Hello,
I'm Mervi Eskelinen!
An artist, nerd and sorcerer, dedicated to make world softer and better for everyone, and to get you to make more art. Make art, change the world!
My simple recipe for getting more comments on Instagram
With everyone racing to build a huge following and getting tons of likes on Instagram, the quality connections are becoming scarce. Every day someone follows you only to gain a new follower. Every day automated and manual spam comments are made. Every day someone tries to get something from you. Yet every day, my photos get lots of thoughtful comments. Why and how?
Since last April, I have been sharing daily selfies on Instagram. There were a few days in June, when I didn't, because I managed to drown my iPhone 4S. But otherwise, I've been onto it every friggin' day. That's a lot of selfies. Besides sharing the selfies, I also write lengthy captions to accompany them. They are sort of journal entries. I tell what I have been doing that day, or what I've been thinking. I talk about my depression, my work, doubts, life, concerns, psychology, and current stuff. Anything, that fits my very personal, but also very public journal.
I've learned a lot during these months. I've learned to take better selfies. I've learned that not everyone likes selfies. I've learned who are friends and who aren't. I've learned how to make an Instagram caption that has line breaks. I've learned which hashtags create more likes, and which are stale. I've learned that I'm great at dodging spam (by following my own instructions). I've learned that there are people who follow you and, after you've followed them back, unfollow you (I always unfollow someone who does something like this). And I've learned how to get more thoughtful comments.
The first thing for getting thoughtful comments (rather than "this is great" or "follow me!") is sharing something thoughtful yourself. Besides sharing my selfies, which are leaving me already pretty vulnerable, I also write long captions with thoughts about life and work. I've noticed that more personal I get, the more personal it gets to the people reading the caption. Even when I talk about my experiences, there's always some comment which makes it clear for me the person writing it took it very personally. Personal is where the interaction happens. Sometimes the people commenting have an urge to correct me about something, respond that I'm wrong about them personally. Me being hurtfully personal about my own life and experiences, is like I was talking about you.
I don't just talk about myself. I also mix in some "you" or even "we". It gets even more personal, even though I'm not really talking about or to any particular person. I find it a bit icky, because in Finnish it's bad form. But in English, more distant passive becomes too cold and detached very fast. Plus when you say you, the text becomes more personal to the person reading it. You will start to feel I'm getting under your skin, saying these things about you. Personally. And still, when it gets personal, you have hard time not to respond. Being personal, by showing my own face, but also by talking about my personal experiences and feelings has turned out to be important part of getting those comments. When I write more impersonal captions, less comments are made.
I'm a bit picky about making comments myself. I don't usually have much to say, especially when the photo and its caption aren't very comment inducing. I also appear to like when there's something personal going on. A sunset is pretty, but there's not much else to say about it. Thus I comment sparingly, only when my emotions are shaken enough. Every day I also take time to like photos on Instagram. Mainly the photos by people I follow, but also some of those through the hashtags I use. I like to be choosy about which photos I like, I don't go around liking every photo I stumble upon. I see some Instagram users being very active in liking all the photos that are posted to certain hashtags, probably often by using a service which likes photos in their behalf. That's spamming. I don't like to spam. This includes following for follows, liking for likes, and writing spammy comments to gain more followers or engagement. I value the connections and real interaction, over vanity metrics and empty communication.
I have another little trick up my sleeve. No, I don't like calling it a trick, because that makes it sound like I'm fooling someone. Either way, it's a great way to get more of those thoughtful comments. Besides going personal, I usually ask a question. Question, which has something to do with the subject of the photo or something in my caption. Some questions are deeper, some less. I have asked about the weather, as well as if you are comfortable with your various selves. Not all the comments are answers to my questions, sometimes people choose to ignore the question and go about something else I wrote. Or something else they read. In some cases, it's pretty clear to me that the person commenting understood what I wrote very differently than how I meant it. Usually it appears to have something to do with how personally the person commenting took my writing. Yes, it can be pretty infuriating.
One thing I try to do every single time my photo gets a comment. I respond to the comments. I try to make my responses as thoughtful as the comments are, but I don't always have anything further profound to say. In some cases my response gains another response, turning it into a longer conversation. There can be a lot of back and forth, when the responses get personal enough, if there are further questions, and in cases there are jokes and puns flying around. Sometimes I miss comments, especially when they are written to an older photo. Instagram shows a limited amount of recent activity in your photos. This is why, if your photos get lots of likes and comments as mine do, and if there are lots of new follows in a row, some of the activity gets missed.
The reason why I like getting comments is beyond the numbers. It's lovely to see the amount of interaction on my photos, all the comment and likes I gain. It's also nice to get new followers. However, having been doing this daily selfie journal thing for a while now, I've learned there's a surprising value. It's creating the connections, learning about other people and other cultures. A frequent commenter told me once that colours green and white are considered pure and sacred in Pakistan. I've made new friends all around the world. It has all been very eye-opening. Not only I've revealed things about myself, but I also have gotten other people to reveal things about themselves. As social media have become less social, and more salesy and impersonal, connecting with other people feels refreshing. I don't any more feel like I'm yelling to the void, because the void is full of people who respond. It may not bring money to my bank account, because I don't try to sell anything. It does keep me creating the content, and giving lots of effort to it.
This is a reader supported blog without paywalls and advertisement. If you appreciate my work and want to help me rewild the internet, please consider becoming a free or paid patron today. I can't do this without the support of readers like you. So if you can to contribute financially, I would really appreciate your help.
