Instagram musings – Love Hate relationship

I wanted to share some musings on Instagram, which I have started to use a lot more over the past few months. It is a great platform and remarkable how it has grown since inception.

I am more a visual person and the endless supply of photos on décor and design, watches, fashion, lifestyle, fitness, food and places satisfies my creative brain but sometimes I have to stop myself spending hours scrolling through content. The primary purpose of why I use it to post is as a type of diary/blog capturing family moments, motivational quotes, and passions such as trying new coffee shops. One of my accounts is also a business account aimed at the property market as I start my property investment and management journey.

However I must say I do have a love / hate relationship with the platform.

The love part is noted about highlighting how I use it as a visual diary / blog but the hate part stems from the fact that there are many people who create this constant illusion that life is always glamorous and it is normal to have a six-pack, pearly white teeth or a peachy bum.

I always wonder what % of these people are actually real and how many people who are posting these amazing lives are living them.

That is not to say there aren’t any amazing moments in life that should not be shared, but for example there are some people, maybe can be called travel influencers, who post so many pictures of breathtaking places but if you look closer the timelines are impossibly inconsistent.

Recently there have been teeth whitening adverts where in 20 minutes you can have ’10 shades of whiter’ teeth – that is never going to happen and probably quite dangerous if people do buy the products.

I guess I should not let that deter from the people who I find inspiration from and follow. Some are friends and family, others’ messages and journeys inspire and motivate me, and a few are businesses/leaders in fields that I am passionate about

Some of my favourites in this regard include: (with instagram name in brackets)

Health and fitness:

Dr Hazel Wallace (@thefoodmedic)

Benjamin Alldis (@benjaminalldis)

Tara Margulies (@movewithtara)

Olivia fit (@olivia_fit_ldn)

Twice the health (@twicethehealth)

Kallie House (@kalfitlife)

Sara F 1 Rebel (@sarafldn)

1 Rebel (@1rebeluk)

Core Collective gym (@corecollective)

Psycle Gym (@psyclelondon)