18 Comments
Jan 17Liked by Elin Petronella

Yes yes yes to all of this! The whole article is fabulous but I was in complete and utter agreement after “it’s how it makes your audience FEEL!” And how you feel. And finding that sweet spot is when it’s FUN!

Expand full comment
author

Haha mission accomplished when the first nod arrives after the first sentence 🙌😍

And yes of course - how you feel making them feel all the feels 👏 When we’re aligned with what we want our audience to feel and we succeed at that I find the process itself to be inherently joyful 🥰

Expand full comment
Jan 17Liked by Elin Petronella

The word feel looks weird now 😂 and YES

Expand full comment
author

😂😂😂 that’s the perk of being a non-native I have no limits 🤣🤣

Expand full comment
Jan 17Liked by Elin Petronella

I too have no limits lovey!

Expand full comment
author

Love that ❤️

Expand full comment

I also found myself wanting to share from the first sentence! Very inspiring to read and lots to think about 🥰

Expand full comment

Ahh what a thrill to see my name mentioned in this piece, especially as I couldn’t agree more with what you’re saying! I imagine this is going to be so helpful for lots of people currently grappling with how to use the platform.

Expand full comment

Really enjoyed this piece, and also I am really enjoying taking space from IG right now. I think it’s important that you mention that different seasons of life will mean different ways of using social media... it’s certainly very different for me now with little ones than when I had time to make pretty bowls of food and post every day. Thank you for sharing your perspective. Xx

Expand full comment
author

Motherhood certainly changes things around! I tried to fight it in the beginning with my first as I was more attached to the idea that my whole business was dependent on social media presence, but with time I let that go and realized that it wasn’t the case at all...

I’m rooting for you for allowing this time and space to shift as you too shift between the seasons 🙏🏼❤️

Expand full comment

Very interesting to read! I'm still at a point of kind of trying things out, writing freely and hoping I attract the sort of people that are lit up by the same things I am. But I'm not using any social media platform for work or income, so I see your point when trying to sell a product (or yourself as a product).

Expand full comment
author

Thanks a lot for your reflections! At the start, I definitely think you’ve got the right approach to write freely and see what sticks - you won’t figure out what your way will be before you get started (or so is my belief at least) 🥰🙏🏼

Expand full comment

Love this Elin, you’ve articulated why I haven’t left IG even though my relationship to it has significantly changed. I used to think it would be a tool for growth, but now I more focus on it like a business card - something that if other cosplayers/costumers/photographers find, they’ll have a clear understanding of what I do and how to find more of my work. My goal was I wanted to be able to collaborate and connect with other fantasy art people. I don’t share much of my writing on there, except to just let people know when I’ve written a substack post.

Expand full comment

Just recently TikTok started resharing a video I did about leap year capsules...LAST leap year. Yes, four years ago. They were sharing content I made and shared FOUR YEARS AGO just a few days ago. This is one of the reasons I like posting content on TikTok; I do need to do more to push those followers and viewers here and other places though!

Expand full comment
author

Yes long lived content is the best! Have posts on Pinterest that keeps turning millions of monthly views even years later! This is where I think Instagram is missing something in relation to other platforms...

you should definitely push them to an email list first 👏 then you can always redirect them to wherever you want afterwards 🙏🏼

Expand full comment
Jan 18Liked by Elin Petronella

This is good and honest.

I've cut back on a lot of my social media, but there are still elements of Instagram that I really enjoy. I've been slowly working through the accounts I follow and unfollowing accounts that serve no purpose anymore or relationships that have fizzled. It has significantly improved my feed. And I'm working on using my IG to be more informative with personal stuff when if fits what I'm writing about. I'll keep using it, but I'm done trying to perform. I'm not going to let it suck me dry of personal and creative energy.

Expand full comment
Jan 18Liked by Elin Petronella

I think writers struggle, especially on visual platforms like Instagram. Every writer wants to sell their book or build a mailing list, but how do you go about this on a platform where people's attention spans are incredibly short? Some post excerpts of their work or quotes, while others attempt the 'I post my workspace/my post-it structure' approach. The truth is, no one cares, and if you are going to post only prose, it had better be good because people will judge you for it. Writing good prose takes an enormous amount of time.

Ultimately, this is why I feel so much more confident and relaxed on Substack. For starters, it allows for a much longer form, and people simply have longer attention spans here. It also made me realize that whether you're a screenwriter or a novelist—writing fiction for a living—you can post something more akin to a column on Substack. This means that the pressure is a bit lower when it comes to prose and perfectionism.

I certainly don't have your expertise when it comes to building an online profile, but I get the feeling that, as always, it's about finding your niche, discovering what you can output consistently, and having fun doing it—this will always resonate with an audience.

It's interesting. I used to think that big words like marketing, product, and sales were evil—my immaculate artist's heart wanted nothing to do with them. But the truth is, whether you are consciously doing it or not, if you go out there and put your work out, you are engaging in marketing; you just might not realize it. So it's unavoidable, and personally, I prefer understanding the mechanics and having some modicum of control over things!

Expand full comment
author

Thanks so much Remy for this input! And I think your pin pointing the essence of it all at the very end that we’re all engaging in marketing whether we want to admit it or not as soon as we hit the publish button!

The social media landscape changes so quickly that I think, like you also mention, it’s better to be intentional with where you put your effort and even more so (as I believe I mention in the article as the second point to consider when making your choice) of how long that effort will last. Ultimately Substack being the place for slow consumption and creation, there’s also a longer shelf life to everything you create, which should be a relief when it comes to the creative pursuit.

That said, if you do want to capitalize on a visual platform (and I’ve seen writers make it happen) it’s by creating visuals with written text on them rather than only in the captions (which people on those platforms rarely read anyway). I might have to follow up with a post on the last point actually as it’s relevant to some other reflections I have flying around…..

Expand full comment