I found myself angry recently - and I’m not angry often.
I was angry at myself, mostly.
Angry for believing one of the most obvious lies out there at the moment…
…that most Instagram accounts have *a lot* fake followers.
They pay for the appearance of social proof.
And not just a few hundred followers! In the last few weeks, I’ve been followed by multiple accounts who had 10k+ followers, but their photos had 15-50 likes each.
Ummmm hello fake friends!!
My Instagram has 350 followers, and I get the same range of likes 😂
As always, the universe is here teaching us lessons (if only we slow down enough to see them).
This anger was fiery enough to stop me and make me think — why is this triggering me? Why do I even care what these awful salesy coaching accounts are doing? They do them, I do me.
But that’s it, isn’t it.
We live in ecosystems. What we do and how we are has infinite butterfly effects. These people with 10,000 fake friends give the illusion of credibility, when they are probably just re-purposing click bait content they have found on the internet.
I’m still angry (whoops!) because these systems we all use and buy into are simply not setup to be fair.
Life isn’t bloody fair!
And fairness is one my top values, if not *the* top value.
Instilled in me from a young age, honoring this value for fairness and equitability has brought me most of my success. I see everyone as equal to me - no one as above or below me. No amount of money I have nor title nor experience makes me more or less deserving than any other being. We all have value, and we all need each other to make the world go round.
And to me, these accounts buying followers are throwing a match into the dry brush that is this delicate ecosystem of give and take.
They are literally designed to take. To create using the least amount of energy and time possible, and receive the most money they can (and quickly) in return.
And to boot - it diminishes the credibility of the creators that are doing some damn good work.
It’s funny… because now if you have more than 1k followers on Instagram, I’m skeptical. I go look at the engagement on your posts. I do my homework. No one with fake friends is getting my most precious commodity - my attention.
I am airing this out to the public because for a long while now I have wanted a new space to play. None of the public spaces do it for me anymore. Instagram is fine, but like… ugh so 2014 you know??
I was the Snapchat queen before Snapchat was cool (and before I worked there) and then that became lame and commoditized too.
I want a place for *creators to create*.
For it to simply be about the PROCESS of creating art.
Because THIS is what I think makes someone worth admiring, worth following.
People who have their creative process down are *my* people.
Creativity & art don’t mean painting or esoterics either.
If your art is leading teams at Google then HECK YES I want to hear about your process in creating your art. LinkedIn actually has some really dope artists I love too.
Do I have to create this myself, this creation oasis?
The place where it’s impossible to fake it - the place where you are simply held and encouraged to show up every single day & create the art that is YOUR LIFE!
Because the ups, the downs, the sideways and the twisty turns are what makes art interesting. It’s what makes life interesting.
Through sharing on this platform, I would love to be able to show you your higher principles. The values you hold true.
I would also love for us to be able to learn from each other. We all have amazing secrets that help us thrive (aka why I have this Substack) and sharing them can literally transform someone else’s life.
Wouldn’t that motivate you to share? If your words created impact that created a butterfly effect beyond your wildest dreams?
So - here is the moral of (today’s) story.
Your strong emotions are bloody important.
My anger at first glance was shallow and annoying.
But bubbling under the surface of that anger is alignment to my life purpose.
Because as I write these words, I feel them to be deeply true.
A thing I must do.
A platform I must create.
The thing I by default resist - the thing I envision and know I have to do, rather than desiring to do it.
Knowing nobody else in the world can be the one to create it, but me.
So, most likely coming to you at some point in the future… The Creation Oasis 🌸
This is an awesome post! I have around 1450 followers and my energy for posting ebbs and flows. All organic and authentic follower. My engagement is hit or miss. Recently I’ve gotten up to 20 likes on something. Not sure what to say. On stories I’ve gotten 100 views. I think a lot of it has to do with people following so many people they don’t see your stuff. Instagram wanting you to pay for ads. Then people aren’t motivated to hit like, they often consume. I feel at this stage in the game it’s hit or miss mixed with luck 🥴