Instagram going downhill?

I rarely bother watching people's stories. Too long winded find it a bit tedious. I only follow trials riders, a few BMXrs, and a couple of fitness coaches. The music some people put on their videos requires mute button 🤣

All the yoof moved to Tik Tok bruv,

I think all the other platforms know this and are in panic mode, see also Youtube 'shorts'.

In my opinion, social media is a cancer. Nevertheless I still participate in a half-arsed way. I never look at stories, and I've unfollowed anyone who doesn't follow me back and muted the rest. Basically keep it on skeleton mode.

If you don’t like stories then avoid those.

I follow loads of climbers and cyclists plus friends and it still seems a nice place to hang

My complainta are the stuff I see when I do a search and the ridiculous follows from fake accounts

Looks like it’ll be the first of the SM platforms I ditch.

I'd probably start with MySpace and FriendsReunited tbh

Rarely go on it now. It’s become Facebook, but with a proper mobile focus. Fine if that’s your thing.

It's all the amalgamator pages that do my nut in. Every post I do, I get at least 3 comments saying "Send to -> @CyCl1ing_iz_Gr00vy ! " or similar.

Get your own ****ing content, ****ing grifters!

Apparently if you aren't posting reels the algorithm pretty much ignores you. I used to post sketches and paintings and for a couple of years it seemed like it was a great place to follow and be followed. Then engagement started to drop. I've given up now. I was getting a 10th of the engagement I used to get in spite of being a demonstrably better artist than before. No point posting if no one is looking.

Did it ever go uphill?

I never got Instagram. It's USP seemed to be making photo uploads look shit.

Christ, did I get old when I wasn't looking? Maybe I need a Tiktok account.

Meh. I love insta, I've only got like 450 followers but I chat to loads of cool friendly people. I've also met a few strangers who have gone on to become friends and regular riding buddies.
I like doing stories and share loads of memes and funny crap AND bike stuff. You lot are just grumpy sods. 😄
Up yours Grandad.

I’ve never really got the point if it. I rarely brother with it other than for specific things like a local tap room.

I liked it as a photo-sharing site, just seeing what friends were up to and the photos they'd taken. I certainly don't need sound effects 🙂

I like it despite the recent "improvements" with Reels etc.

Compared to FB it's a nice place to spend time looking at great photos

I quite like it - although I’ve recently must have fallen into “susceptible to grifter” category on their algorithm. Keep getting reel and posts about get rich quick and “alpha male” nonsense selling £50pm subscriptions to their “university”

First one I saw thought it was a parody but I guess some folk get suckered in by it.
<span style="font-size: 0.8rem;">
Never the less, it’s a nice way to share / look at photos related to my wide ranging interests. </span>

switch on 2-factor authentication to protect your account from the bad people

lots of hacked accounts in recent months

I liked it as a photo-sharing site, just seeing what friends were up to and the photos they’d taken. I certainly don’t need sound effects 🙂

Do you mean videos? I have mine set so that no sound is there unless I tap a video.
You obviously don't have to view stories at the top either so no sound if not wanted.

I much prefer it to Facebook though was gutted when they bought it as it does seem to be morphing into one and the same to some extent.

It's visually-based essentially, which is nice if you're into creative stuff.
It's not just folks prattling on about polipricks like Twitter.

I’ve seen the amount of content, followers and engagement really decline this year - I think people are just bored with it, they’re trying to compete with TikTok and monetise everyone’s’ content. The whole Meta Business Suite is a complete ball-ache as it doesn’t work across platforms/apps/browsers - I get message alerts but have to use another device to view it. I used to sell via Instagram but they’ve changed the way it works I can’t link to my online store - the e-commerce provider says it’s Meta’s fault and Meta say it’s the e-commerce platform. I’m hoping that someone comes up with an alternative,

I think IG is in the spiral of death, I noticed lots of videos were just tiktok vids posted on IG, I tried TikTok (in my mid 30's, so not a youth) and find the app and how you use it really nice and some of the content quite good, its not all dancing and only fans promotion. Although its the difference between swiping and pressing buttons I know find IG quite historic to use when I go back to it.

I also struggle on IG with every other post being an ad, removing again the option to see my feed via oldest to newest and now hiding older stuff under a tiny see older posts here and if you miss it youre just scrolling ads or promoted rubbish...

I also struggle on IG with every other post being an ad

That is what has ruined it more than anything else, way more ads than used to be years ago. As for the content, that is fine as I only follow people whose content I like to see.

Creepy stalker mode on…
Is anyone using BeReal? I like the idea of in the moment photos and simultaneous front/back shots, but there’s a lot of rubbish to wade through

I’ve only been on instagram once

Got chatting to an interesting looking lady on a dating site a while back, she asked me to follow her on insta. Turned out she also had an ‘only fans’ site, and a little digging presented me with a pic of her in full latex adorned with a mind bogglingly huge strap on

I deleted my account there and then and never dared go back

A quick search shows their numbers are huge and still climbing.
It's mostly 18-29 year old's, I'd guess those who think it's dying are outside of this group and aren't the people its focused on. Whatever it's doing is working to bring in new people.
$17.7 billion in 2019
$24 billion in 2020
$47.6 billion in 2021
It's a long way from dead.

At 47 I enjoy it, you just have to follow the right people and topics.

In my opinion, social media is a cancer

I think that the creation and popularity of a visual driven social media platform that is haunted by ads and undercover advertising in the form of influencing in an environment of wild neoliberal capitalism is bound to have problems.

like most users I suspect, I’m not using it as a marketing tool or promotional device for a business, and so my interaction with it is entirely “neutral” I’m largely an outside observer posting the occasional photo to a handful of friends and family .  In that version, it’s at least manageable. I don’t need to go there, I have no vested interest in my posts being seen or of interest to any algorithms.

I can imagine it must be quite awful if you do

I don't get why, what with SMS..whatsapp etc..the yoof now opt to message solely via insta...

I R OLD

DrP

Feed from the people you follow isn’t too bad, but pressing the magnifying glass tab opens up a world of nonsense and digital excrement

"Internet ****iness" of the first order.

#digitallitter

Any data older than two years ought to be deleted. Less server farms, I wish.
$$$$$

🙁

It's pretty much just trying to absorb what were the USP's of snapchat (stories) and tiktoc (reels).

The stories are good for a quick scroll through, mine just seems to be mostly photos friends have taken on their cycle commutes, restaurants, gigs etc. And my reels are mostly powerlifting/strongman stuff and gym memes. Probably because I'm just scrolling through it between sets.

It does amuse me that the algorithm still hasn't caught up with crypto's death spiral. Or maybe it's just decided I need to see teenagers giving investment advice from 6 months ago.

Like anything you have to be selective and practice self control. No stories for either. Select bmx, mtb, trail builders and some wood work / carpentry. Account is locked down. Kicked off a load of followers who were not friends when figured out the security settings. Post probably about 2 a year.

It's good place to get inspired and idea but dangerous i. It's never ending nature and dangerous if you follow people for "lifestyle".

it got a lot better recently when I found the 'snooze suggested posts' button.

I'm on it, but hardly use it - had a look on there last night though. A group of my friends are in their 20's - met them all a couple of years ago and they seemed to post quite often then, now hardly at all

My FB seems to be full of annoying reels that link to Insta - need to find out how to turn them off

Is anyone using BeReal?

Same group of friends started doing it last summer, but we all got bored pretty quick and it fizzled away

Got rid of it along with FB and LinkedIN which even after a good cull was feeding me heart pining work based meme's I didn't need to see.

My only SM is here an a Nottingham Forest Football forum - gives me a range of opinions...

I deleted my account there and then and never dared go back

On Insta or the 'dating' site?

Used to like Instagram but finding myself hating it now. Constant adds, suggestions from pages I have no intention to ever follow. Deleted it earlier in the year and went back on a month or so back but in half a mind to delete again. Is good for keeping up to date with footy news etc though...

Facebook I feel similar about in general. Those video "shorts" that pop up all the time which bear zero relevance to what I want to see on social media, the abundance of adverts etc. Again it has its uses though - keeping in touch with some friends who I'm not geographically close to and I'm part of some really useful groups.

LinkedIn is just an absolute hive of evil.

LinkedIn is just an absolute hive of evil.

I never really understood the point of it (unless you're in recruitment). I use it about once every 6 months to contact someone about work.

I also have no idea who 95% of the people I'm connected to actually are!

On the OH I really like FB and use it as a news aggregator and use it every day...

Got chatting to an interesting looking lady on a dating site a while back, she asked me to follow her on insta. Turned out she also had an ‘only fans’ site, and a little digging presented me with a pic of her in full latex adorned with a mind bogglingly huge strap on

What was her account? just asking for a friend...

If you tap the Instagram logo at the top left (on an iPhone at least), you can select "Following"... then you get a feed of only people you're following instead of all of the 'Suggested for you'/TikTok rubbish

you can select “Following”

you can select it. doesn't do a lot other than give the illusion of control...

There are too many ads also.

It's the only one I use and thats only now and then. I dont post anything just follow some bike, car and film stuff.

Just follow Glen Kitson and your faith in IG will be redeemed.

Just got a new phone and decided not to install Facebook and Insta. I can still have a peek at Facebook on the browser when I want, but it feels like I've got a two hours back each day with the reduction notifications and bottomless scrolling!

34-45 is the most popular age range on my IG channel, 87% male though and something I'm working on, weirdly I get more interaction from females than males.
I don't do many reels though, post one pic a day and growth is steady
https://instagram.com/ukgravelco?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

and a little digging presented me with a pic of her in full latex adorned with a mind bogglingly huge strap on

I deleted my account there and then and never dared go back

a "mate" asked if you remembered what the account was

the algorithm pretty much ignores you.

That’s the problem with all of these SM systems right there. I haven’t used Fb really for four years, Twitter gets the occasional look, when someone interesting posts up, and Instagram and TicToc just don’t get any attention from me at all.

I was part of an event that was pretty much organised on FB recently and was forced to go back to using it on a daily basis for about a month (instead of popping back on briefly once I got reminded I needed to do something).

I noticed an immediate flooding of garbage on my timeline, literally 50% irrelevant crap or adverts from people I don't have as friends. Just using it made me sad and angry. I'm now back to normal usage ("not if I can help it") and feel a lot better for it.

The less interaction you have with actual friends, the more spam you'll see.

I like the gram. I only follow a few people and a couple of hashtags. Apart from bikes I follow a lot of science. My pics don’t do to well but the reels do. Doesn’t drive any views to my YT channel though. Enjoy seeing pics and vids from their rides. Don’t follow any big names mind you as I prefer the amateur stuff.

Anyone know - are Reels phone/tablet only, or can you do them via the web app too?