Instagram is a beautiful, beautiful platform. Sure, there are pros and cons, like with any other social media, but we can’t deny it, it’s as popular as waffles (seriously though, waffles are more popular than ever these days). Talking about the book community, it’s no surprise we bookworms have found yet another way to express our book addiction. And the bookworms on instagram? My, are they getting attention. With all the influencer stuff going on, brands pay them attention, and I can’t help but wonder if Instagram is slowly becoming the new twitter, in terms of activity and engagement.
It can be just me though, because I don’t hang out on twitter as much now. I only open the app to see the ‘What did I miss’ section, check on a group chat with some blogger friends, and then I’m outta there.
But anyway, the question is, do you have to be on bookstagram to be relevant or to stay on top of things? If you already know bookstagram is not your thing and you’d rather just chill and share pics of your lovely pets, then cheers! But if you’ve been giving this some thought and are unsure about what to do, hopefully this will help.
A while ago, when, according to myself I didn’t even have 200 followers on IG, I made a post about why you should consider joining bookstagram. That was two years ago, and since then, I’ve learned many things about life bookstagramming. All I said is still valid to me, because I joined for all those reasons, as a sort of break from the blog. But the post didn’t address the pressure, or confusion some people are beginning to feel about bookstagram. I didn’t feel it then, and I definitely see it, and feel it now.
If you have a bookish business, I strongly recommend it
I’m making my college thesis about Instagram engagement so my brain is filled with tons of useful and useless information about this holy grail platform. One of the things that became increasingly clear was that Instagram is very, very good for business.
If you have a business related to books in any way, you’ll want to connect with your target audience on instagram. There’s a lot of ways you can form a real connection with them and be able to gauge their interest about products. Maybe it’s not great for actually getting people to buy, but it can be the first step in convertin users into customers.
Will you be a more popular blogger if you jump into the bookstagram bandwagon?
Short answer: No.
Long answer: Instagram is like blogging in many ways. Some people are incredibly charming and talented and were at the right place, at the right time; and it resulted with them having a hundred followers in only a few weeks after starting their blog. For others, it takes more time. It’s taken years. I’m not a popular blogger, but well, anyone with eyes can see this is true. They’ve build up their audience, shown up every week with new reviews, discussions, talking with all of us and making us feel welcomed…
Instagram is the same that way. You’ll see some accounts with less than a hundred pictures but already hitting it close to 10k in followers. Others have those 10k but 1k worth of posts to back their follower count. We all have different stories.
So no, instagram isn’t a magical social media. Deciding to join what has become a popular platform will not automatically make you popular. It’s just a tool, it doesn’t do the work for you.
You have to commit to it like you’ve done with your blog, set apart time, energy, and perhaps even a couple of bucks to make it work.
And that brings me to my next point…
The two key questions you must ask
Do you actually have the time and energy for it?
Before debating whether you should, or shouldn’t, perhaps you should think about if you can. And I don’t mean if you can have a pretty bookstagram, because I have all the faith in you about that. I mean, if you have the time to put into building your pretty bookstagram. I think you can get away with not buying a single prop and still getting beautiful pictures, but you can’t do it without devoting a good amount of time to it.
Taking pictures takes time, and patience, and even more so while you learn what it is you want out of your feed. The same way you take the time to establish a voice and a style through your words in a blog. You’ve got to find that same style through visuals in Instagram.
Do you want to do bookstagram?
Maybe you can and have all the time in the world to dedicate to bookstagram. But, do you even want to? If you’d like to learn and be part of this platform then by all means, we’re waiting for you, bookworm friend! But if you’re just worried about missing out, and feel like this would be an added ‘responsibility’, then don’t do it. Don’t think about it twice.
If you’re not sure if you would enjoy it, then I do encourage you to give it a try, as something you do once in a blue moon. See if taking pictures of books makes you happy. If you find that you really do enjoy it and would like to try out new ways to get that perfect angle and make those books shine, then stick with it!
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I hope I was able to clear some doubts about this, and if you’d like to talk about it more, then I’m available in the comments, or even at Instagram itself.
Do you bookstagram? Why did you start in the first place? And if you don’t, what is keeping you from it?
I suddenly had the impulse to do it one day and joined Instagram. I’d never even considered it before! Anyway, three, maybe four months later I decided I was bored of it so I left. Dumped a lot of my other book blog related social media channels too. :’)
Lool, did it ever stress you out? Or you were simply not interested? -I kind of admire you for it either way XD
Ack, this post super helpful with what’s been gnawing through my mind as of late. You’ve actually already commented on it and I’m just here looking at your blog and your reviews and discussion posts. Lovely blog. 🙂
Haha, thanks! Yes, your post made me think of this post so I just kind of summarized it in my comment XD Thanks for stopping by!
Great post Pamela! I used to have a Bookstagram account along with my blog but I’ve neglected it for these past year and a half :’) I agree that bookstagram is like a blog. And just like a blog, it takes the same amount of effort to sustain. I used to think it would be easier because I take book photos for my blog too, but it’s a whole different challenge altogether. Different audience, different pace, etc. In the end, I’ve decided to stop posting because at this moment I don’t have it in me to keep up with it 🙁 anyway, good luck with your thesis! <3
Thanks! It’s good that you acknowledge it’s not possible for you right now. It’s better than stressing yourself out! But I do hope maybe sometime in the future because your pics are beautiful! And thanks, because I’m going to need the luck XD !
I love bookstagram, and I’ve been really enjoying putting more effort into my account lately, but it does take a lot of work. I’ve had a busy week this week, for example, and haven’t posted much, and now I feel guilty, as if I’ve been slacking! It’s fun and creative though, and best of all you get to interact with loads of other people who share your love of books! 🙂
I feel guilty when I don’t post too XD But I’ve decided to take weekends off. Instead I post some stories to make up for the lack of content on the feed. Busy weeks are the worst. I now take all the pics for the following week on a single day, but still, writing the caption is a daily thing and sometimes I’m soooo brain dead! Good to know you enjoy it in spite of the tough parts!
I’m one of those accounts that take ages to grow. I don’t get really what I do wrong (also because I post and talk about kinda the same things of the other bookstagrammer), but I like being there.
One time I was really active and as soon as I feel better on terms of time, I will probably restart to being much more active and interact.
I think that for me is a place where I can relax and talk without feeling pressure
The slow growth is sooo frustrating! And sometimes discouraging too! I also feel like my IG grows at a snail pace but, meh, what can I do? I like to remind myself exactly what you’re saying: that the point is to relax and talk to people without pressure. It’s something we all should keep in mind all the time. It doesn’t mean that you don’t have to care about growing, just that you can’t obsess over it and let it get you down.
Initially when I joined bookstagram, it was to try something that was picking up. A lot of people started bookstagrams then but somehow I just couldn’t grow my account because I was still focused on improving my blog and socializing through twitter. I eventually deleted that account at 65 (or so) followers.
But I MISSED taking photos and playing around with layouts. I just missed taking photos of books. So in August last year, I started another account where I concentrate more on taking photos I WANT to and playing around as I like. Now I’m at 700 and it makes me so happy that people like me doing just what I like. Amongst my bookstagram friends, I’m known as the one who changes themes frequently. I get bored with one theme if it’s for too long so I’ve taken to keeping a theme for at least one mobile screen (15 photos) and then continuing/changing based on my interests. Now I’m actually on my 9th theme!
GO YOU! It was very much the same for me! The theme I’m using right now is the longest I’ve used and actually liked, I think. I’m happy with it, but for almost two years I’ve changed it up so many times XD
But you’re right, it’s very hard to see results when you’re not giving it the focus and times it demands. For the first year I posted from time to time, and didn’t really interact with others that much, so the account didn’t grow that much (Just like it’d happen with a blog!).
I feel like I could have handled instagram if it were only taking photos and editing them, but now there’s the added feature of stories, where it almost seems like in order to be a popular instagrammer, you have to have your story always updated as well? But even so I still do enjoy instagram because I do like taking pictures. It’s just hard to keep on top of everything especially when the app (and algorithm) change all the time!
I understand! Lately Instagram has gotten a little extra and started adding new features left and right and I admit it’s left me feeling overwhelmed. I think they’re taking a chance with everything having to do with video, since it seems more people respond to that.
It’s great you still enjoy it though. It’s hard to ignore those things and still keep to what you like to do. The IGTV for example, is not really my thing, because I tend to ramble and at least stories give me a limit.
oh yes!!
i’m not……….. actually technically part of book twitter anymore but i made an insta for my meatspace self. then i deleted it a few weeks later. i already have Too Many social media accounts and i can’t keep track of another one, especially when half my friends use it the same way as snapchat honestly.
also your thesis is on instagram??? that’s super cool omg
Lool I so get the struggle of managing too many social media. I think that’s why I decided to relax with twitter and just focus on Instagram. And I get the snapshat thing too XD. Stories are fun, but some people get carried away.
And yup, instagram engagement in the fashion industry in my country. What makes people like or comment, more specifically. My counselor has faith in the topic so I hope it’ll all be okay!
good luck!!!
I have mixed feelings about Bookstagram. On the one hand, I agree that it’s important for anyone with a book-related business, and all the photos are VERY beautiful. But on the other hand…I just don’t like taking photos, haha. I never have, of anything. Still, I have an account with a meager amount of photos, and it’s one of those things I hope I can someday create a regular routine with. I’m not stressing about it too much right now, but it’s definitely something I have in the back of my mind I’d like top get back into.
Glad to hear you’re not stressing about it. We can stress about stuff even if we love doing it. I really do believe that if you don’t like it, you shouldn’t force it. Just do what you’re most comfortable with!
Oh Pam this is such a brilliant post, I love it so much. I have to admit that, more often than not lately, I have this feeling that I HAVE to be on bookstagram and that, by not being part of it, I am missing out. Yet, I know that, between working all day, keeping up with blogging, reading and my personal life, putting in the work on bookstagram seems impossible, unless I cut down on something else, and… I don’t really want to. Yet, I feel like I’m missing tons of opportunities by not being on bookstagram. Being part of a community there that seems lovely, missing opportunities with publishers (obviously), just, MISSING out overall and I hate that feeling. I guess I’ll never really get rid of that though :/
Lovely post! <3 <3
Thank you! Don’t feel bad at all because you’re so good at keeping up with things in the blogosphere already! And I like your occasional travel and food pics! Maybe one day things will be more relaxed but until then, I think you’re doing great!