BeYOUtiful on Instagram
By Darian Berdysz
My name is Darian Berdysz, I am a student at Ohio University Majoring in Communications, Minoring in Marketing and obtaining a Social Media certificate. While I have learned many things throughout my courses thus far, the most important things I have learned have been outside the classroom. As a frequent user of Social Media, I can tell you one thing, it certainly has positives and negatives; one way to turn these negatives into positives is to be yourself!
Post what you want regardless of the number of likes you receive and ignore the haters.
Today, it is not uncommon for an individual to take down a post on Instagram just because it didn’t receive a satisfactory number of likes. I know plenty of people that remove posts due to the amount of likes on them, even if they loved the picture. These people either repost the picture later or just never let the image/ video grace their page. As crazy as it seems, I have several friends that only post pictures during a certain time window because that is the time “deemed” to get one’s picture the ultimate amount of likes. I personally have never understood this because if you love a picture enough to post it in the first place, why do you care how many people like it? Whether your post receives one like or whether you acquire 500 likes, you are still strong, you are still beautiful, you still have the right to post what you want, and you are still an empowered and poised woman.
Disclaimer: while you should and do have the right to post what you’d like on your page, you should always make sure your pictures are not displaying something that could hurt your potential for being hired in the future. This includes things such as profanity, nudity, and alcohol and drug abuse.
People use Instagram for a multitude of reasons, from business, to travel, and something in between. Your Instagram can be whatever you want it to be! Be empowered to make your Instagram unique to you. Whether you are into art, essential oils, fitness or other things, create your Instagram to reflect your passions.
“I post pictures that I want to post and say what I want to say. If that’s three times a day or three times per month, then whatever.”
My Instagram is a compilation of all my greatest memories from getting pulled on stage at a concert to the tasty sandwich I just ate. While I acknowledge that my selfies receive more likes than my sunsets and smoothies, that does not discourage me from posting my scenery and foodie pictures. My Instagram is for me; it is amazing I can share my Instagram with family, friends, and fellow followers, but I use my Instagram to scrapbook my life online and therefore do not get discouraged when someone doesn’t like one of my pictures and you shouldn’t either.
As I previously stated, social media does have some negatives. Online platforms can lead to cyberbullying. While I won’t completely address cyberbullying in this post, the best advice I can give in relation to cyberbullying on Instagram is to ignore the rude comments. Just because someone has posted an insulting comment on your page does not mean any of the hateful words are true. I have received multiple impolite and unwanted comments on pictures I have posted and instead of backlashing at the individual that commented, I took the higher ground and ignored them.
Instagram even has a neat feature where you can delete comments so you don’t have to look at them. Words do hurt, but do not believe what Instagram trolls say. You can’t change what people say, but you can change how you respond to the situation. Stay true to yourself and you will shine like a thousand diamonds. Ignore those haters!
By posting your passions, avoiding inappropriate posts, and ignoring the haters, you can beYOUtiful on Instagram.
