Follow Me & I'll Follow You - Just Don't Post Too Many Selfies!
Even though I've been blogging for five years I don't have a FaceBook account. I'm not opposed to social media, I'm just not a fan and frankly just haven't found much of a use for it. I did used Pinterest as a tool when we remodeled the house and I found it very useful to pin items and to create "boards" with design ideas. However, I haven't really used it socially, for trip planning or even as a tie-in to the blog. Given this lukewarm attitude I'm astonished to find I LOVE Instagram!
I'm so enjoying posting my pictures in real time and I love seeing other people's views of their worlds too. Instagram has helped me focus on taking better photos and framing things in particular ways. The blog doesn't happen in real time and it often takes me days or weeks to write about a destination. I'm not someone who posts here daily and the schedule I aim for is a new post every four days. In contrast I'm enjoying the immediacy and interactivity of Instagram where you can edit your photos and fill your feed with anything you want including a new destination you're thinking about.
So, if you want to know what I've been up to feel free to check out my pictures @welltravbrit. When I'm at home the focus is mainly food, the house and garden, walking and design. When we're traveling it's anything that catches my fancy; hotels, views, architecture, museums and street scenes. I love that I can post anything. It doesn't have to be tied to a specific post or destination the way the blog is, which means I'm using lots more of my photographs which feels good. You can always tell the Instagram photos on the blog, they're the large square ones as you can see in this post.
Yes, Instagram is filled with cliches, some of the quotes remind me of those ghastly motivational posters you see in waiting rooms. I don't want to look at pages of selfies and I know I'm getting old and cranky when I roll my eyes at the profundity being batted around. My favorite yesterday was a deep quote on finding peace in your soul, followed in the next sentence by a blatant plug for face cream! Hmm, isn't there an ironic conflict of interest between feeding the soul and commercialism? I should have restrained myself but, when I suggested face cream might not feed the soul, I was told that meditation might help me! Fortunately, mediation is designed to ease self-critical thinking not critical reasoning! I'm all for the friendly supportive environment but it's hard to feel the "good vibes" when it's really about selling a fictional lifestyle! I guess the key to social media is you only follow what you like and we all subdivide into smaller and smaller groups.
Ok, so I don't need to see anymore sunsets, flowers or young women with long hair and the ubiquitous hat, skinny jeans, flowing dress or short shorts walking away from the camera in an exotic local - India, Mexico City, El Nido in the Philippines, Paris and Rome seem to be the usual suspects. And yes, everyone has the same picture of the Louvre, Macchu Picchu and the Eiffel Tower - but despite all this I'm enjoying the friendly comrade and the access to other people's perspectives, in Ramallah, Russia, upstate New York, rural Finland, Lahore, the UK and elsewhere. It's a privilege to see how others live, how they wish to present themselves and what they chose to engage with. It's interesting, and right up until I become too cynical to bear it, I'll enjoy it!
Do you do Instagram or am I the last one to the party?
Yes, Instagram is filled with cliches, some of the quotes remind me of those ghastly motivational posters you see in waiting rooms. I don't want to look at pages of selfies and I know I'm getting old and cranky when I roll my eyes at the profundity being batted around. My favorite yesterday was a deep quote on finding peace in your soul, followed in the next sentence by a blatant plug for face cream! Hmm, isn't there an ironic conflict of interest between feeding the soul and commercialism? I should have restrained myself but, when I suggested face cream might not feed the soul, I was told that meditation might help me! Fortunately, mediation is designed to ease self-critical thinking not critical reasoning! I'm all for the friendly supportive environment but it's hard to feel the "good vibes" when it's really about selling a fictional lifestyle! I guess the key to social media is you only follow what you like and we all subdivide into smaller and smaller groups.
Ok, so I don't need to see anymore sunsets, flowers or young women with long hair and the ubiquitous hat, skinny jeans, flowing dress or short shorts walking away from the camera in an exotic local - India, Mexico City, El Nido in the Philippines, Paris and Rome seem to be the usual suspects. And yes, everyone has the same picture of the Louvre, Macchu Picchu and the Eiffel Tower - but despite all this I'm enjoying the friendly comrade and the access to other people's perspectives, in Ramallah, Russia, upstate New York, rural Finland, Lahore, the UK and elsewhere. It's a privilege to see how others live, how they wish to present themselves and what they chose to engage with. It's interesting, and right up until I become too cynical to bear it, I'll enjoy it!
Do you do Instagram or am I the last one to the party?
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