Agree with you about IG & short-form burnout. One of my content marketing friends and I were talking about it — it's one of the reasons why we're bullish on the return of blogging.
My favorite line: "Instagram's format forces complex ideas into oversimplified, bite-sized pieces."
This is why we need long-form content, so we can flesh out ideas and arguments.
The bite-size content messes with our attention span & removes nuance. Critical thinking as a skill = going down the drain. (I only need to take a peek at some Threads posts to see evidence of it. Best example is: Person 1: "I love apples", Person 2: "So you hate oranges?")
Yes! I totally agree with you! I’m long winded so I need time to process and Substack makes it easier for me because I can actually flesh out my ideas instead of try to make a 10 second sound bite lol
I deleted Instagram this week. It was taking up too much space in my head and wasn't giving me anything in return. I've felt so much lighter without it.
Thanks for sharing this, I totally agree with everything you said. The last five years on Instagram as a creator has been pure hell trying to keep up with all the changes and fight for your content to be seen. It completely killed my creativity and made me want to stop putting content out altogether. And as a writer and coach, I was completely dependent on it for clients so it tanked my business in my contact was no longer seen. Finding Substack a month or so ago has changed everything! All the creativity I thought was dead is overflowing, and I can’t stop writing!
Sarah, I’m really sorry that you’ve experienced the loss of creativity! At the same time, I’m so glad you’ve found it again! For me, Substack has brought back the excitement I had lost in content creation. But I’m not expecting it to be a cure-all, just that I enjoy being in the online space when I use it. :)
Thank you for sharing this Andi! Instagram used to be a fun place to connect with likeminded people, yet now it feels noisy, chaotic and seriously lacking the substance and depth that I have found with Substack. I had major burnout from Instagram and felt like I was fighting a losing battle with the constant content treadmill - I much prefer the long form content that Substack is all about!
I love this because it validates a feeling I’ve had for awhile. IG is slowly (and happily) dying lol haha we are all burned out and trying to find alternatives. And I’m so happy about that because I’m tired of the relentless posting and push to create create create!
I love to create but I want to do it when I feel inspired - not as a machine. So I’m glad for a place like substack, where the pressure is off. And interestingly enough - now I’m posting more. Figures. :)
Yeah, I'm going to migrate my Healthy Experiments account to Substack. I want to share my learnings of new anti-inflammatory recipes, not put on a performance while cooking.
Thanks for an in-depth drive. I have never really been a fan of instagram, but what you mentioned as the strengths of Substack is precisely why I am here. This is an outlet of expression for me, a way to “immortalize” my thoughts and sharings, so that even years from now, someone can still find it. It also helps a lot that the connection feels quite real here, there’s way less negativity. And I’m happy to be here
Loved this post, Andi!
Agree with you about IG & short-form burnout. One of my content marketing friends and I were talking about it — it's one of the reasons why we're bullish on the return of blogging.
My favorite line: "Instagram's format forces complex ideas into oversimplified, bite-sized pieces."
This is why we need long-form content, so we can flesh out ideas and arguments.
The bite-size content messes with our attention span & removes nuance. Critical thinking as a skill = going down the drain. (I only need to take a peek at some Threads posts to see evidence of it. Best example is: Person 1: "I love apples", Person 2: "So you hate oranges?")
Yes! I totally agree with you! I’m long winded so I need time to process and Substack makes it easier for me because I can actually flesh out my ideas instead of try to make a 10 second sound bite lol
I deleted Instagram this week. It was taking up too much space in my head and wasn't giving me anything in return. I've felt so much lighter without it.
Thanks for sharing this, I totally agree with everything you said. The last five years on Instagram as a creator has been pure hell trying to keep up with all the changes and fight for your content to be seen. It completely killed my creativity and made me want to stop putting content out altogether. And as a writer and coach, I was completely dependent on it for clients so it tanked my business in my contact was no longer seen. Finding Substack a month or so ago has changed everything! All the creativity I thought was dead is overflowing, and I can’t stop writing!
Sarah, I’m really sorry that you’ve experienced the loss of creativity! At the same time, I’m so glad you’ve found it again! For me, Substack has brought back the excitement I had lost in content creation. But I’m not expecting it to be a cure-all, just that I enjoy being in the online space when I use it. :)
Amen to that!
I struggled with Instagram for years and finally ditched it at the end of 2024.
It's the best decision I've made for my business.
And my mind.
Thank you for sharing this Andi! Instagram used to be a fun place to connect with likeminded people, yet now it feels noisy, chaotic and seriously lacking the substance and depth that I have found with Substack. I had major burnout from Instagram and felt like I was fighting a losing battle with the constant content treadmill - I much prefer the long form content that Substack is all about!
I love this because it validates a feeling I’ve had for awhile. IG is slowly (and happily) dying lol haha we are all burned out and trying to find alternatives. And I’m so happy about that because I’m tired of the relentless posting and push to create create create!
I love to create but I want to do it when I feel inspired - not as a machine. So I’m glad for a place like substack, where the pressure is off. And interestingly enough - now I’m posting more. Figures. :)
Yeah, I'm going to migrate my Healthy Experiments account to Substack. I want to share my learnings of new anti-inflammatory recipes, not put on a performance while cooking.
Really in line with my today's post too. I totally agree on the instagram approach of "pay-to-play".
I completely resonate with this. I haven’t been active on Instagram years but am considering starting posting there again to drive visibility and traffic to Substack. I wrote this piece about short form content which speaks to some of the things you’ve mentioned here: https://open.substack.com/pub/hegekristoffersen/p/is-short-form-content-making-us-stupid?r=2n192u&utm_medium=ios
Great post!!
Thank you so much Andi!
Thanks for an in-depth drive. I have never really been a fan of instagram, but what you mentioned as the strengths of Substack is precisely why I am here. This is an outlet of expression for me, a way to “immortalize” my thoughts and sharings, so that even years from now, someone can still find it. It also helps a lot that the connection feels quite real here, there’s way less negativity. And I’m happy to be here