Boring by Design

I made a new Instagram account the other day, mostly as a test account to look at certain behaviors of the service. Meanwhile, it just kind of sat there dormant. Then I had an idea. I’ve been using a service called Glass for the past few years. I’ve talked about it before; it’s a great service with a beautiful interface. But it also costs $40/year, and none of my real-life friends are there. Don’t get me wrong; I’ve met some great connections on the internet as well. But it’s not the same as someone you’ve known in person seeing your content.

So I decided to mirror my Glass account on Instagram. The account is private, and I’m only adding people I’ve dealt with locally. The main reason is I want to share my work with people I’m familiar with. None of them are seeing me on Glass. I feel like this can open me up to being more active with photography. To want to share more and challenge myself. Maybe you’ll see a string of photos featuring the color red. Maybe I’ll take photos of cars for a while. I just want to play with this art form a bit.

Then there’s the other side of it. My main account was created shortly after Instagram launched. Through the years, it’s accumulated not only my garbage but also the garbage of all the influencers, brands, and god knows what else. My feed is a chaotic mess. A new account is a chance for a reset, to have a feed of only people I’ve met and interacted with on a local level.

I’d love a feed of friends just sharing their lives. Instagram has a tab to show only those you follow. And would you believe it shows posts in chronological order? This means I can get in, see what’s new, and leave without having to sift through all the influencer garbage.

It’s a constant battle to tame social media, as it is their game to keep you in it as much as possible. The key is to stay away from the endless scrolls and follow only what you need to. You have to set your rules and curate your experience. It’s boring by design because it allows me to go back to living my life, one that can allow me to get better at photography.