Why I stopped posting pictures on Instagram for a year

Instagram is the go-to place for showcasing your photography, and you have to be there as a photographer… right?

Well, I wanted to find out for myself. Here’s why I stopped posting photos on Instagram for a year. The decision was a surprise to me and my followers, but it came as a result of specific reasons that made me rethink how I use social media, which included permanently deleting my old account. Check out the reasons why Instagram became my favorite social media site.

1. I felt pressured to post photos constantly.

This is so weird because I thought I had gotten over this habit when I took my first long break from Instagram in 2020. I was fine for a few years, but eventually, I started playing the “influencer” role (even though I never enjoyed it before). The main reason for this was that I started taking my photography seriously, and posting more frequently.

This started out innocently enough, but eventually, I felt like I had to post a certain number of times each week. If I didn’t, the algorithm would forget about me… right? I blatantly ignored the fact that all of my posts got better engagement when I posted less frequently, but I digress.

The pressure to post photos was purely internal. I’m sure most of my followers wouldn’t care if I didn’t post a photo for a few weeks or even a few months, and in my opinion, I’d rather follow someone who posts high-quality content less frequently (more on that later).

If you start to feel compelled to be online, I highly recommend stopping all social media for a while.

2. I was disappointed with Instagram's changes at the time.

When I decided to stop posting photos on Instagram for a year, it was around the time the app was making big changes. Reels became the priority, and I noticed a huge drop in engagement with my photos. This move bothered me because I joined Instagram primarily to post photos. I even jumped on the short-lived “switch from Instagram to VERO” bandwagon.

I also consider myself the type of person whose actions should align with their beliefs. The simple thing here is that if you don’t like what a social media platform does, then don’t use it. I wasn’t enjoying the Instagram experience anymore, so I felt like getting out was the best thing to do at the time.

3. I was wasting time

When I first started thinking about not posting on Instagram, it was primarily because I was wasting my time on the app. It wasn’t necessarily about mindless scrolling, although that was part of it. More specifically, the strategic aspects of posting on Instagram were eating up more of my bandwidth than it should have.

I take responsibility here, but I always felt like I had to post an interesting comment — even though the reality is I would have preferred to post my photo and then leave the app. Writing texts took hours, and I wasted a lot of time thinking about comments just because I wanted to post something.

Shortly after I decided to stop posting on Instagram (and delete my account), I immediately felt a surge of creativity. My photography skills had never accelerated as quickly as they did during that time; if you want to become better at taking photos, spending all your time creating an Instagram strategy won’t get you there.

If you’re using Instagram for any other creative project, I can tell you categorically that you’re better off focusing on a task that has a higher impact. For example, I run a travel blog. As you can see from my over-the-time stats below, I get very little traffic from Instagram.

4. I was always rushing to edit photos.

Many photographers hate editing, but I’m not one of them. I like to fine-tune my photos to look exactly the way I want them to. If you look at my Instagram these days, you’ll notice that I don’t usually upload my photos until months after they’ve been taken.

I don’t edit right away because a) I take a lot of photos, and b) I want to create a space to edit with a logical mind. While posting frequently on Instagram, I would always rush through my photos. The results were inaccurate, and I hated the way they looked.

I found myself doing this again after returning to the app, and then reduced the resulting workload to focus on quality. I suggest you do the same if you’re in this predicament, especially if you’re just doing your creative work as a hobby.

5. I'm exhausted from using Instagram.

In the same way that you can burn out if you don’t take a break from work or exercise, I think you can also suffer from burnout from using social media (and other forms of technology) for extended periods of time. I’ve been using Instagram for the better part of a decade, and when I took a year off from posting photos, I had been back on the app for two years straight. Check out How to Know When It’s Time to Take a Break from Social Media?

Every six months or so, it’s a good idea to take a complete break from social media for a week or two. You don’t have to delete your accounts, but you should at least remove the apps from your phone. Taking a break can make it easier for you to enjoy more of the benefits of social media.

6. I was only taking pictures for Instagram.

The surefire sign that you need to stop posting photos to Instagram is if you’re taking photos just for the app, and that’s exactly the situation I found myself in. Every single photo was in portrait orientation, even if there was a landscape shot that I thought would look great. While editing, I was also thinking about how the photo would look in my feed.

My creativity has increased so much since I chose not to post because I was taking photos for the fun of taking photos. Photography is my biggest passion ever, and I first fell in love with it because I would take anything that looked cool. If you’re just taking photos for an app, you’re missing out (and funny enough, you’re not going to stand out because your photos won’t be unique).

There's absolutely nothing wrong with posting your favorite photos on Instagram, but I definitely shouldn't have taken photos just to show up in the algorithm. Check out how social media changed my life for the better.

7. I wanted to evaluate my use of Instagram as a photographer.

Since joining social media as a kid, I’ve never really stopped and critically evaluated my usage before stopping. For me, it was just something I’d always done (and everyone else in the community did, too). From a photographer’s perspective, I wanted to stop and question whether Instagram was really serving me — which is why I took a year off from posting.

After taking a step back, I started asking serious questions and analyzing my attitude toward the app. One discovery that seems obvious now, but was a big one at the time, was this:

If the lack of likes and engagement alone is stopping me from taking photos, it suggests that I don't really love photography and instead want to validate my passion.

I also wanted to ask myself if Instagram was something I wanted to use. In my opinion, the idea that you need any social media platform to succeed in a creative endeavor simply isn’t true. It can be a useful tool, but there are plenty of other ways to get your name out there. As a hobbyist, you might prefer to create your own website to share what you make.

As you can tell by the fact that I have an Instagram account on my bio, I eventually got back on Instagram. Instead of trying to be an influencer, I decided to use the account to simply connect with like-minded people and casually share my photos. The vast majority of my photos are on my travel blog, and I’m happy with that balance. Here’s how I quit Instagram without losing access to messages.