How I made my Instagram feed healthier

How on earth did you make your Instagram feed healthier? It isn't a living being, it doesn't eat or exercise, so how could it be...unhealthy? 

Well, although my Instagram isn't a person, I am. I got sick to death of scrolling through my Instagram and not feeling good enough because of my feed. I know that sounds strange. But I felt like I needed to change what and who I saw on my own Instagram feed in order to feel happier outside of using the app. Okay, let me explain.

Every time I would go to my Instagram, whether it be for business or for pleasure, my whole feed would be filled with skinny celebrities promoting diet products that would make them even skinnier. I personally am a very petite individual, I usually wear a size 6-8 in clothes and sometimes, ONLY SOMETIMES, I can shop in the 'tween' section of shops. But I am tiny in height as well, I am only around 4ft11, so I am a healthy weight. Like most women and men, there is always going to be parts of my body that I would like to change or work on and there are parts of my body which I love. I am trying to make myself love rather than hate the skin I am in. However, I find this mindset extremely hard to get into when my whole Instagram feed, daily, is promoting diet pills, diet drinks and diet teas too me. Why don't you just stop using Instagram then? Instagram is where I do the majority of my business deals, it's where I have a good following and for the most part, I enjoy using the app. I decided I needed to fix this problem because I wanted this app to be part of my daily life and my blogging experience. So, one day, I went through everyone I followed. I unfollowed nearly every Kardashian (even though I have recently refollowed Kylie Jenner because of the whole baby drama), every model and every diet/clean eating company. I decided that my health was perfectly fine and that in order to love myself a little more, I needed to cut out some unnecessary negative self-reflection.

Secondly, my investment in large companies. I come from a family where nearly every member owns and runs their own businesses. However, when scrolling through my feed I noticed that I follow a lot of chains. I followed large, corporate businesses that I didn't necessarily care about. Their products would litter my feed, convincing me to spend money I didn't have on items I thought I needed. These items would be over-priced, machine-made items. I decluttered my following list massively, whittling it down only large companies I truly loved like Waterstones, Paperchase, Whistles and H&M. I began following small business, which products were creative, new and unique. I found out that I LOVED following Etsy sellers, people who hand-made their products. Each one was different. When I promote companies, whether it be for money or for free, I do like working with bigger companies. I like how professional they are and I am always really grateful when I am truly in love with the products, that I get to make them part of my blogging journey. However, I do try and promote smaller, Etsy sellers whenever possible as well. I enjoy giving smaller sellers a voice and sharing my love for them with my own followers.
The bookmark above is from an Etsy seller by the name of ShadowPawDesigns, which I will link below. She makes all sorts of Cosplay items and plenty of other bookmark designs. I feel in love with this bookmark straight away, as I always use cacti in nearly all my photos. It was dispatched and received quickly and I couldn't be happier with the quality of the product. Next time you are scrolling through Instagram, looking to brighten your feed, go on an Etsy sellers search. There are some amazing, innovative designers out their, like ShadowPawDesigns.

Thirdly, just outright blocking people. For anyone who knows me personally, they know I will block anyone who even looks at me weird. However, I have found recently that I tend to not block people who I need to block. I unfollow them for sure, but then I always find myself going back to see what they are up too. Going back and checking up on people who are genuinely not good for you or want to drag you down is not okay and will not allow you to be happy in the long run. Note-to-self, block them and then just leave it. I get sub-tweeted (when someone doesn't openly say it's about you or tag you in it, but you KNOW it's about you) and sub-grammed (Same thing but on Instagram, not Twitter) quite often. And I have to remind myself that most of these people who are making bitchy comments and not saying it directly to me are adults just like me. Adults who pay bills, do their own washing and cook their own dinners, full grown adults. Who can't really be that focused on their own life and achieving their own goals if they are so busy trying to squash mine. Also just a side note, this is about no-one in particular (otherwise I feel that would be completely going against what I am saying), but my 'blocked' list this year on social media has expanded, A LOT.

Finally and probably the most important, support other bloggers. Honestly, this rule that I set myself, has been the easiest one to follow. I seek them out and support them, we mutually like each other's post and message each other every so often because we are all working towards the same goal. This isn't so much of a problem in the book blogging community because there are plenty of books and everyone's opinions differ. However, I also blog about lifestyle. I do a lot of promoting products for companies and sometimes the companies want me to promote their items in a certain way, using a certain style of post. Which is fine, it's their product, I can review/feature it honestly and take the photos how I like. Although, sometimes these posts have been done before and I am neither the first person to come up with the idea of telling my reader 'whats in my bag?' or 'how to save money as a student'. However, alongside a company wanting to promote in a certain way and me wanting to write the post, I am going to write about it. I make sure I show support for every type of lifestyle blogger, book blogger, beauty blogger, mum blogger - literally any blogger because we are reaching towards the same goals and we are not against each other. If the only support I can offer is a message, a follow and comment, then so be it. 

Applying these rules to my daily Instagram usage has made me more active on with my profile and has made me genuinely happier when I am not using the app. I have made new blogger friends this way and I have managed to open up to companies even better as well (also a small shoutout to all my irl friends who help me every day). Honestly, make yourself a little happier today and just make your Instagram feed a little healthier.

Thank you ShadowPaw Designs!

Check out ShadowPawDesigns Etsy: ShadowPawDesigns

Check out ShadowPawDesigns Instagram: ShadowPawDesigns