instagram — Blog — Gwennan Rees

Blogger and Illustrator

Posts tagged instagram

Spring 2019 - A Mood

Spring 2019 - A Mood

I don’t know about you but I am SO done with this winter. I am sick of the constant colds and sniffles, sick of the rain (although I appreciate this is Wales) and sick of not being able to wear less than 10 layers.

The sunshine of the past few days has got me dreaming about summer nights and evening jogs around the lake and driving with the windows down, but seen as June July and August are still a way off yet, I thought I’d embrace spring instead.

So here’s a few musings, a mood if you will, all about my love for spring 2019.

The 'Death Of Blogging' & What It Means For Me.

The 'Death Of Blogging' & What It Means For Me.

I know I know, another blogger banging on about the death of blogging as we know it. It's a topic being thrown about left right and centre over the last few months and to some extent I think we all believe it's true.

#diaryentryfrommyhome

#diaryentryfrommyhome

I have also been feeling this year like home is more important to me too. The notion of home has always played a huge part in my life and that's been more to do with family than anything else. I have always felt like 'home' has meant different things to me, like I'd refer to my childhood house as 'home' when I was in university and my flat 4 hours away as 'home' when I was back with Mum and Dad. Both those places felt equally homely to me, both the house I had for a mere 2 years with a friend and the house my parents have been in since I was born.

To The Instagram Husbands.

To The Instagram Husbands.

Ah the humble Instagram husband. Those we rope into taking 91839826472647 photos of us for a single shot we're happy with instead of paying for a professional photographer who, ya know, it's their job to take good quality photos.

Social Media & Blog Statistics - April 2018.

Social Media & Blog Statistics - April 2018.

I don't wish to alarm you but I am blogging again, for the second time this month already and for the third time this week. Guys, I officially think I am back.

Needless to say because of the shit storm that was April on my blog, with my lack of motivation came a lack of kinda anything. Not a lot of engagement because I wasn't sharing the love back. Not a lot of traffic because I wasn't bothering to promote it. I put no effort in and funnily enough, my blog didn't give me a lot back so whilst this month's report is a dismal affair on the whole, I have high hopes for May.

To Unfollow Or Not To Unfollow - That Is The Question.

To Unfollow Or Not To Unfollow - That Is The Question.

Unfollowing has yet again become a hot topic in the Blogosphere from talk of muting people on social media to not liking every single photo on your feed being unsupportive.

Seen as I seem to have got my blogging mojo back again (at least slightly) I thought I'd stick my oar in and pop my two cents online.

Spring Photo Challenge.

Spring Photo Challenge.

The system is the same as the last for those who took part before, but for the challenge virgins amongst you there's a free printable or downloadable checklist of prompts below ready for you to snap away and tick off. Use the hashtag #ourtwentysomethingspring to keep track of everyone's progress and have fun! As before, there's no start date or deadline to finish by so keep on ticking as long as you're enjoying it or as long as it takes to tick every single one off!

What I Learnt About Instagram & How YOU Can Implement It Into Your Own Feed.

What I Learnt About Instagram & How YOU Can Implement It Into Your Own Feed.

Instagram, it’s algorithm, it’s shadowbanning and every update it seems to give us is getting the blogging world down. No more are we gaining 50 followers a day, long gone are the days half our followers would actually see our posts and let’s not even get started on hashtags and how on earth do we use them.

We’re learning more and more about the ‘new’ Instagram every day. From the good (hold down the pen to fill the screen instead of shading it in and hold down the colour to bring a whole colour wheel up) to the bad (your images only being shown to 10% of your feed and only then if they are engaged with and liked within a certain time slot of being posted).

1 Winter Photo Challenge

1 Winter Photo Challenge

It's officially winter. Christmas is a mere few days away, I have eeked out my autumn photo challenge for as long as I can but it's time to admit defeat, it's over.

Luckily to cure the blues (or at least give you some Instagram inspo again) I'm back with my Winter Photo Challenge.

Social Media & Blog Statistics - November 2017

Social Media & Blog Statistics - November 2017

I plain wasn't around enough this month to be of any use on social media but surprisingly my stats aren't really a reflection of that? I was reading Megan's roundup of her stats this month too and was struck by how similar our months tend to be. We often have bad months together and good months together and now have done very little to help ourselves yet have had decent months. So maybe the moral of the story of these posts is we can try all we want but in the end it's trends in blog reading and Pinterest that do all the work for us.

#ourtwentysomethingsummer Results | 2017

#ourtwentysomethingsummer Results | 2017

Summer is officially over - I have already worn my fluffy coat that makes me look like a sheep and I have used the tumble drier on my laundry not once, but twice. That means my friends that my Summer Instagram challenge is definitely done so I thought today I'd share my results.

Autumnal Photo Challenge

Autumnal Photo Challenge

After the relative success of my Summer Photo Challenge (more on that this week) on Instagram and after calls for more, I'm back with a new challenge for the new season.

The system is the same as last time, there's a free printable checklist of all the autumnal things you could want, and a few obscure ones chucked in for good measure.

This time just use the hashtag #ourtwentysomethingautumn to share your images so we can keep up with what you're doing and don't forget to follow me @twentysomethingmeltdown to see what I'll be snapping!

Shadow Banning; Yet Another Way Instagram Has Dicked Over It's Users

Shadow Banning; Yet Another Way Instagram Has Dicked Over It's Users

I had an entirely different post planned for tonight that only needed formatting before it was published but you're going to have to wait for that now (it was bujo related) because sometimes gang, a girl just needs a rant ok?

For those of you who have seen my Insta stories you'll know I have recently discovered I've been shadowbanned from Instagram and I suspect it's been happening a lot longer before I bothered to check. I got my Instagram randomly deleted in June and I have been struggling to build any kind of following or engagement since then - it's all been a bit fishy.

So let's start with introductions. What exactly is shadowbanning?

Editing On Instagram - Are We Going Too Far?

Editing On Instagram - Are We Going Too Far?

Editing on Instagram isn't anything new, nor is it anything shocking, nor is it anything terrible. I do it*, you probably do it, your fav bloggers do it, your fav celebs do it, hell your next door neighbour does it too.

Editing on Instagram isn't a naughty word any more, there's a million and one apps to help us make our images just that shade of perfect.

Doing It For The Grid - Is It Really That Bad?

Doing It For The Grid - Is It Really That Bad?

There is always a debate about Instagram and just how real life it should be vs how curated it actually is. We all know it's the highlight reel, as 'real life' we keep it we still edit, brighten and think of a witty caption as much as the next gal. I am proud to keep my Instagram down to earth with real life captions and behind the scenes Insta stories but I am guilty of 'doing it for the gram.'

Social Media Stats; July 2017

Social Media Stats; July 2017

Oh July you little beaut. After June when I was on jury service and wasn't scheduling and wasn't blogging and wasn't tweeting my stats suffered - but this month I have been back on it and more active than ever (well, like in a long time).

And my stats reflect that....

100 Days Of From Where I Stand.

100 Days Of From Where I Stand.

It's done and dusted for another year - the 100 Day Project is over again. I feel like this 100 days has flown by and simultaneously I can barely remember April 4th when it all began.

If you missed it or if you've just joined us, I am a freelance illustrator in the ol' day job and I outlined my project for the 100 days 2017 in a blog post (which you can catch here). This year I decided to recapture a project I did last year but with a new snazzy hashtag - 100 Days From Where I Stand.

A Word On Instagram Unfollowing.

A Word On Instagram Unfollowing.

I've had an Instagram cull. I started yesterday following 703 accounts and I'm on a cool 438. Yes I unfollowed 265 people in one (v long v boring) sitting.

I also did this with Twitter the previous day, unfollowing people who didn't follow me unless I loved their feed and also people that I generally think are a bit of a dick. Soz. I feel like there's a lot to be said on Twitter unfollowing, people accept it as cleansing your feed and making it a generally nicer and happier place to be. But Instagram? Not so much wording.

Social Media Stats; June 2017.

Social Media Stats; June 2017.

I don't want to bang on about the fact I was on jury service for half of the previous month but it really did have a huge impact on my life and it certainly had an impact on my blog. Because I don't schedule ahead because I'm shit I didn't have any content planned for whilst I was away which meant blog posts were sporadic when I wasn't sleeping, social media was almost non existent and everything suffered basically.

What I'm saying is, this was the worst month in a while but don't give up on me yet advertisers, I aspire to be better this month. (Also I appreciate my stats are less than terrible even in their worst months, I am a victim to my own need to beat myself).

Current Instagram Obsessions.

Current Instagram Obsessions.

Despite the algorithm of hell and the constant struggle that is posting on Instagram these days and trying to build any kind of following, it's still very much my favourite social media platform.

Instagram gives me all the inspiration, you can pretty much guarantee I'll follow your blog via your Insta account rather than Twitter and once I'm hooked on your account I'll basically like every photo you ever post. Some say stalker, I say appreciative.

It's been an age, like literally a year or more since I last shared some Instagram loves so I thought it was about time I showed you what accounts I'm obsessing over at the moment. Interestingly noticed the accounts I love at the mo are the feeds so unlike my own, the ones I know I can't achieve, the ones I aspire to be. You guys.