How To Use Instagram to Boost Creativity

It's hard finding creativity scrolling through Instagram when all you see are photos of people getting drunk or the breakfast someone had that morning, but finding a way to use social media correctly can boost your desire to create.

East Coast Creatives Photography Instameet

I've found my outlet through Instagram, inspired by all of the content creators and places that I see in photos. Of course, social media has it's downfalls, but it has the ability to surprise you as well.

I find that with anything, and in this case Instagram, you get what you want out of it. In life, as with social media, your experience is in part what you surround yourself with. If you surround yourself with the wrong sort of motivation, like someone's acai bowl, then maybe you'll begin to feel a little jaded.

Fill Your Feed With Magic

Think about what you want from Instagram, if you're like me, you want to see amazing places, content that makes your chest pound, and light that makes you wish you were there.

Surrounding yourself with this type of content will brighten up your feed, and not make you want to throw away your phone. I was in a slump before I started posting content regularly to Instagram. I didn't like social media and didn't understand what it could do for me.

Enjoying a sunrise at John Boyd Thacher Park

When I started getting into photography, I only followed a few family members and people I knew from my hometown. It didn't inspire me to post online, or to share the content I was creating, or to even create at all sometimes.

Once I started diving deep into the amazing communities that Instagram has to offer, I was overwhelmed by how much magic I found. So many people put out amazing images and art. Searching through hashtags and different accounts inspires me to go out and create some magic of my own.

Finding New Content

Sometimes the content online can get stale, especially if you follow a lot of feature accounts. With the new algorithms, the big accounts fill up your feed with the same old styles of images. Sometimes certain vibes get big, and then they stick around like a top 40's song on the radio until you never want to see it again.

I get around this by actively searching for individuals and content I enjoy through tags and through people I already follow.

Zach at The Northeast Collective Instameet in the White Mountains, NH

When I first started following smaller accounts on Instagram, I was nervous to comment and reach out to them. Everything seems so distant and foreign online, but then I remembered that they are just people too.

Keeping up to date on these individuals posts makes you feel like you're part of the ride. Commenting on their stuff makes you want to tag along on their next adventure.

Engagement on Instagram

Instagram has an incredible amount of niche communities based off of photo vibes, locations, and people. I've found an amazing community in the Northeast that has inspired me to do more with myself and my work.

As I've said, I was always nervous with reaching out to people, but after posting for a while, a few people would comment on my photo's or DM me (Devon was one of the first) and it inspired me to reach out more. Engaging with others work not only helps get you recognized more, but it can lead to meeting some amazing individuals.

The talented Kristen below Awosting Falls at the East Coast Creatives instameet in the Catskills

I started going to instameetups through East Coast Creatives and The Northeast Collective and met some amazing individuals that way.

Being nervous at these events made it hard to talk to people at first, but engaging online befoe and after helped inspire me to create more. People I had never met in person before I now considered friends, just because we chatted occasionally online, because we enjoyed sharing each others content. Folks like Jacob McCool will even try to video chat you when you're on a beach in the Carribean.

The Northeast Collective was holding a meetup in New Hampshire, and I had no one to go with so I was nervous about going. A photographer from New Hampshire DM'd me asking if I was going and invited me to car camp with him and a few others at the trailhead. I was hooked, I couldn't miss out on the chance to go then, so I drove late in the night to meet up with Max, Zach, and too many others.

Jeff snagging some shots at The North East Collective instameet in the White's

To see the write-up I did of that event, check it out here.

Instagram Inspiration

Engaging through Instagram, and surrounding myself with positivity has changed my view of social media and social networking sites.

Seeing first hand the amazing communities that flourish inside apps like Instagram have led me amazing places. It's opened up my eyes to a whole new world of business, and has helped inspire me to create.

If you ever feel stuck in a creative slump, my first piece of advice is to spend some time outdoors enjoying the thousand little things that make nature wonderful.

If you can't do that, explore Instagram, reach out to other creatives who inspire you, you just might be surprised at what you find.