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Instagranma? What I've learnt about Instagram after joining 48 hrs ago

Lise

So much for smartphone detox and good intentions. I gave into temptation and joined Instagram 2 days ago. I was no longer prepared to miss out on those cool one-minute make up videos my daughter kept showing me. I've posted my first three perfect pictures. Two of my smily family and one of the beautiful hotel pool here in Corsica where we're on vacation right now. I was told that I'm getting it right - although my cousin did mention that instagram perfection would have been me on top of an inflatable pink flamingo in said hotel pool. Where most people would simply join, post, enjoy and get on with it, as usual, I have to reflect and philosophize. So here are my thoughts if you can bear to read them:

It is not Facebook!

I'm told (especially by my kids) that Facebook is no longer cool but I remain a self proclaimed Facebook lover and I don't waste an opportunity to thank Facebook for the many friendships that I've been able to maintain over the years. I truly love babypics, baby stories, food pics, #Ilovemyfamily posts, frustrated, sad and angry posts and even pictures of cats. As long as they allow me to catch up with people (from a distance). I also love sharing interesting articles and debating on Facebook.

Instagram (which has a whopping 1 billion active users) is not really a place for debating nor for sharing an interesting read (in fact, there is no share function). Instagram is (in its own words) a photo and video-sharing social networking service - and it's owned by Facebook so I suppose it would be silly if they were all the same.

Mind the celebrities' business

One of the really cool features of Instagram is that you can follow people who don't follow you back. In a ideal world, Michael Bublé would of course follow me back but in the meantime I have to stalk him on Instagram. And that's how I learnt that Michael B and Luisana had a baby girl yesterday. Awwww. I've also learned that Keith Urban was really grateful for the welcome he got in North Carolina and that Gwen Stefani sometimes does wear nude lipstick. Instagram does, in fact, allow users to feel close to the stars. Many people don't give a damn but for others, it's wonderful and somehow reassuring to see that they're just normal people and that they do normal things. One video I found very sweet, was a video I watched yesterday of Celine Dion saying goodbye to her kids (and the nanny) before leaving for a show.

Who am I?

I need to come up with a name and a bio. I cannot just be lisefloris. I'm considering names such as theofficiallise (I stole that from Sting - well he's theofficialsting, not Lise but still) or Chinamamma, Chinamor - or something with writing or singing. Your ideas are most welcome.

In the meantime, I'll try and understand whether Instagram is for me. Could I be too old to join the Insta-train and could it turn out to be too much of a "perfect" network for me. Thanks to the amazing filters, you're likely to always achieve perfection in whatever you post. You're bombarded with beautiful things. Perfect houses, flawless make-up, weightloss success stories and happy hashtags. Don't get me wrong - beauty is obviously also positive and I suppose it depends on what or whom you follow. Photos from National Geographic make me want to travel (even) more, accounts with amazing pictures from New Zealand make me happy. I'm inspired by decor ideas and in awe of the creativity that artists (including make-up artists) display on Instagram. I might turn out to be an Instagram freerider. I might end up enjoying other people's pictures and following their yummy recipes but only time will tell how much I'll be able to give back.

There you go. I'm overthinking it. But I warned you ;-)

Image above: Juno filter

Image below: No filter

Join me on instagram: lisefloris

Too natural for Instagram?


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