Photography

If you hoping to become big and an influencer or if its work related. go do what everyone else thats successful is doing, you can literally use a succesful channel as a template and mirror what they are posting. Not telling you to post the same image. but follow there approach to creativity, to quality, and methods.

If you take photos for yourself, then.... it shouldnt matter? As long as you liek teh photo and you feel good about it. why the fixation on likes?

if you are trying to get opinions to get better, go look for private groups on discord or reddit, anywhere that feels like most people in teh group are better then you.

not attacking you, but your 5 very nice photos, is....quite frankly just ur opinion. with out seeing these we dont know if they are actualyl good and ur stuck in a crappy situation. or if you are just being silly....

Make short reals surrounding your work but make sure your IG grid is cohesive not just random pics all over the place

What type of engagement are you seeking? I'm 44 and have been exhibiting visual art professionally for like 25 yrs and obviously grew up with out social media so using it is more like a chore for me. I've tried to keep my instagram posts centered around event promotion or getting people stoked on a new piece of art being released with a small portion of including personal moments/other interests but I slack at best. I personally don't really care about having a bunch of instagram followers either and only set up the account at the urging of a gallery owner. But hey, I'm a work in progress. I am still interested in human connection tho even tho that probably isn't a thing anymore. It can seem more and more an arduous task in the digital age without some intention.

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Lets face it, the over saturation of information and subsequent fractured attention spans paired with the way our minds access memory and use comparison subconsciously can make experiencing art digitally a hit or miss experience for a majority of people. Don't gauge your self worth or artistic merit on this. Remind yourself your voice is uniquely yours and if you're letting yourself be guided by a sense of creative expression, then the process is what should count and things will grow organically from there. Using alternative platforms to post work such as Behance or even Linked in etc. are likely going to do way more for your career/hobby/self esteem as far as the type of engagement goes. Also way less likely to get someone who just liked a cat with diarrhea smoking a joint liking your work in same 3 minute click frenzy.

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To echo some of what has been said here, the algorithm isn't kind for any account with less than 10,000 followers so what time of day you post and how often matters more than it might for people above that threshold. Once or twice a day at like 8-9am, noonish, and 5-7pm are key times. Use video and static content and switch to a business profile. I'm going based off information that was relayed to me by a social networking based marketing company. Ad revenue is a fierce competitor. Hopefully that's helpful and good luck out there.

I'll say this. I have 26k which feels low. I post infrequently. I see people trying to game the system and it looks exhausting and desperate. Reels 24/7. Bad photos. Videos. Heaps and heaps of stories. It's not worth it to me to look that desperate. I think the key is to produce solid content that is unique and has value to your audience. Follows will come.

Point 1. Go back in time when Instagram actually promoted photographs. Now Instagram only prefers video contents.

Point 2. Enjoy the art rather than getting like. I've been on Instagram for 3 years and have 1k+ followers. In the early days when I didn't get likes I felt bad but now I just enjoy my photographs and the journey of taking photos and processing them. Remember the journey matters, if you enjoy what you are doing surely you will get results.

Point 3. Be consistent. Post your photographs in a consistent manner, like every 3 days, 4 days. Never break the schedule. Then the algorithm will push your account.

Point 4. Stick to one kind of similar kind of photography. It will help the Instagram algorithm to push your account to the right audience group and you'll get better reach.

I hope these tips will help your account. Best of luck.

This thread really goes to show that we need a new app to post photos. I absolutely despise videos and honestly believe it ruined Instagram. We need an app where people share beautiful photography again.

I posted a reel of a Highland Coo on Conic Hill with some Braveheart music and it was linked to my Facebook page also. I went from under 1k followers to over 4000 in a couple of weeks. The algorithm just seems more interested in videos than photos 😭 @beardfacephotography on insta.

for photography, Threads is the new hotness. the amount of engagement on that platform is insane, I've been trying to build my Insta for a few months and I've struggled but I just broke 500 followers, Such a small milestone I know, but still I was proud. within a few hours on threads i had 120 followers and an average of 10-15 likes on all my posts, people making comments. The algorithm on threads does a good job of grouping you with other photographers etc. A bonus side effect is every threads user has a little icon with their Instagram so once you meet and engage with ppl on threads its a natural progression to also follow each other on isntagram.

As far as Instagram is concerned my strategy has been to engage with my followers content, post a story with a link to every new post i make, and once or twice a week crop a bunch of my shots into 9x16 and use one of the templates to make a quick video slideshow of photos. I get way more engagement with the videos and a few followers but its super slow growth. Almost not worth bothering with.