#BehindTheFeed – Instagram Life vs Real Life
I hope you guys have seen the #BehindTheFeed blog posts and instagram shots the last few weeks. If you haven’t, read on and find out about our attempt at keeping it real and sharing a behind the scenes glimpse of real life (vs. Instagram life).
If there is one thing I’ve already learned in my new journey into this lifestyle + mom blog, it’s that you can quickly get wrapped up in the picture perfect life that social media conveys to the greater world.
Whether it’s your feed or someone else’s feed, we all like to use the best picture taken in the perfect lighting, adjusted with the perfect filter.
I get it, it’s human nature to share the good. And I love it. I love seeing the beautiful mamas and babies. I love seeing the delicious foods and desserts. I love seeing pretty flowers and overflowing coffee cups. And the list goes on and on. It makes me happy to see people happy. And it makes me happy to share my happy.
On the flip side of it all, it definitely is also human nature to compare. And that can quickly turn into a fast spiral down a rabbit hole of envy and other not so good feelings. Theodore (Roosevelt) had that one totally right, comparison truly is the thief of joy.
But come on, let’s be real, life on instagram isn’t always real life. It’s usually the snippets of the best part of our days. It’s usually our best hair days, our most delicious meals, our cutest baby moments among others that are depicted in social media.
It’s something that I have to remind myself often, especially as I make my way through this blog world. Like many others, I am my own worst critic and it’s easy to see the negatives first. It’s easy to take a billion shots of the same pose, layout, object and see everything that’s wrong with the picture, instead of seeing the positives! While it’s great to share the good and happy, I want to remember that I don’t need to critique every photo, that I don’t need to overthink everything that I choose to share because ‘we were born to be real; not to be perfect,’ and I wholeheartedly concur with that sentiment.
And so, in an effort to portray that there is life behind those perfect squares, my friend Alexie has put together a group of mama bloggers who like to keep it real, to share what goes on #BehindTheFeed, starting on June 8th.
Love this post and inspired by you all who are keeping it real! I do a lot of “real life” posts on my Instagram too. Whether it is a failed yoga pose or a baking recipe that didn’t come out. I think it is important to show that we are all human behind those perfected shots we typically see coming across our feed! I’ll be following along with you all for sure!
Much love,
Heather
Thanks Heather! I love that we can share a glimpse of reality that may not always be perfect!
I love this movement because so many of us moms are constantly trying to cover up the dirty floors with filters and avoid showing the messy dinning table. It’s always a good idea to show others who you really are, and that no one is perfect. No matter how hard you try to portray that your life is always good.
It’s the chaos that makes you stronger, and it makes room for happy moments.
Yes! I love that we can share glimpses of our real day to day, and not just the good moments. Because that’s what makes life real!
Love this and can’t wait to follow! It’s not pretty behind the scenes sometimes. I love seeing other moms keepin’ it real!
I hope you join us Kim! 🙂
I totally love the spirit of this idea. My friend also does a #momreality hashtag to show that life is messier than we present on social media. Following you on IG now!
That’s a great hashtag! One that I can find comfort in every day!
This is seriously my biggest guff with the blogging/business world these days. We are given tips to have a “unified” grid. I have purposely bucked against that because I want Instagram to be memories of my life… the real life. I might not have a huge following, but I know those following are interested in the real me : ) I LOVE this post.
Good for you! Gotta follow your heart and keep it real sister frannn!
So glad you’re involved! I can’t wait for Wednesday and I love the response we’ve already seen! You’re the best and this post is so incredibly accurate. xx
Thanks for starting this! Such a good reminder!
That is awesome! I love to see more real life photos. I enjoy pretty things as much as the next person, but I like messy just as much, if not more.
Yes, messy isn’t bad! 🙂 Real life photos are great!
Amen! I am a brand new blogger/instamom too and I totally relate to what you are saying. I will be following this hashtag for sure.
Thanks for following along! And welcome to this fun and crazy world!
I agree, social media can give you a distorted view of things. Because people only want to give off perfection.
Yea, I think we all need to remember that social media is not always real life.
I love this idea! Instagram used to really bother me because I’d look at all the pretty pictures and compare my life to others, but now I just try to have fun with it and embrace that as my feed isn’t a reflection of my “real” life, I assume other feeds aren’t as well.
I’m trying to be mindful to do the same, Lisa! It’s easy to fall into the trap of comparison, I’m trying to just enjoy the good!
Yay! So excited to be a part of this, and can’t wait to see everyone’s behind the scenes photos!
Xo
So happy to be doing this together! I’m trying to figure out what to post tomorrow! Ha!
I think this is so good! One thing I do like to remind people of though is that beautiful moments ARE real! Beautiful and imperfect can go together… the difference for me is that there is so much pain and suffering in the world that I appreciate the beauty that can be found on Instagram. I think it’s all about perspective. I think you have to approach other accounts with the idea in mind that they are humans struggling just like you are… but I wouldn’t put my most raw moments on the Internet for people who don’t know my heart to see and I shouldn’t expect them to either.
Yes, beautiful moments ARE real, but so are the not so beautiful moments. It’s easy to share the good and I love it, I just have to remind myself of viewing and posting from a positive place!
I love this! It’s so easy to get carried away in the picture perfect everything and it’s nice to see real moms being real!
http://www.myplotofsunshine.com
Yes! Love this sentiment, please join us tomorrow!
I love this idea!
I hope you join us!
This is going to be great! Excited to follow along with you girls!!
Thanks Kelsey! 🙂 Excited to see the posts tomorrow!
This was a great post! everything is so curated now its hard to know what is real and whats not
Yes, I think everything is real, but we need to be mindful that there are messy days behind all of our picture perfect squares!
Thanks for the list to follow, and the reminders that we’re all just…who we are! Love the thought that so much we see is “all the good!” I’m guilty, but I try 🙂
Yes, please follow, these are some of my favorite mama bloggers! Sharing the good is SO SO good, I think just having a reality check once in a while is good too!
Love this idea! I like to keep my feed bright and positive and attractive, because let’s face it, humans are visual creatures and we like to look at pretty things. But sometimes I’ll post a picture of a typical #momlife struggle I’m going through, and I think people can really relate to that.
Yea, I love beautiful feeds! I think it’s the mentality that you have as a viewer that makes all the difference!
“We were born to be real; not to be perfect” – I couldn’t agree more! Love this post hon! x
One of my faves!
Tomorrow!! Can’t wait! This movement is a wonderful idea. I’m a new blogger, and the perfectly curated Insta feeds have definitely caused me to doubt my abilities, at times. I can’t wait to check it everyone’s honest posts — it will be a breath of fresh air!
Right there with you Aimee! I love the sentiment behind this hashtag movement! Can’t wait to see tomorrow 🙂
love this movement! I have so many outtakes that are both hilarious and REAL.
What a great movement. I decided to contribute today with my not so great snacks!
Thanks for the inspiration 🙂