Ever wondered about the difference between blogging and Instagrammers?
I did. While looking around for Over 40 Style bloggers, I found more and more women were moving to Instagram, and either not having a blog or not updating their blog as frequently as they posted to Instagram.
… people want to read in small chunks rather than the longer essays that thrived in the blogging space and that could go into more depth.
Washington Post
I’m not sure I agree about people always wanting to read in small chunks. There’s a time and place for both long and short reads. When commuting I want something light and fast. On rainy weekends I like to settle down with a cup of tea and and long read.
I don’t agree that “bloggers are just instagrammers now” (Quartz). I think the two are very different in terms of engagement and honesty and audience.
I don’t feel any connection to ‘grammers, whereas I feel like I am connected to some bloggers thanks to their writing.
In fact some blogs lost me when they moved from just the one blogger (who I liked) to a collection of writers who I didn’t know (e.g. Mamamia and The Mom Edit).
Without a connection to your audience you can easily lose them.
I used to be a huge Dooce fan around the time her first daughter was born in 2004.
This article in Vox provides an interesting summary of those mummy blogger days, and how things have changed in the last ten or so years.
Bloggers had risen to fame thanks to deeply personal posts;
Vox
Instagram personalities operate in a much more visual medium, relying on photos of cute kids and beautiful homes for likes.
The biggest stars of the mommy Internet now are no longer confessional bloggers.
Washington Post
They’re curators of life. They’re influencers. They’re pitchwomen.
And with all the photos of minimalist kitchens and the explosion of affiliate links, we’ve lost a source of support and community, a place to share vulnerability and find like-minded women, and a forum for female expertise and wisdom.
It’s a numbers game
What it comes down to – for people who want to make money out of creating content for the internet – is working out a way to attract an audience with interesting content AND at the same time attracting commercial opportunities by providing non-controversial content.
If you want to talk crap about somebody you will get more views. But if you do that a brand will not touch you, so even though you’ll get more views, you’ll never have commercial opportunity.
Independent
It seems that for some bloggers moving to Instagram is attractive because less effort is required to post something.
But the risk is that you lose the connection with your audience if you treat them as consumers with your posts little better than infomercials.
…most “influencers” are calculating with what they write, looking specifically for ways to grow their audiences.
Washington Post
This article at Daily Travel Pill has a comprehensive explanation of the pros and cons of blogging versus Instagramming as a money making enterprise.
The Unconventional Route provides a more mathematical analysis of Blogs Vs Instagram (in 2018 dollars).
Certainly everyone who works in this space needs to work hard to BOTH keep their audience numbers up, and keep their advertisers happy.
The impact of COVID19 on audience numbers for social media appears to be mixed. Less people are commuting so in some places the numbers are down. But people in lockdown are consuming more content instead of going out.
Challenges facing ‘grammers include the risk that the platform provider changes their feed algorithms (or removes like counts) which can cut income in an instant.
Mommy influencers need a plan for once their kids grow up and aren’t so compliant.
I got a tad obsessed with comparing the number of Instagram followers of some of my favourite bloggers and celebrities (and some not so favourite!):
| @kyliejenner | 181m | |
| @selenagomez | 105m | |
| @zendaya | 72m | |
| @kayla_itsines | 12.5m | Kayla Itsines – SWEAT app |
| @joannagaines | 12.5m | The Blog | Joanna Gaines + Magnolia Market |
| @zoesugg | 9.3m | Zoella – YouTube |
| @oliviapalermo | 6.4m | Olivia Palermo |
| @cindycrawford | 4.8m | |
| @manrepeller | 2.4m | Man Repeller |
| @carineroitfeld | 1.7m | CR |
| @blaireadiebee | 1.6m | Atlantic-Pacific |
| @margaret__zhang | 1.1m | |
| @zotheysay | 764k | Zoe Foster Blake, @gotoskincare |
| @iconaccidental | 729k | Accidental Icon |
| @stylepantry | 634k | Style Pantry |
| @therealgracecoddington | 557k | |
| @kathbum | 524k | Katherine Ryan, comedian |
| @mamamiaaus | 223k | Mamamia |
| @doesmybumlook40 | 177k | Does my bum look 40 in this |
| @thatsnotmyage | 54.8k | That’s Not My Age |
| @dooce | 50.5k | Dooce |
| @lucindachambers | 46.3k | The Collagerie |
| @themomedit | 42k | The Mom Edit |
| @backofthewardrobe70 | 26k | |
| @kimair | 9.7k | J’adore Couture |
| @squarepearls | 8.1k | Square Pearls |
| @kimfrancenyc | 6.1k | Girls of a Certain Age |