Social Media for Photographers / Stay Healthy

Social Media for Photographers | How to navigate Instagram while honoring your mental health

We live in a world of absolutely endless input. Wherever we turn, we are confronted with examples of the perfect home, career, lifestyle, body, etc. There’s always someone or something to keep up with, even if we don’t leave our own house!

And working in a creative field these days when social media is often considered part of the job means that we’re feeling that impact even more than most. I hear from photographers all the time that social media takes such a negative toll on their mental and emotional health. Mine, too! Sometimes we manage it, sometimes we don’t – sometimes we get lots of likes and a boost of confidence, and sometimes it’s crickets and our insecurity rears its ugly head.

I’ve had an up and down relationship with Instagram over the years, and am currently on an extended break that I needed more than I knew. However, it can also be a really helpful (and free) tool for growing your business, and if you’re feeling like you would benefit from using it in this season, then you absolutely can and should – and it’s possible to do it well!

Here are my favorite ways to stay healthy on social media for photographers:

1. Significantly limit your time online.

I am so, so much happier when I’m offline. Scrolling is addictive, but how often is it rewarding or healthy? I am extremely careful about how much time I spend on Instagram. Sometimes I’m happy to scroll and I love leaving comments to encourage those around me. But other times I post and don’t ever even respond to comments – not because I don’t care or appreciate them (I truly do!), but because I can’t give more of my time and myself. It’s okay if you take a break from posting, or don’t keep up with stories, or don’t reply to every comment. 

You come before your social media presence. Take a week off. Take a month off. Post inconsistently. It’s entirely up to you and everyone has different limits, but honor yours.

2. Don’t follow anyone who doesn’t make you feel encouraged

We’ve all done it: follow an account that makes us feel worse inside every time we see a post from it. Maybe it’s related to your work, or maybe not. It really doesn’t matter at all – just know that if a person or business or any other account brings you down in any way at all, you are losing absolutely nothing by unfollowing them (or muting them if you have a personal relationship to preserve!). Personally, I know there are many “industry greats” out there who I could follow, and I might feel more in the loop about the photography industry as a whole if I paid more attention. But that’s not a healthy thing for me right now, and I choose to focus on thriving in my own little sphere instead. I personally will not be better off opening IG up to a feed full of photos that make me question my own work and talents and success. I’d rather open it up to a feed full of industry friends and clients and a great little community that makes my day brighter!

3. Remember why you’re there

To put it simply: when I’m on Instagram, it’s because it is a free tool that increases my reach and helps prospective clients find me. I’m not on it to be popular, build a huge following, reach influencer status, or anything like that. When I keep that in mind, it’s so much easier to let seasons of really poor engagement roll off my back, and to protect my heart and mind from all of the statistics that are set up to measure our social media success (or failure).

And beyond that, I have also purposed in my own mind that I will create a small slice of social media that is encouraging and authentic. If I need to be in a space that I don’t love, but I can add good content to it, then I can feel better about spending energy there. Of course there are plenty of times where I’m exhausted and don’t have any great caption to add to my post of the day. But as a whole, I think intentionally about whether I am adding value to the online space or not, and always aim in the direction of good. I never want to become part of the toxicity that is so pervasive.

4. Don’t use it for inspiration

If you love looking at others’ work to learn and be inspired, by all means, go for it! I do this occasionally. But here is the truth: you have something unique to offer in the creative world, and the noise of social media will not help you uncover that. It’s already in you, not anything to be discovered out there.

I’m speaking from experience, of course! Looking at the gorgeous work of another very talented photographer, admiring it, maybe even feeling inspired by it, yet ultimately leaving more confused because I get my own voice confused with someone else’s voice. I see a lot of emulating going on out there, which I understand – after all, that’s simply part of learning. But sometimes I want to shout out to everyone: stop trying to make your work like anyone else’s work! Stop following the trends! Stop overlooking the message that you, and you alone, were created to tell! And start blessing the world with your unique gifts instead. 

Don’t worry, I will yell this at myself too, and it’s only said with love. 😉 Actually, it’s said with love AND with belief in who YOU are meant to be and the work you were meant to create.

5. You don’t have to follow any of the rules!

There are so many coaches and social media experts out there telling us how to rock our social media, grow a following, plan a year’s worth of content in a week, etc. But guess what – we just don’t have to do any of that! If you want to, go ahead. But having a big social media presence is NOT a requirement just because you have a business. In fact, I have a very successful photographer friend who has earned multiple six figures for years, and she has a fraction of the followers that I do. Social media success overall has very little to do with success in business, and it’s important to remember that. A lot of followers might represent a thriving business, or it may not at all. And vice versa.

Shut out the voices that tell you what you should or shouldn’t be doing. After all, one of the most effective marketing tactics is making an audience feel like they’re missing out/not successful/not enough without your product (see the entire women’s beauty industry for a million examples of this!). You don’t need a big follower count. You don’t need to be IG famous. You don’t need anyone’s approval or to be doing anything the experts say you should be doing. All you need is to honor your own priorities and health.

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Social Media for Photographers | How to navigate Instagram while honoring your mental health

Was this preachy? I don’t know, maybe. But that’s okay with me. Because this stuff is important to me. My mental health is important to me, and so is yours. Social media is really complicated, and navigating it all isn’t easy. But I can tell you with certainty that after many years of running a business account on Instagram, I can handle it better now than I did many seasons previously. But also, I’m still human, and I still have to remind myself of these principles constantly and prioritize breaks. Social media is DESIGNED for addiction, so we’re not failing if we struggle with that – it’s simply important to implement these practices so that we can step back and assess our health often, and keep our priorities in the right order.

I am wishing you all peace and health as you navigate the online world as well. Thanks for being part of mine!

Social Media for Photographers | How to navigate Instagram while honoring your mental health

Social Media for Photographers | How to navigate Instagram while honoring your mental health