Chances are if you are reading this, you partake in some sort of social media activity. Maybe you are a facebook-er. Always scrolling through your feed. Reading news, looking at photos, stalking your high school ex-boyfriend. I don’t know what people do on there all day. There are videos to watch, photo albums to scroll through, happy birthday’s to be wished. Maybe you have a private message. Or an invite to a Origami Owl party. Your ex-neighbors cousin’s sister’s 3rd kid just started pre-k. How stinking cute. Don’t forget to LIKE it.
Do you Twitter? Tweet, tweet. That’s the only thing I think of when I think of twitter. Little tweeting birds, with nothing to say. That’s my problem with Twitter. I have too much to say. They cut me off, and I don’t go for that. I would literally have to tweet 30 times to just tell a story. I don’t have time for all that tweeting. I do however, appreciate Twitter for the one-liners. Some people can really get a lot across in a sentence. Unfortunately I am not one of them. I need a journal. Double bound, college spaced, monogrammed cover. (I live in Alabama now, the more I monogram, the more I fit in). So Twitter, just really isn’t my cup of tea.
And then there is Instagram. Oh Instagram with your hashtags and fancy filters. Instagram made it to the top of my list. I’ll tell you why…
1.) Filters. Need I say more. I used to be able to completely filter out my wrinkled forehead. It is getting harder as I get older, but the filters help. Stuck in cold weather? No problem. Filter a suntan on your pale face. No risk of skin disease there. Black and white filters are the best. My children always look so angelic in black and white. It filters out all colors, sounds of whining, and hides peanut butter smears on their cheeks. Total perfection.
2.) A glimpse. That’s all Instagram is. It is a glimpse into your day, meal, event. It is the story’s cover photo. The picture bloggers use to draw you in. The best of the best. You can take 50 pictures and it is the one that makes the cut. The good one. Filtered of course.
3.) The beauty. There are so many amazing photographers on Instagram. Posting gorgeous photos of the sun rise, ocean views, pregnant woman, children laughing with popsicle stained fingers. Photos that resemble art. Art that I didn’t have to take my fuzzy socks off to view. Can’t beat that.
4.) The inspiration. I have been motivated to be a better mother, wife, dreamer, blogger, business owner and writer all through scrolling IG feeds. People talk about God and grace and giving and how to be a better person. They lay it all out there. Right under their picture. Raw and full of emotion. For you to drink it all in. To relate and connect.
5.) Research. Ok, let me explain this one. When I first started Baby Led Weaning with Joey I didn’t have a whole lot of resources. I mean, yes, Google is my friend. But that can be so overwhelming and be full with tons of unnecessary information. I knew I wanted to feed Joey with this method, I just needed ideas to help get me going. Insert hashtags here. I would just go to the explore page. Search hashtags #BLW #BABYLEDWEANING #6MONTHS #BABYFOOD etc. Suddenly I would be flooded with photos and ideas of what to feed Joey and how to do it. It has proven to be a great resource for ideas for me. Granted, you still have to do your own actual “research”. I wouldn’t feed my baby honey at 5 months just because someone on Instagram did. That’s just common sense.
6.) Exploring. Take my last point for example. You can use that same concept in so many ways. Need a recipe to use up 3 lbs of asparagus? Try searching #asparagus and see how people have used it. Want to check out the quaint beach town you are thinking of visiting? Search it on IG. Chances are you will get a glimpse into the town and see where the good spots to go are, just by seeing what other people posted.
7.) I know I already talked about inspiration, but there is so much weight loss/clean eating/healthy being inspiration on Instagram. Just check out hashtags like #transformationtuesday #fitfam #whole30 #cleaneats. All of these hashtags are going to be full of people that are interested in the same things as you. Maybe you are a mommy blogger. Check out hashtags like #momlife #mommyblogger #blogger #ontheblog. It’s a great way to connect with people who have the same interests as you and motivate yourself to do more of what you are doing.
Instagram takes my social media cake. I love looking back at my own feed and seeing all my little snippets of life. I see one picture but my memory takes me back to the day. The place, the food, the people. If you’re on Instagram, you can follow me @minismama. If you aren’t an Instagrammer yet, you should definitely sign up. It’s like getting to read a tiny piece of someone’s diary and the best part is you get to decide if you want to read more just by hitting the FOLLOW button.
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