical rainforests are beautiful, but I’m not the type to visit one, except through beautiful photography.
3. You show me cool people.
Or, at least, cool images of “uncool” people. I like looking at portraits and trying to figure out the story of the people into whose eyes I find myself staring.
4. You show me pictures of yourself.
Okay, it’s not necessarily a deal-breaker if there’s no picture of you in your Instagram account. But then the photos you do post really have to be compelling. I like, once in a while, to see what the photographer looks like because I like to get to know the person, to the extent that I can, with whom I’m sharing a look at the world.
5. You post more than those shareable Facebook meme images.
Sure, those little joke graphics that look like fake greeting cards or resemble those classic motivation posters are funny once in a while. But I can see that on Facebook. Show me something else on Instagram.
6. You show me animals.
I’m an animal lover. I like looking at critters of various shapes and sizes, though certain “exotic” animals may not do as much for me as, say, a nice, loyal dog.
7. I’d want your images on my wall.
This one, I realize, is probably the most subjective of them all. But if I see an image that so strongly strikes a chord with me that I’d want a print of it to hang on my wall, you have the talent I’d like to see more of.
Those are my top reasons for following users on Instagram. What are yours? Leave me a comment or play along on your own blog and leave a link to it in a comment!
