I almost quitted Instagram, ... again!

I haven't used Instagram for over 4 years.

I just got used to the real life, which is way peaceful to be honest.

For the past 90 days I've been making content on Instagram @omar.trkzi, through Stories, Posts, and Reels. On the Dev side, we built (my followers, 2 awesome designers & I) WaterLator, which calculates the proper amount of hydration you need during your workouts. And on the Fit side, I made a series of Reels entitled “The basics of nutrition”.

I tried using different types of content; trending audio & original audio, long form & short form, entertaining & educative. Mainly, to see how each of that works. And I concluded this:

Instagram is not for me !

Check this out:

1function contentPreference(activity) {
2    switch (activity.toLowerCase()) {
3        case "read":
4            return offlineMode ? "Physical book" : "Blog post";
5        case "watch":
6            return "YouTube";
7        case "listen":
8            return "Spotify Podcasts";
9        case "news":
10            return "X (Twitter)";
11        default:
12            return "Go offline & enjoy real life :)";
13    }
14}
15

As you can see, there is no place for Instagram there for me.

Reality check !

Even on the business side of the matter, it has the lowest ROI (Return On Investment) as compared to blogs or LinkedIn posts.

For example, last weekend I had an Interview with a startup founder, based in Amsterdam, during which he told me, how he found my profile, (since he messaged me first) and he said:

"I read some of your blogs about React, and I thought you are an interesting profile, so here we are"

I asked him if he checked my Instagram, and he told me he didn't. I was surprised, that the blog post that I wrote a year ago, during an afternoon had a higher ROI than spending 1 hour+ daily to film, edit, and post posting consistently on Instagram for a few months.

If it's all evil, then why not dump it ?

Well, I have to admit it has its own advantages too.

For instance, the 2 billion active users it has, allows for extra reach.

But most importantly in my case, it allows me to directly get my audience's feedback & suggestions.

So, now what ?

Well, let's say I will be investing less time on Instagram, and rather organize content as such:

1. Blogs on devfit.me/blogs (like the one you are reading right now :D).
2. Text posts on LinkedIn & X
3. YouTube 5-20 min videos
4. Short form content (YT Shorts, IG Reels & TikToks)

Goodbye, you said ?

Well not exactly, I think that Instagram stories are crucial for getting instant feedback from followers, so I will be asking you:

• “What do you think of [blank]?”
• “What questions do you have about [blank]?”
• “Should we talk about [blank] or [blank]?”

What do I do now ?

Thank you for making it this far <3, well I would really appreciate it if we could connect with each other on your favorite social platforms.