Instagram was my go to app, I genuinely loved it because I love photos, the instant share ability and the snooping obviously, damn anyone with their account on private. Sometimes you fall out of love with things and that is exactly what has happened with my old pal Insta and I.
I blame Facebook. There's always someone else isn't there? Facebook came in with its stupid blue logo, bought out my favourite app and started turning it into a mini photo sharing Facebook. Have they never heard of the saying, "IF it's not broke, don't fix it"?!... Clearly not. First came the dated photos then the numerous adverts, the dreaded algorithm and then blatant Snapchat rip off, Instastories. So in honour of the late Instagram, I'm sharing 10 things I hate about the damn thing.
The Spam Bots
Oh those pesky, spamming bastards. Last week I shared a couple of posts moaning about how ill I was and I was met with comments of inspiring, very cool and nice pic. Who knew a viral infection was so inspiring?! I've started being really petty and replying to them and asking them to stop being spammy assholes but then THEY get offended. HA. More often than not I will flag the comment as spam then block. By 2050 I might have wheedled out crap.
The Follow/Unfollow Game
Bigger bloggers, bloggers just starting out, people clearly in it for the free shit, well established accounts of any sort are the WORST for following then unfollowing alllll the time. It is so obvious to see, one minute they're on a couple of thousands followers then all of a sudden they're following over 2000 accounts and bam, once they've followed back, they unfollow everyone. It's shady, desperate and makes me not want to not have you in my feed at all. Hello block button.
Buying Followers
Search Buying Followers on Twitter you'll be met with a barrage of shitty tweets, it's really looked down on but you may be surprised at how common it actually is. Recently an account I followed had around 6000 followers the following week she either upped her game massively or spent a tenner on 10K new followers. It is painstakingly obvious when people do this and a number of the most sought after bloggers at the moment are guilty of it. I personally think this is quite sad because more often than not the people that pay for the followers have good content, they just can't be arsed to wait for the organic growth.
The Non-Existent Edit Button
Before I start, yes I know you can edit captions, what I want to be able to do is edit comments and seeing as you can edit captions WHY CAN'T YOU edit comments?! How many times have you posted a comment only for a misspelling or grammatical error to be shining back like a beacon? I personally delete the comment really damn quickly and start again but it's 2017, give us another edit button on Instagram, please and don't get me started on Twitter.
The Algorithm
This RUINS Instagram. I never see accounts I want to anymore, my own followers do not see my posts and unless I spam the heck out of people, I don't get to see anything. My feed is boring, I keep seeing photos from 23 hours ago and I'm fed up of sponsored posts. I spent hours scrolling through Instagram, always finding new content but even my explore page is diabolical now too. I hate change. I also will not pay £10 to boost a post for only a quarter of my followers to see when they should be able to see it anyway!
Instastories
I won't lie, I'm a Snapchat fan through and through, I like the filters too much. I've kinda tried to get into Instastories but I can't. I'll post the odd boomerang but very rarely anything else. I rarely look at others stories too, unless you're on Snapchat, I won't be snooping on your life anytime soon. Instagram was always a photo sharing app and it now feels like there are too many fingers, in alllll the pies because of the video ability. Typical Facebook.
Instagram Pods
I love and hate Instagram pods. Right now, the pods I'm in are fab but I have had to leave a couple due to people being ridiculously strict, too many rules or people just not bothering. Follow the basic idea of them and they're great but I have found in the past there are always one or two that just can't be bothered but will always expect the love on their own posts or one that will scroll through all their likes and comments to check every single person has interacted with their post then throw a bitch fit if one person hasn't because they have a job and a life. You may think I'm joking but that last one actually happened in one pod I was in! If you're looking to create your own, privately message your faves and ask them! It is the best way to do it.
White Flatlays
I cannot tell you how bored I am of seeing the perfectly executed white flatlays. Feeds full of the same style of photos just with different makeup and placing. You could have the best Twitter bants and blog content but if your Instagram looks the same as the thousands of others before you then I won't be following. There is zero personality and it is not original plus times are changing, this theme has been done for years and it's gradually falling behind. Show your personality!
Themes
Much like my hate for white flatlays, it makes me sad when I see people's distress on Twitter because an image they adore won't fit into their theme. Just share that photo! Yes, it's been proven time and time again that themes work on Instagram but life really is too short if that is your main worry.
Stealing Images
This is a pet hate of many and something that just gets worse as the years go on. You regularly see images shared by others as their own even though it takes two seconds to credit the original poster. Pinterest images are also shared on Instagram with no credit whatsoever even though in the time it takes you to download that image, you could click through and find the original source and not just credit Pinterest. It's rude, lazy and possibly a lawsuit waiting to happen.
What are your pet peeves about Instagram?
You can follow my Instagram by clicking HERE or searching alicespake.
The Spam Bots
Oh those pesky, spamming bastards. Last week I shared a couple of posts moaning about how ill I was and I was met with comments of inspiring, very cool and nice pic. Who knew a viral infection was so inspiring?! I've started being really petty and replying to them and asking them to stop being spammy assholes but then THEY get offended. HA. More often than not I will flag the comment as spam then block. By 2050 I might have wheedled out crap.
The Follow/Unfollow Game
Bigger bloggers, bloggers just starting out, people clearly in it for the free shit, well established accounts of any sort are the WORST for following then unfollowing alllll the time. It is so obvious to see, one minute they're on a couple of thousands followers then all of a sudden they're following over 2000 accounts and bam, once they've followed back, they unfollow everyone. It's shady, desperate and makes me not want to not have you in my feed at all. Hello block button.
Buying Followers
Search Buying Followers on Twitter you'll be met with a barrage of shitty tweets, it's really looked down on but you may be surprised at how common it actually is. Recently an account I followed had around 6000 followers the following week she either upped her game massively or spent a tenner on 10K new followers. It is painstakingly obvious when people do this and a number of the most sought after bloggers at the moment are guilty of it. I personally think this is quite sad because more often than not the people that pay for the followers have good content, they just can't be arsed to wait for the organic growth.
The Non-Existent Edit Button
Before I start, yes I know you can edit captions, what I want to be able to do is edit comments and seeing as you can edit captions WHY CAN'T YOU edit comments?! How many times have you posted a comment only for a misspelling or grammatical error to be shining back like a beacon? I personally delete the comment really damn quickly and start again but it's 2017, give us another edit button on Instagram, please and don't get me started on Twitter.
The Algorithm
This RUINS Instagram. I never see accounts I want to anymore, my own followers do not see my posts and unless I spam the heck out of people, I don't get to see anything. My feed is boring, I keep seeing photos from 23 hours ago and I'm fed up of sponsored posts. I spent hours scrolling through Instagram, always finding new content but even my explore page is diabolical now too. I hate change. I also will not pay £10 to boost a post for only a quarter of my followers to see when they should be able to see it anyway!
Instastories
I won't lie, I'm a Snapchat fan through and through, I like the filters too much. I've kinda tried to get into Instastories but I can't. I'll post the odd boomerang but very rarely anything else. I rarely look at others stories too, unless you're on Snapchat, I won't be snooping on your life anytime soon. Instagram was always a photo sharing app and it now feels like there are too many fingers, in alllll the pies because of the video ability. Typical Facebook.
Instagram Pods
I love and hate Instagram pods. Right now, the pods I'm in are fab but I have had to leave a couple due to people being ridiculously strict, too many rules or people just not bothering. Follow the basic idea of them and they're great but I have found in the past there are always one or two that just can't be bothered but will always expect the love on their own posts or one that will scroll through all their likes and comments to check every single person has interacted with their post then throw a bitch fit if one person hasn't because they have a job and a life. You may think I'm joking but that last one actually happened in one pod I was in! If you're looking to create your own, privately message your faves and ask them! It is the best way to do it.
White Flatlays
I cannot tell you how bored I am of seeing the perfectly executed white flatlays. Feeds full of the same style of photos just with different makeup and placing. You could have the best Twitter bants and blog content but if your Instagram looks the same as the thousands of others before you then I won't be following. There is zero personality and it is not original plus times are changing, this theme has been done for years and it's gradually falling behind. Show your personality!
Themes
Much like my hate for white flatlays, it makes me sad when I see people's distress on Twitter because an image they adore won't fit into their theme. Just share that photo! Yes, it's been proven time and time again that themes work on Instagram but life really is too short if that is your main worry.
Stealing Images
This is a pet hate of many and something that just gets worse as the years go on. You regularly see images shared by others as their own even though it takes two seconds to credit the original poster. Pinterest images are also shared on Instagram with no credit whatsoever even though in the time it takes you to download that image, you could click through and find the original source and not just credit Pinterest. It's rude, lazy and possibly a lawsuit waiting to happen.
What are your pet peeves about Instagram?
You can follow my Instagram by clicking HERE or searching alicespake.
