Disclaimer, apart from the science at the end, this is just my personal view. Please don't sue me!
What's your instagram account? How many followers do you have? What's your engagement like?
Are you an influencer?
No
I can't do social media. I can't chase likes. I can't manipulate algorithms.
I've tried, I've attended web courses, worked with 'professional social media advisors', succumb to trends, tried to be what Instagram wants me to be.
Personally, I find it mentally draining. I found myself refreshing Instagram moments after a post went live, a little part of me crying when the engagement wasn't there, a large part of me rejoicing when a like came through.
I felt I was being taken away from the photography, that I was being moulded by what Instagram wanted and that I wasn't being true to myself.
I turned my back on social media, I'm carving a different path that I am in control of. If it resonates with others, great, if not, at least it feels right.
You are the product, not the customer.
As is true of all social media platforms, you are not the customer. The business model is advertising, pure and simple. For advertising to work, you need an audience. Social media platforms are designed to draw you in, so that business want to advertise on the platform.
Meta agreed to pay up to $18 billion to settle a landmark multi-state lawsuit in August 2026 accusing the company of designing addictive platforms that harmed children.
Social Media is a great tool, but it's not for everyone - it's not for me. As with all tools, you should read the user manual fully before use.
Instagram's combined Terms and Conditions and Meta's Privacy Policy span over 17,000 words, an estimated 80 minute read. I wonder how many of the 3 billion monthly active users have ever read it.
What's different here?
Let me be completely transparent. I want my voice heard and my work seen, but I want it to be under my terms. No algorithms, no likes, no followers, just people coming to my website to see my work and read my words.
I will advertise my work a little, I will signpost people here, I will point out my virtual tip jar but I will also take the best photos I know how to take and let people have them - for free.
This is how I make human connection, this is what fuels me and I will keep doing it for as long as this remains true.
But you're on Social Media?
Yes, for several reasons. I use it to improve my photography skills and knowledge - There is great content out there, among the ads/bots/rage bait and AI.
I use it to connect with people who might invite me to shoot with or for them.
People expect it, so it's there to send people to my website.
I enjoy it, sometimes.
The science
In a study published in 1993, Robin Dunbar puts forward a theory that the evolutional growth of the human brain was to support our hardwired need for social interactions. In the paper, it's suggested that the maximum number of stable connections we can manage is about 150.
Social media is designed to allow us to connect with millions, if not billions of people - Maybe we have to drastically dilute our level of interaction in all aspects of life to fit in all our followers.
