04.05.2016

Social Media | Be Yourself

04.05.2016

Social Media | Be Yourself

I have often been asked if I kept a content calendar or if I scheduled my posts on Instagram. If I calculated the numbers of posts or if I analyzed the content. Actually, I don’t. And this is probably why the numbers keep growing.

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Shooting for Steffen Schraut social media campaign.

Content Ideas

As an accidental Lifestyle blogger, I signed up on the app in 2012 and started sharing my daily life on social media. I would just post what I loved: from my travel pictures to fashion, my puppy or my favorite beauty products. I have been doing this all these years without realizing that people actually liked it and the numbers kept growing. As the years passed, I started noticing that my friends and followers would often ask me for advice on how to “make it” on social media. But there is no such thing … The best tip I could give you is to BE YOURSELF. Who wants to see advertisements on Instagram, right? We want to see your life, what you are up to, all these places we can’t go to and if we follow you it’s because we love your personality. So don’t lose that.

I have experimented posting a picture every hour or so, or posting 3 pictures at the same time. It doesn’t make a difference, if the picture is great your followers will like it anyway.

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Massa Lombarda, Italy.  Taken with the Sony A7s and Zeiss 16-35mm lens.

“There is no right or wrong on social media.”

Photography

Some people ask: “When is the right time to post? What should I put up on my profile?” I don’t think timing matters, after all it’s an online network that works 24/7. What does matter is a great picture. Instagram is all about the visual, the beauty and aesthetic of what we share. If it’s not your friends or sister sharing a baby picture, if the photograph isn’t great, why would you like it?

Always keep in mind: there is no right or wrong on social media. If you don’t get the amount of likes you were hoping for, it’s ok! This is a great thing about the virtual world is that you can always delete anything, edit your captions, improve your content and repost.

To create better content, try to use a professional camera as much as you can. It can get annoying having to transfer pictures from the camera, to your computer and then to your phone, but trust me: the quality of your feed will reflect the effort.

 

“Get Natural light”

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Amsterdam Canals. Taken with the Sony A7s Zeiss and 35mm lens.

“Instagram filters are a big no no”

Instagram Filters
Avoid them as much as you can please! By putting a filter you lose a great amount of pixels and the quality of your picture is much lower. An Instagram filter is like Photoshop: you don’t want to rely on it and say “Oh I’ll photoshop it .. Oh I’ll put a filter on it.” This is a big  “NO NO”.

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The Shard, London: no filter.  Taken with the Sony A7s and Zeiss 16mm lens

Along the years we have seen our Instagram feed go from black frames, to orange filters, white square frames…I personally love the portrait format, I never use squares. It allows you to create a larger image and it usually gets a greater amount of likes. The landscape pictures are not as successful. Even if the picture is great, the platform doesn’t allow a great exposure.

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London Bridge no filter. Taken with the Sony A7s and Zeiss 16mm lens

“If you don’t get the amount of likes you were hoping for, that’s ok!”

It’s important to understand that just like in life, you can’t please anyone. What matters is to love what you are doing and have fun with it. Every follower is different and not everyone will like the same posts. Some people like flatlays, others travel pics and other people just want to see YOU.

I never tried to be a blogger or be a social media “influencer”. Here you have a taste of the variety of pictures I post and none of them are related, except that they are my experiences and part of my life. I have heard so many stories of girls feeling pressures about what to post and when, or obsessed about their looks and the amounts of likes they get. The truth is -and that’s the only golden rule I would tell you to follow: just be yourself.

On that note, follow me on Instagram and send me a comment to tell me what you’d like to learn next! If you have any questions: don’t hesitate to ask! Xo @SarahBarlondo

Sarah Barlondo

Citizen of the world born in France, Sarah is an actress, journalist and activist. She has lived and worked in Mexico City, New York and Paris and is now based in London where she is finishing her architecture studies. Sarah is the Editor-in-Chief and founder of Mood Board Magazine and founder of “The Cherry On Top” her lifestyle blog. As a former professional tennis player, she loves running, traveling and sharing her journey on Social Media.

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