Alright, friends. It’s time to calm the eff down. Yes, we’re all a little testy about the new Instagram algorithm – self included. But that doesn’t mean you need to post a cute little graphic on your Instagram asking your followers to please turn on push notifications so they can keep seeing your ah-mazing content when the change happens.
It’s been breaking my little heart to see so many bloggers and Instagrammers I respect demanding their followers click the three little dots and pledge their push notifications to the Instagram gods.
Let’s all take a little breather and remember…
Asking your hard-earned followers to turn on notifications is a nice short-term fix, but let’s be reasonable about it. This dedication to notifications is going to last all of five minutes. Imagine you’re following even 500 people who post once per day on average. That’s at minimum 500 notifications from Instagram per day. This will not last.
Want to know why?
Your photos are just not that important.
I’m sorry, but I don’t care enough about your latest peony-macaron-white-balanced flat lay to get a push notification when you share it on Instagram. And there’s a good chance your other followers don’t either.
When Should You Turn On Post Notifications
- #SQUADGOALS
Are you consistently missing out on posts from your best friends because you follow too many people? I feel you. Turn on post notifications for your squad so you don’t miss a single post.
- Timely accounts
Are you following a news outlet, celebrity with a penchant for last-minute meetups or a pregnant girlfriend about to pop? Push notifications are a fantastic way to make sure you’re getting up-to-the-minute information on timely events.
- Contesting
Has your favourite blogger or brand promised a sweet giveaway that’s going live “sometime tomorrow morning”? Turn on post notifications so you can get a good shot at winning.
What You Should Do Instead
If you want to win in the new algorithm system you need to do a combination of two things:
a) Improve your content
b) Pony up the cold hard cash
The only way to ensure your content isn’t missed in the new algorithm is to solve the internet-old problem of producing high-quality content targeted at your audience. It’s not rocket science, but you’ll have to keep tabs on what’s performing and keep doing more of that. If you want to double-up on your opportunities, consider putting some advertising dollars behind your best posts.
Can we please stop the madness now? We’re a bunch of smart cookies and I hate to see us acting like Aunt Edna on Facebook screeching in caps lock about how if we don’t copy/paste this status rightnow twelve puppies will die.
P.S. I won’t ask you to turn on notifications for me, but I would looooove if you could visit me over at @stephaniefusco on Instagram! Plan to see a lot of our kitten, some makeup and yes…lots of bright-white flat lays. #sorrynotsorry xo
