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Ruby Media Group CEO Kris Ruby was quoted in a feature story in The Atlantic called “Influencers are abandoning the Instagram look.”
Is the curated Instagram aesthetic dead?
Some say Instagram killed our museum culture while others say it reinvented it.
Instagram museums and pop-ups were never truly meant as a replacement for museums. They are a way to experience a new type of art— social media art.
Instagram museums are not dead- rather, the target audience for them shifted substantially. For example, look on the Instagram feed of family with young children and you will see loads of photos of them at an Instagram museum. Look on the feed of a millennial, however, and you won’t see as many photos of them at an Instagram museum. Why is this?
Because millennials and influencers are all looking to rack up likes and traffic- something a regular Instagram user isn’t as focused on. If a millennial can post a photo that virtually anyone else can post— it takes away from their Instagram and personal brand aesthetic.
There is only one exception to the rule- when media invites the influencers to experience these pop-ups or museums ahead of time, and the influencer has an adequate amount of time to take pictures that do not look as highly curated.
For example, at a recent Candytopia Instagram pop up in NYC, users only had a set amount of time to take photos in the fake marshmallow pit. These photos are fine for someone who is just posting regular family photos. However, if you are looking for a high-quality photo to match your Instagram feed aesthetic, you may end up with the same photo hundreds of other Instagram users have already posted.
Additionally, there are people in the background of the photo, which is also something influencers don’t want if they are trying to get a unique photo.
When you actually try to take photos at these pop-ups, you see that it’s not as easy to get a great photo as you thought it would be.
The idea of Instagram being an exclusive platform has also been debunked. Recently, creators have been exposed for faking wealthy lifestyles for the gram, when in reality, they used staged photoshoots and paid for props to make their life appear more glamorous.
Every social media platform has a distinctly unique influencer culture. Content creators will migrate towards the platform they feel most comfortable in. For some creators, that means polished content, and for others, it means hot takes and raw sound bites.
Instagram is known for its focus on visually appealing content, and many users on the platform invest in high-quality cameras, lighting, and editing software to create polished and professional-looking posts.
Instagram’s influencer culture has led to the rise of a new class of content creators who can monetize their content and build successful influencer marketing careers based on their social media presence.
The ability to create content that is both visually appealing and commercially viable is attractive to brands and those looking to cash in on the influencer wave.
But some influencers are turning to deinfluencing, while others are jumping ship altogether on the idea of creating a picture-perfect aesthetic.
How to create a curated Instagram feed aesthetic
The challenge is trying to keep up a color-coordinated theme with all of these backgrounds. To properly create a curated Instagram feed, everything needs to be planned weeks in advance, especially with things like colored wall photos and pop-up photos.
There is a certain amount of burn-out you see with Instagram users, which is why Instagram Stories have taken off in popularity.
You can throw anything up on a story. The content begins to feel more native and easier to capture. You don’t have to think about colored walls, the filter, or the people in the background in the way of your perfect photo.
Is creating a curated Instagram feed aesthetic really worth it?
Users are now asking themselves, “What length am I willing to go to get that photo? Is it worth the $30 cost of admission?”
Is it really worth driving to the city and the cost of a parking garage all for an Instagram photo that thousands of other people have when you look at the same hashtag?
Is it worth waiting in line once I get there for an hour?
Is it worth jumping into a fake marshmallow pit as a grown adult with other kids where I could potentially get sick and then have to miss work?
And for many users, it’s just not worth it anymore. They can just as easily take a great photo in their neighborhood without having to spend money to get a highly curated photo that 10,000 people already have.
If content is king, unique content reigns supreme, and you can’t get that if you have a photo that isn’t unique.
Ask yourself, is it worth it?
Turning a beautiful Saturday into yet another photo op. Asking the person you are with to be a photographer and take curated photos when all they want to do is sit outside in the sun instead of sitting in a fake marshmallow pit with children as a grown adult trying to get likes from Internet strangers.
Are we willing to lose the people we like in real life to get the attention of people on social media who don’t even know us to “like” our images and digital persona?
More people are waking up to the inherent disparity in this and are finally saying no.
I’m no longer willing to give up real love and likes to get attention from digital strangers.
What about you? What is your social media line in the sand?
Instagram Threads is an alternative to a highly curated aesthetic feed. For some creators, this may pose as a viable solution. But what does this mean for the creator economy at large? Let’s look at the numbers.
The Creator Economy:
The creator economy has rapidly expanded in recent years. Here are some statistics:
- Online creators earned over $23 billion in 2020.
- The influencer marketing industry is valued at $16.4 billion.
- Global creator marketing spend will exceed $24.1 billion by 2025.
- There are now estimated to be 50 million content creators globally.
- 7 million creators consider themselves to be amateurs, and 30 million of them share their creativity on Instagram.
- More than 2 million consider themselves to be professional creators and more than 25% of them are active on Instagram.
- 30% of 18 to 24-year-olds and 40% of 25 to 34-year-olds consider themselves to be content creators.
- 32% of Instagrammers have more than 100,000 followers.
- The average age of creators is 40, with Gen-Z (age 24 and younger) making up just 14% of all creators.
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KRIS RUBY is the CEO of Ruby Media Group, an award-winning public relations and media relations agency in Westchester County, New York. Kris Ruby has more than 15 years of experience in the Media industry. She is a sought-after media relations strategist, content creator and public relations consultant. Kris Ruby is also a national television commentator and political pundit and she has appeared on national TV programs over 200 times covering big tech bias, politics and social media. She is a trusted media source and frequent on-air commentator on social media, tech trends and crisis communications and frequently speaks on FOX News and other TV networks. She has been featured as a published author in OBSERVER, ADWEEK, and countless other industry publications. Her research on brand activism and cancel culture is widely distributed and referenced. She graduated from Boston University’s College of Communication with a major in public relations and is a founding member of The Young Entrepreneurs Council. She is also the host of The Kris Ruby Podcast Show, a show focusing on the politics of big tech and the social media industry. Kris is focused on PR for SEO and leveraging content marketing strategies to help clients get the most out of their media coverage.