Thanks so much for sharing this! I dabbled on Instagram just for personal use in 2012, and then deleted it at some point and didn’t use it for about 10 years. I really didn’t miss it not being on it. I looked around at all the people around me who seemed to be addicted to their phones and was so grateful that I wasn’t one of them. Then I rejoined Instagram last fall as I’m starting my own private practice and decided to give it a go. After being on there for about seven months, I’m feeling about ready to stop putting in my energy there too. Like you said, it’s draining that your content is only pushed out for about 24 hours. I’m also not really even enjoying consuming the content that’s on there anymore. Like you, I much prefer consuming longform content and listening to RU-vid whenever I’m cooking and getting ready, etc.
I wish Instagram didn't make me feel like a failure. I will say I did stop pressuring myself to post news so fast. I have been prioritizing my family but I can never avoid the feeling of "the news is old now", "nobody cares about my videos anymore." Wish the app went back to being what it was before. I am glad to hear all of these positive updates!
Thanks for this update. I feel chained to Instagram. If I don't post then my podcast listens drop and so does my ad revenue. The pressure to stay relevant, adapt, and use so many features is intense. Plus, like you said, we do it all for FREE. Actually many of us pay people to help us, so really we're paying to be able post on Instagram for free lol.
Im considering leaving myself. Ive been trying to build a business on there for 9 months and it's so draining. Im doing marketing training with a government sponsored trainer and theyre saying RU-vid is better.
I deactivated my insta and started a new one to post music that I’m really just using to put my music somewhere. I think being anonymous has such a great value too. It’s like when you move to a new place and you realize you can be exactly who you are. I’m thinking about erasing my New insta I started two days ago and just doing RU-vid or finding some place to share my music. I also feel like insta isn’t a true artist platform.
I actually love TikTok! I’ve only been using it on my personal account (I haven’t done anything for business). My screen time says I spend about an hour a day on TikTok and I LOVE my “for you page”, it’s just books and running videos, and im here for it 🤣
@@MillieAdrian I agree as far as the way it’s run and the ideas it’s brought to social media, but I don’t like who owns it. Gotcha, that’d be interesting to check out. Lol there ya go. I have another question, do you have to follow everyone or anyone who follows you back on insta to grow your insta?
Agreed. I deactivate instagram quite frequently now that my clubbing days are ending. Most the people I know locally just repost fake bullshit etc and even influencers just making in general fake takes that are so extreme idk how anyone follows them but it’s rage bait and we know it works.
And the when I start my agency I don’t plan on doing a personal account anymore to help with marketing. I’m just gonna have the brand account and keep my life private
@aquadiaryofficial that's okay. I'm 31, and my issue with Facebook is that people try to argue more and post more negative things on Facebook, and sometimes it really gets to me mentally.
I had a brief stint on Facebook I came on later, so my network wasn’t as big and I did have one really positive experience moderating a Fandom group but almost every other hobby group I joined had a streak of toxic people. people that were still bringing that divisiveness, negativity, & bullying, (often w unfair moderators) I think a cute a few key features keep Facebook alive, its network size, attachment to the platform, etc. its complex IMO. Also HOMEfeed has evolved into a place where people post their milestones. Most positive but many are negative, its either; I just got married, I’m having a baby announcements -vs- oh my gosh my aunt has cancer, Please help donate etc. And I see very little of actual people connecting deeper with their large networks & usually only regular communications with a tight group of friends and family. My partner is actually very attached to fb still as he wasn’t a big Instagram person (like me since 2013! so Ive a lot of reactions to Millies evolution here!) Facebook was his thing but when they started changing things in the app, He got frustrated when he landed in a TikTok test feed, while trying to watch videos. ironically, he ended up on RU-vid which he now uses daily and he consumes much higher quality, hobby content for himself. He still has yet to delete his Facebook, but he uses it less and less and maybe he’ll just hold onto it if he needs to reach somebody, but I think he will eventually fully delete it. **editing for errors/ simplicity!
Yes, I have reallocated my IG focus to another aspect of my business! One of the women that was helping me with Instagram has helped me with updating the products on my website the past five months, and the other woman has been spending more time in my student communities! I have a Facebook Group and a Slack group for my course students so she's been helping a lot with managing the groups with me 🤗 We haven't created any short form videos really!
I stepped away to focus on me and my relaunch of my business but when I DO come back I refuse to use the apps and just use scheduling apps (with the exception of tiktok because I get zero numbers going that route) but I’ve fully kicked the social media brainwash and I feel SO much lighter.
I started an IG theme page based on your content I came to your channel to look for updated info but found this video. While I’m sadden, I understand the importance of putting your mental health first. God Bless
As a fantasy author, I am on ig, mainly because I love creating graphics of teaser snippets, promoting my newsletter, and sharing the books that I read. I don't use it as a growing platform, only as a place to post announcements for those who find me there. I've made it into the one and only place where readers can find me while I slowly roll over into RU-vid. My posting schedule is maybe 1-3 per week and sometimes I take whole weeks off. Another thing I have switched to doing is only posting graphics from my computer, reels being a different matter. As you said, everyone is different and sees things differently. I get most of your updates on YT and I love the content you share, keep it going ✌🏼
Why not just have a course about growing on RU-vid? Why not just step away from Instagram and teaching it altogether? You’re already successful on RU-vid ❤️ serious Q 🥰
Thank you for sharing. Im trying to figure out where to focus my time and I definitely have been sucked into TikTok and have been lost down that rabbit hole. Figuring out the best place for me has been tough to figure out. But I really want to focus on RU-vid and making content here and figuring out the rest as I go.
Thank you so much for this! As a small creator it’s overwhelming to have to post in so many places everyday. And I had no idea you were also a Disney girl!! Thanks for doing what you do!
I think there's a spectrum. People hungry to grow. People that have grown and are scared to lose. People who have grown and just want to maintain. I had a goal of 50k followers and felt unfulfilled hitting it. At 75k I decided to just "maintain" and stop trying to grow. Growth has slowed down (80k) but I'm in a really good place with it now - not consistently checking it for no reason.
At the 18 min mark when you discuss choosing a lane, this hits me hard and it’s been where I’ve mentally settled in lately. I use FB, IG and focus on YT. The content I’m interested in creating gets a small lane of interest and I’m trying to be good with that so I can avoid burn out. I’m typically shy in real life settings so I try to visualize the same number of viewers as being “people in the room”. Had I spoken to these numbers directly in person it would be way more people than I’d be comfortable with. So, less is more though I’d be happy with more growth. There is a double edge to that thinking but personal and mental health has to come first before the other can safely be balanced.
Literally everyone I've told that I deleted my IG has said, "Wow that sounds amazing. That sounds so freeing. Good for you. I wish I could do that." I always reply, "You totally can. I don't miss it." Hey, what if you did one last hoorah for your IG students, then dissolved that course to kiss IG goodbye for good? What would it look like for you to go all in elsewhere?
I'm so happy that I came across your content. This is one of the most inspiring videos I've watched in a while. I feel it's time for me to take a much needed break.
I hope that this doesn't stop you from helping ppl like me who are looking to make a change in their professional lives in a couple years. Having just purchased the Modern Influencer, I am motivated, but concerned given that you are the one that I feel is an honest broker amongst the masses.
I am working to monetize social media. I only got it after high school and now I constantly go to it. I want to get to the point where I can create for it but I have a team who posts and does research. Then I only have to spend 2 or 3 hours a week responding to comments and finding stuff that inspires me. I feel technology takes me out of living life and I don’t want that to be forever.
Thank you so much for sharing your journey. I'm not a content creator, but I do get overwhelmed by Instagram, and it makes me feel that I'm not doing enough in terms of doing lots of projects or being in amazing places like others. I think it is time for a break as well!
Thanks for this Millie. been off instagram for almost 2 years and been feeling a pull to go back on. Trying to decide if I want to or not. Itd be the same as you mentioned. much more minimally, and in one lane or two lanes if I do. and I can always test it out and hop back off if I decide to.
Very interesting. I'm on IG and I haven't posted since last summer but I just posted last week and I missed it. Am I obsessed with it? I don't think so I find a balance I go on it maybe 6 times a day to support others and I'm not trying to compete with anyone I'm just sharing my journey and it's something that people can look at right now and later on after I pass away. It will be a memory. But hey I could be totally wrong about this. Thanks!
I am primarily an Instagram girl, and I definitely see you most on RU-vid and in my email - honestly, I rarely see you in my IG feed. Love your stuff girl!! 💖
I know what you mean Millie, I truly understand...though I really need to say that Hell yes you made it because you are amazing and I really look up to you, I think you have amazing content and I follow you on every channel you're on, so yes always look at were you where, and compare to where you are now and how far you've come....you are amazing and don't forget that! :)
🌻This is very insightful Millie, because I just started to work on my Instagram…I don’t love the platform, I prefer RU-vid as well…. But I wonder why didn’t you just cut down or way back instead of completely deleting it?🤔
Millie - I just discovered you recently and I appreciate your authenticity. Your time has also reached out to answer my questions....which I appreciate.
As a user, I like photos on Instagram (sometimes, carousels). I burnt out on brand accounts a while ago already, but now I don't even use it as regular user because it seems to want to show me reels, reels, reels.
I have deleted ig multiple times! If i don’t post the business suffers! So I am testing some kind of scheduling 1 month posts and stories and seeing how much sales I still make
I started using Instagram pretty late, and felt like I got so little visibility in return for the work I put in so the choice to stop posting was easy. If there was ever a time it was easier to get visibility it might have been different.
super brave move of you! thanks so much for sharing - this was just the push i needed. if someone like who you literally gives courses on IG can delete it & get benefits from it, a normie non-influencer like me can surely do without it. and yet it's still hella scary, feeling like imma miss out on all the events & life updates etc. but i'll go through with it now - thanks for the inspiration!
I've been considering removing TikTok and Instagram from my life. I want to build my RU-vid channel. I'm in Canada and it's the only platform that pays Canadians. I'm afraid to stop them since I've started receiving PR and I've had brand deals from those platforms. I'm exhausted though. I can't do it all.
This was really good and I am taking it as a sign to delete my Instagram for now. After watching this I realize that I am so addicted to the app and I am on it every waking moment like it is making me money. I make tons of videos and I enjoy doing them for fun. Somewhere down the line, I started to take it seriously and now it is stressing me out. And that's because I was trying to make money doing it and firstly I don't know how or have a thing to sell. I am constantly comparing myself to others and their content wondering why mine is not popping off and theirs is. So I am just deleting, taking a break, maybe taking some classes, and reinstalling it later on. thanks for this.
Omg I feel the same way about IG it is now so overflooded in the jewelry industry. I am a professional metalsmith and I do make beautiful jewelry. But when we had to start with the reels. that’s where I started getting upset. Because my feeds were not being put out. And I depended on Instagram to get Business . Especially teaching beginner metalsmith courses. I’m hoping by the end of May I can start my RU-vid channel. I was supposed to start in January 1923 but unfortunately, something very devastated happened in my life. But I find myself comparing to all the other metalsmith feeds. And then again I get upset because everyone shows the same exact way how to do something but with the little different twist… this was what I had started out with on Instagram and I saw a lot of my ideas being taken away from me… anyway I’m gonna finish listening to your video
I genuinely hate Instagram. It’s so toxic and gave me huge anxiety even when I was only managing for someone else and not even using it personally. I hope it goes away in favor of a healthier alternative.
You are so beautiful in your honesty. John is blessed with you, and you with him. Soak each other up. Life is far too short to allow Instagram to dictate your life. You got this, Millie
I find TikTok to be the worst, especially for comparing yourself to other people. They are so good at creation so I don’t even do TikTok. I gave up on Instagram when we worked together creating the BSP program. But I think it’s normal to compare.
I am not a fan of instagram. I rarely post on there. But I know I need to post more. Now tiktok on the other hand, is my social media addiction. I am learning to minimize my time there. I want to use those automated sites where they will post for you on those social media. But will see. Great video, very instructive and inspiring.
To be fair, TikTok is not just one thing anymore. As a TikTok creator we're now expected to do photos, photo carousals, stories, and lives if we want max engagement, and for anyone under 10k follows lives is one of the few ways to make money (unless you open a TikTok shop and then don't sell things but just affiliate market other people's, which is how people are bypassing the sub requirement, but I don't do that right now so IDK how well it pays)
@@MillieAdrian I feel like I’ve been shacked by the chains of social media lol but I feel less stressed and free. Every time I reach for the app it reminds me that I need to be working on something more productive lol. I do plan to return but with more structure, clarity and intentional posting.
Correct! I just deleted the app (not my account). It's been almost five months now and I'll be going back soon, but I won't be posting as frequently. I think a consistency that works good for me will be posting probably just once a week to "maintain a presence" and not be too strategic for now.
I am social media manager starting to feel burn out but even if I’d love to I can’t afford to delelte the app😔 I have a goal to write a book but right now I just can get out the hamsterwheel of perfecting the reels, stories and posts of my clients😭
oh nooo I'm so sorry 🥺🥺 I feel SO MUCH for social media managers right now! You all are literally carrying the company on your backs! I believe in you! 💪🏽
I only use TikTok for my personal use, I don't use it for my business right now because I worry I would fall into the same trap as on Instagram. But as an everyday user and consumer of the app, I like it 🙈🙈
We weren't going to keep in the questions originally (so I didn't mic up my husband) but when editing we felt the video flowed better when we left them in
I just deleted Instagram from my phone after watching this video. I stopped posting on IG a few years ago because I was just over the platform. But I still used it to check on a few creators via their stories. But Why? As you mentioned in this video, IG is the biggest platform that causes me to compare myself and my life to others. considering I don't even use IG for my business, I don't post content, and at this point, I am kind of a lurker lol, It's time to get rid of it. At least for now. Thank you for sharing your experience.
Yeah, I’ve definitely taken a step back… it’s way too much to keep up with! It isn’t even worth the money sometimes. I too enjoy RU-vid the best! I also have had to be mindful that I put all these things before Jesus, before my husband & kid at times… that’s when I started realizing okay…. This is all taking me away from them and that’s a problem! I’m much happier when I’m not focused on social media in general and when I post when and what I want!