Recently, you may have noticed a lot of us bloggers complaining and moaning about the Instagram changes that have been put in place. Yes, that's right. I'm talking about the bloody Instagram algorithm. I think it's pretty obvious that the majority of people hate it and although once you've gotten used to it, you just kind of get on with it, it's something that's had a bigger impact on us bloggers than you might have thought.

You may be thinking - why does it all matter so much? And well, as a young blogger myself, my biggest and most popular social media platform is Instagram. I use Instagram to promote my blog posts, promote brands and share my life with people who are interested in it (I have no idea why, I'm not that interesting haha). And the algorithm is something that has caused huge ructions in all of that not just for me, but for many other bloggers who are trying to grow their little space on the internet too.

Back in February, almost every single one of my Instagram posts would receive at least 500 likes and a lot of them were receiving 1,000 likes. Now, fast forward to June and I sometimes struggle to even get 200 likes, despite the fact that I now have almost 10K more followers. And whilst a lot of people say not to focus on the numbers because yes, it's great that I have 20K Instagram followers but that doesn't necessarily mean to say that I'm the worlds best or worst blogger, these numbers are important to a blogger because they signify engagement with an audience, with readers and also are so crucial when it comes to growing your relationship with brands and companies and even being able to compare your growth in a years time.

Yes, of course it's great to see that your latest selfies has received 800 likes and it can be pretty shitty when one gets a minor 100 likes, but it's not the fact that we're reviving 'likes' that's important. What's important is the fact that 800 people have seen that photo and that 800 people have read the caption and noticed what brand your wearing or working with or promoting or have seen what you have to say. That's what is important. 

Obviously, if only 100 of your 20K followers seem to be seeing or responding to the image you're posting then you're bound to feel a little disheartened... but you're also going to start panicking, because WHERE ARE THE OTHER 19.9K? Where are these thousands of other people who used to see what you were saying and are actually interested too, because well, they follow you! 


A decrease in likes subsequently means there's also going to be a decrease in comments, which is honestly a really shitty feeling. As a blogger, I love engaging with people who enjoy my content. They're the people who make blogging worthwhile and have helped me to grow my blog to where it is today, so to suddenly have no one commenting and seeing what you're posting is actually a little bit heartbreaking. 

The algorithm has meant that now our Instagram timelines are no longer in chronological order (why god? why?!) which is another thing that is just a. freaking. nightmare. for bloggers. If I post an Instagram in the morning promoting my blog post that has also gone live in the morning and then people who are following me aren't getting to see that post until 11pm at night, then they're about 90% less likely to 1. have the time to go and read it 2. remember to read it another time and 3. even want to start reading when they're knackered after a long day. So, yeah, it pretty much sucks. 

By the way, there might be some bloggers out there that like the new algorithm or don't really care that much about Instagram at all - I'm not trying to bunch us all into one stereotype - but I'm just referring to the reaction that I've basically seen on Twitter and spoken to other bloggers about and well... it's not good. 

It's something that has really frustrated me because between February and now, my blog and me as a person have grown so so much but yet my biggest social media platform doesn't even show it and can't even remind me, if I were to look back, in the future of an accurate representation! I just think it's all a little disheartening. 

Instagram is still great if you're already surpassing 50K and have thousands and thousands of interactive followers but for people who are still growing... it's all just feeling very crap and, it's just taken all of the fun out it. 

Let me know how you feel about the algorithm down in the comments and also if you can see where I'm coming from as a blogger.

Now, I'm off to go and sit in a mood until Instagram changes back... *sobs*