Instagram is one of those social media tools that I treat more like a personal catalog of our life. I have certain goals when it comes to Instagram that are probably different than normal bloggers. I follow a lot of bloggers who use Instagram as a method of keeping folks up to date on their blog posts, drive traffic and give behind-the-scenes glimpses on projects. Don’t get me wrong…I love that. I just use it more for family. Even though I know my family reads the posts here, they are much more interested in photos of the boys and the steady stream of those pics on Instagram is something that keeps us all in touch.
So what are my goals when it comes to Instagram? So glad you asked. They are:
- capture the everyday and the special moments
- explore different iphone techniques, filters, angles, looks
- create a story with the photos or videos
Jeremy recently asked me what were my favorite photos. I called out a few that came to my brain straight away and he did too. And then we started looking at all the ‘likes’. I thought it was interesting to see what the followers thought was double-tap worthy. And then I said…let’s put all the MOST LIKED photos together. These were the ones that reached 1000 likes….
Interesting right? Not exactly what I would have picked but this is what other people picked. What you picked. And I like seeing our life from a different set of eyes. I get that some of them were because of a caption…some because the photo were part of a larger storyline….some because the photography. But for the most part, the ones that you liked were all over the board. They were not the most ‘technically sound’ photos. They were not all funny or witty or cute captions. They were not all one thing or another thing. They were different. And I dig that.
So of course, I did a little analysis…just to see what, if any, was a trend. Here are some of the results of the ones that hit 1000…
- Pictures of Weston only – 8
- Pictures including Weston – 15
- Pictures of Will only – 4
- Pictures including Will – 10
- Pictures with holiday theme – 5
- Pictures of Weston’s birth – 5
- Pictures with Jeremy – 4
- Pictures with Katie – 5
- Pictures with no people – 3
- Pictures of people with something on their heads – 8
- Pictures with the Petersiks – 3
- Pictures of people with articles of clothing missing – 3
- Pictures in black & white – 6
- Pictures of jammies – 5
- Pictures of baby bellies – 3
The most interesting trend to me…the photos of people with things on their heads. I need to make that one a hashtag pronto 🙂
Now I thought it would be really fun to just have y’all pimp your own Instagram accounts. I’d love to see your most liked or your favorite photos…or maybe if you wanna keep your account private, tell me what your goals are with your IG account…telling a story, giving sneak peeks, creating incredibly long and ridiculous hashtags (oh wait…that might be just me)…
p.s. I am @bowerpowerblog on Instagram if you wanna follow along.
i’m @gracepcho on instagram! i love that i can document the little moments of my everyday!
My friend has a running joke about putting things on her head…#alsoahat
I was wondering if all these pictures are taken with your phone and if so what type of phone camera would you recommend? Mine takes horribly dark and grainy pictures 🙁
I, too, use it for family stuff. To record memories when I don’t have my big camera around. And I like to make up hashtags. I’m @mrshawkins03
my instagram is @the34project… most of my photos consist of photos of our travels and our dogs… no human babies yet, so my furry ones will have to do!
I’m a bowpowerblog Instagram follower. I’d love to share my humble no talent pics…
You can find me @gauppjd
I love how you use IG! It’s really cool to get a glimpse into your everyday life and not just your blog life.
My most liked was when we announced we were having another boy! Pretty much all of my other pictures are of my son =] I just can’t control the cuteness!
@reinekeramblings on IG
You can check out my Instagram at @tashiadoyle!
I’m @erinacolburn and I use my IG for mostly family/life photos, and some are of project pictures and sneak peeks of projects that haven’t made it to my blog yet.
i certainly don’t have near the followers that you do miss katie BUT i have some pretty great pictures of my boys & like you, I use instagram for those everyday moments & actually created a book of my Instragrams from 2013, I used mixbooks.com and it was super easy but I am sure as creative and tech savvy as you are, you could do lots with this! I just did the easy upload and rearranged the pics. @kmhartley
I love instagram but aren’t very active on it for some reason. I am trying to be better at it just to capture our daily life. I have a few favourite photos but don’t have many followers so 4 likes would be a popular photo for me! ha ha. My instagram name is @ginghamcherry.
What about “photos with the mustache binky in Weston’s mouth” LOL
Your categories crack me up! Our blog is newer to Instagram (we’re @sypsiedesigns) but we’ve had a lot of fun “previewing” projects before they go up on the blog and posting about smaller things/pretty photos that might not be worthy of a full post. Our most liked picture is actually something we never even shared on our blog! We just did a little coffee table styling and apparently that was the winner : )
I use IG mostly as an accessory to my blog. I use it to document my personal life outside the blog, and to share sneak peeks of projects that are going on in our home. The majority of my top pictures are those that include my boys (I must admit, those are my favs too!) You can find me on IG @onemilehomestyle
I follow bowerpowerblog 🙂 I’m obsessed with posting pictures of my cat Carl, and my 6 month old son Isaiah on instagram. My most liked picture is of Isaiah, it’s a rare shot of him “tube-free” and smiling. He has a cannula in his nose most of the time to help him breathe correctly but he should be weening shortly now that flu season is winding down. He has brittle bone disease (It’s called Osteogenesis Imperfecta, often called OI) so I also use my instagram to spread awareness of his rare disease and show people how well/happy someone with OI can live. My handle is mrsvickymartin. I am also a crazy hashtagger.
I have been dying to join IG for years!!! But alas, I was stuck with the same crappy blackberry phone for 4 years that my job pays for. Well, in January they finally upgraded me to a Samsung and the first thing I did was download IG!!! I’m @IamKiloBravo and right now it’s mostly cat pics since I refuse to bombard my blog with cats, even though they are my life right now now…once we have a baby (on the way!!!) I’m sure the focus will change. I also am feeling the need to distance myself from facebook so stuff I might’ve shared there I only share on IG now since my followers are a bit more curated (all 14 of them, ha)… #sooverfacebookbuticantbeartoactuallyquit
#runonsentencesforthewin
I’m with you on keeping it just general life. I like to use it when I want to share a photo on multiple places (Facebook/Tumblr) @mfranklin83
Love how you use it! I use it similarly – pretty much family snapshots (including oodles of baby and cat pictures). I’m @megactsout. 🙂
Hi! I’m @iarias82. My goals for Instagram are to have fun with it!! I love posting pictures of the family and I love checking out other people’s families and what they do for fun! My most popular photos are kids fashion shots and any of Adrian being silly!
I use Instagram to shamelessly pimp out my super cute dog or brag about my nephew. I can only imagine how much worse I’m going to be once I have my own kid!
My account is @alreid11
I have an account but don’t have a purpose in mind for it. I like your purpose of capturing everyday photos. I don’t have many photos but most are fun moments of my daughter and her friends and many nature pictures, special moments in time. I need to capture more of those.
That mustache passie kills me! I laugh every time I see that precious baby with his big and bushy ‘stache on! Love it!
This is awesome! Love all of your pics and never knew you were on IG. Just started following you over there.
My IG is @simplyorganized and my more popular posts are always something I diy’d. Or organization quotes I share.
I love Instagram! I’m aacurtis.
My goals are similar… to capture little moments. And be able to quickly share with friends and family, without having to do a blog post. Or put them on facebook. I also love playing around with all the filters.
I Love following your feed.
Mine is full of pictures of my twin boys, my fitness and healthy living activities (FOOD), our sweet labradoodles, and everyday family moments.
I love using instagram for the same reasons! It’s a simple and quick way to capture everyday moments! I am private but would love to add you! my name on instagram is @jamielynne3026 Our little boy just turned one and I will admit that seeing your blog and instagram got me excited for a little boy (we have a girl already)!!
I love that you use instagram as a supplement to your blog. I think its fun to see more of a blogger’s “real life” via instagram instead of just photos of blog posts. I’m @alexandrac19! My goal for 2014 is to include more photos of people and less of food and things!
I take WAY too many pictures of my dog! @birdsofberwick I haven’t really gotten in the habit of using instagram all that much. I really don’t have my phone in my hand at all times and I am amazed at some of the pictures and shots people get of every day life! It’s awesome! But I’m not sure I’ll get there to get so many great photos… just. not. quick. enough. 🙂
I always find it so interesting to see what people like. My most liked ones include a picture of my cat yawning and a philly dump truck that had been painted with adorable flowers all over it. Random.
I’m @thediynurse
I do a lot of decor and projects as well as pets. I can’t wait until we start traveling the country this year though and really pump my feed full of travel!
I’m always interested in seeing what pictures are most liked as well. It is interesting because one photo might be really ‘popular’ among followers, but then a similar photo with similar caption gets little to no likes. For me, IG is mostly just to share baby and dog pictures (and some projects) for those interested in following along without having to overwhelm facebook feeds.
ps. my username is hstr0m if you love babies and puppies.
Love instagram and the ability it gives me to capture those moments I’d miss out on running to grab my dslr. I had played around with it here and there before getting pregnant with my third, but really jumped into it to document our journey of adding to our family. The kids get a kick out of picking out filters and I love to come up with long, obnoxious hashtags that only I really find funny 😉 I’d absolutely love if you followed me! mlhicks23 🙂
Love all of your pictures on Instagram of the boys! They are so cute!
I’m @attemptsatdomestication and most of my pictures are of food and wine. 😉
I love your if feed!! I use mine for my family since they are so cute! My if account is lynzi_ljnoble
Love seeing normal, daily life happenings on IG, and thus use it for such. I’m a pretty brand new instagram user, but it’s quickly sucking me in…
@sara_m1215
I’m brand spanking new to Instagram so there isn’t much to choose from right now, but I’m at http://instagram.com/myloveforwordsblog. I think my fav so far is my middle two kids sitting next to me working on their play computers. Budding bloggers, no doubt! 🙂
Oh no! I forgot about the pic of my son’s book (Mutiny on the Bounty) that he thought was hysterical… a picture captioned, “Catching a Boobie.” Gotta love 11 year olds and classic literature!
I love IG – it’s such a fun way to “look back” at life. I have grand plans of using those photos for a photobook but it’s on the list… would love to have you follow along… @eatdrinkdecor8
I love taking pics on Instagram but since I don’t have a family yet most of my pics include food and wine! LOL!!
if you want to follow along i’m @erincl123
:o)
you’ll get a kick out of this pic!! Not sure if it’s my favorite but it makes me giggle when I see it!
http://instagram.com/p/iNjcHopKFe/
I love instagram!! I also use it for capturing familyoments & I print them off in stickygram, my fridge is plastered in my favourite people and I love it!!
I’m @shespeaksbark on IG-I’m a blogger too but use it the same way you do-not really to promote my blog but to capture the moments that matter. Some of my favorite photos of my family are the ones now on IG <3
I’m @lindseylyonsphoto
I use my IG for mostly personal pics but also some of my photography (mostly for seniors). My most liked pic is of my kids with Santa this year (I think) and it’s freaking hilarious. You should check it out for a good laugh.
I love that you use it to bring awareness! You have the cutest way to do it 🙂
xo – kb
You are right!
Pictures with the mustache paci – 3
xo – kb
These were all taken with my phone. About half of them were iPhone 4s and the other half was the iPhone 5s 🙂
xo – kb
Ooooo, interesting seeing what got the most likes! I like to keep my family photos private, just share with people I know personally, but I recently started an Instagram for my Art Blog/Etsy shop! @elyseannemaria
Hi Katie,
I’m @ marykaczor on Instagram
Feel free to follow me 🙂
I use it for my own family photography and to see the little pieces of my friends’ lives. This year I’m committing to a weekly photo project where I post a collage of my kids every weekend. The goal helps me make sure that I have a weekly photo for my husband who recently deployed. I’m @maraviajera
I’m @kderiso. I just went back to see what I usually post and it’s my dog. He’s just too cute to resist though. It’s my dog or scenery. Or bugs. Oh heck, it’s just random stuff! 🙂
I follow you on IG and just love your posts and hashtags. You have an adorable family!
I love IG as well and I don’t use it nearly as much as I should! I love the different filters and borders. It is like looking through a whole new lens when you use it. I usually just have pictures of my kids on there, because that’s who I’m with 99% of the time. I would love to get a collage frame or something up on the walls featuring some of my fave IG pics I’ve taken! I’m at ajeff514 if you want to follow:)
I’m a big ‘every day’ instagrammer. Also, my husband and I have a hashtag that we use specifically to catalog our photos when we travel. It’s nice to be able to quickly call up the images from our travels when we’re feeling wanderlust.
My most liked photo is of our new puppy. The photo itself isn’t great, but apparently people go gaga over puppies. (Side note why don’t people like cats as much as dogs?) My favorite photo is of my husband and I’s left hands showing off our rings in front of Niagara Falls on our anniversary (a la John and Sherry honeymoon photo).
@mitchmitchie if you’re interested 🙂
Katie,
You’re the one who introduced me to instagram! I have been a follower of your blog quite a while, and when you were pregnant with Weston, and said you would document his birth on there, I immediately got an account and have followed you ever since faithfully! I have never been so excited about a birth before for someone I didn’t even know. Well, I felt like I knew you, but you didn’t know me, lol! My husband was always wondering every time I spoke of “Katie having her baby!” I hope you are going to let us follow on that journey again with Baby LJ. I would love for you to follow my feed. I have a 2 year old little granddaughter who has blessed my life immeasurably and it is filled with the happiness she gives me. Some of the pictures that I got a lot of responses on was the playhouse that belonged to my daughter that is still in my yard, and I remodeled it for my granddaughter last spring. Then at Christmas, I decorated it like a gingerbreadhouse! I have had the most fun reliving those precious memories in my little granddaughter, Caroline. I so enjoyed being a stay-at-home mom, but oh, the wonder of being a stay-at-home grandmommy! I am the official babysitter while the parents are working! Best of luck to you, Katie, to you and your family as you continue this adorable family of yours! If you would like to check out my feed, I would be delighted! @gingerbreadnoble
@TheKimSixfix I am also a “post your silly snapshot” kinda girl. I am not even sure how people get those blog post photos onto their IG feed. I also love it for posting silly things. Like when I found something called a “butt marker” at home depot. OF COURSE I had to take a photo and post it on Instagram.. isn’t that exactly what it is there for?! 😉
Please tell me you’ve blown up that rodeo pic and hung it somewhere in your house. It’s just so great all around.
I love your Instagram, Katie! And Insta in general. My (far less cool than yours!) Insta is mweaverling. Xo
So fun! I’m obsessed with Instagtam. Come find me @maurajoyce
No goals for instagram here really. Well, no conscious ones but I think I’m usually just trying to keep a little visual journal of our daily lives. The little moments are often the most memorable and I love having a record of them. I’m on a little forced hiatus at the moment since I’m stuck using a crappy old phone while saving my pennies for a new one!
My instagram feed is http://instagram.com/ballet7439
I tend to follow the same path as you. Instagram, to me, is a place to document everyday, random things happening. Mostly, it consists of my family, but I also try to get creative with my angles and perception of things. It’s a good practice in artistic photography, I think, even though the picture quality from my phone isn’t as good as my camera. Plus, I wouldn’t remember the random little things if I didn’t just Instagram it!
I use instagram as a kind of photographic diary. kind of like a lazy blog. I like to try and capture everyday things, and milestones of my little boy (who’s original due date was the same as Weston’s). I like that I can look back through it and see his growth, see what we’ve done together as a family.
my account is http://instagram.com/sharentimberlake#
I don’t necessarily have a goal with my IG account, but I use it to mostly capture all those little day-to-day moments that would have otherwise be missed … but will be cherished years from now. My IG account is here.
I’m @cindydaisiescrazies. And shame on you, Katie, if you aren’t already following me. 😉 xo