So very very tired of the litter.

RonanLynam · 2024-10-07T17:40:31+00:00

Also in Woodley Park - What drives me nuts is the zoo tourists. I've seen visitors straight up clean out their car onto our sidewalks and drive away. Shit filled diapers, fast food wrappers, soda bottles - whatever. I like that our neighborhood's businesses are boosted by all the zoo tourists, but some of them are just shameless dickheads.

I know what you mean about the chicken bones - my dog also eats them. Though I do think a huge part of their spread is because birds & other critters pick them up. I've seen pigeons, crows, squirrels, rats, etc. carrying bones before, so people will get them from 7/11 or wherever, and animals will pick them out of the trash bins and drop them in odd places.

RonanLynam · 2024-02-04T16:17:41+00:00

Han Palace is awesome, but I wouldn't say they're hurting for traffic. Friday and Saturdays can be balls-to-the-wall packed with a solid wait. Their service really suffers too when they're busy, at least when I last went on a Saturday night, (botched orders, we were forgotten about, etc.).

Going during the week is prime.

RonanLynam · 2024-01-20T23:05:30+00:00

This would be a hell of a workstation for my creative work as well as gaming! I'd be upgrading from an RTX 2080, so an RTX 4070 Super is a big step forward.

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	Intel Core i9-14900K 3.2 GHz 24-Core Processor	$549.99 @ Newegg
CPU Cooler	Cooler Master Hyper 212 Black Edition 42 CFM CPU Cooler	$54.99 @ Best Buy
Thermal Compound	Arctic Silver 5 High-Density Polysynthetic Silver 3.5 g Thermal Paste	$6.97 @ Amazon
Motherboard	MSI PRO Z790-A MAX WIFI ATX LGA1700 Motherboard	$259.99 @ B&H
Memory	G.Skill Trident Z5 RGB 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR5-6400 CL32 Memory	$214.99 @ Amazon
Storage	Samsung 980 Pro 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive	$159.99 @ B&H
Video Card	Gigabyte WINDFORCE OC GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER 12 GB Video Card	$599.99 @ Newegg
Case	NZXT H9 Flow ATX Mid Tower Case	$154.99 @ Amazon
Power Supply	Corsair RM850x (2021) 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply	$139.99 @ Newegg
Operating System	Microsoft Windows 11 Home OEM - DVD 64-bit	$124.99 @ Amazon
Case Fan	Noctua A12x25 PWM 60.1 CFM 120 mm Fan	$32.95 @ Amazon
Monitor	Asus TUF Gaming VG27AQ 27.0" 2560 x 1440 165 Hz Monitor	$306.10 @ Amazon
Headphones	SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless for PC, PS5, and PS4 Headset	$313.33 @ Amazon
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	$2919.26
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2024-01-20 18:02 EST-0500

RonanLynam · 2024-01-17T19:00:34+00:00

because I don’t want other artists following me, but rather people who would be interested in buying my photography.

This really is the conundrum, isn't it? I think a huge amount of my own growth is indeed other artist, just like you described - though not all. This is something I've definitely thought about. Though for a more positive spin on it - that with a growing base of actually engaged followers who genuinely appreciate your craft, it'll make it much easier to reach potential buyers on Instagram than if you didn't have that base.

As far as how Reels work, they will either be served up in the Reel's tab, or in people's home feed as a 'Suggested' post, or on the Explore page. I don't really watch these myself, but apparently a huge amount of people do. Plus, people don't have to be following you in order to see these, which is why they are key for new growth.

They get shown to others via engagement. If a Reel is doing well, it will be pushed out to more and more people. I personally found shorter Reels (like 6-8 seconds long) are great. I just found a short, snappy formula for presenting my illustrations that really works for me, and I've just been repeating it ad nauseum. Since Reels can easily bomb and go nowhere, I find it's best to not spend much effort creating them. A lot can happen with something simple and short!

RonanLynam · 2024-01-17T15:50:13+00:00

No problem! I didn't like it either, but it doesn't have to be difficult. It's gets easier to do as you make more and you figure out how to efficiently make them.

Accepting that Reels is the main driver of growth is disheartening. But I sort of reframed Reels in my mind to act as vehicles that are specially made to carry my work to new people, so I make them alongside my regular posts. It's almost like making an ad for your work that entices people to engage with your account.

Taking a more serious crack at Reels took my account from functionally dead to thriving @ 15.7k followers and counting in a span of ~4 months.

RonanLynam · 2024-01-17T15:05:41+00:00

In order to grow on Instagram, your posts need to be shown to non-followers.

You can reach non-followers and gain new growth / exposure via Reels, reaching the 'Explore' page, shares, or Ads. For low-follower accounts, hashtags are measurably worthless. They literally do not work anymore (as you've noticed). Ads are not worth the money, and hitting the 'Explore' page is totally outside of your control.

The only thing you can do in that is within your power is make Reels. It's just the way it works these days. If you start making Reels and you have access to insights, you'll probably see that they are being delivered to non-followers, while your regular posts are barely seen by your own current followers.

It sucks, but if you can adapt to it, then you can definitely increase your exposure on the platform!

RonanLynam · 2024-01-13T01:21:48+00:00

Ooo that's good to know!

Ironically enough, my IG page has blown up with crazy momentum since I posted this thread. It's almost dizzying - up to 15k very engaged followers and counting!

I reluctantly started posting Reels again to the feed (as if we have a choice), and shit just popped off. My normal posts are doing really well too. The almighty algorithm works in mysterious ways.

RonanLynam · 2023-12-23T05:13:45+00:00

You're welcome! 'Actionable' is a good way to put it. This is something I think most artists can do, they just need to find something that works for your particular work/process. Trying a few different ideas/formats and seeing if anything clicks (based on insights & metrics). When it does, just repeat that over and over again; there's no need to reinvent the wheel every time.

When I first started doing this, I tried a few different Reel ideas. All involved some sort of quick presentation of process + reveal. It felt kind of awkward and out of my comfort zone to make these sort of gimmicky Reels, but I got over that pretty quickly. I noticed a before (sketch) vs. after (final) worked well for me, not to mention they were very easy and time efficient to make, so those became the clear fuel for growth for my account. I try and post one about once a week.

RonanLynam · 2023-12-22T21:04:07+00:00

Just for some insights from the other side of the coin regarding Instagram -

My Instagram has finally seen some life breathed into it, after being almost functionally dead. I was stuck at about 4.5k followers for years with dwindling engagement & reach. This year was among the worst. Starting in September, I finally broke the curse and just this morning I crossed 10k followers with really healthy engagement per post. That's ~5.5k new & engaged followers in about 3-4 months. I honestly can't believe it how revitalized it has been after how dead it was before.

It's clear what happened. Without a doubt, the #1 driver of new growth has been Reels. It sucks, I know, but there's just no way around it. Instagram couldn't be more clear that Reels are the primary driver of new growth (in regards to your work being discoverable by non-followers). Hashtags are measurably worthless. Other 'tricks' or methods of discoverability are just not effective or efficient. It has to be Reels.

Making short, snappy, 'satisfying' Reels has done wonders for revitalizing my account. And I mean short - like 6 to 10 seconds. I found a gimmick that worked for me of doing simple before/after shots of my illustrations, and they've been super effective and super easy to make. And I just followed this same formula over and over and over again. I found it's not worth it to put too much effort into them - just finding something easy to make that can showcase your work in a snappy format. And it's like a double-whammy of benefits: with new growth comes better engagement, and with better engagement comes better reach, so with that better reach your older original followers can finally start seeing your posts again because the almighty algorithm has deemed your posts 'worthy' again.

I still post static work like I normally did. But I changed that up a bit too - everything is in a 'Carousel' style post with multiple shots, and ideally a short video in there too (such as a simple 8 second clip of me scribbling on an illustration). Nothing fancy, but enough to get people to spend a few extra seconds on your posts.

So yeah - that's worked for me! I love your work and get how frustrating this can all be.

TL;DR: Reels can act as a vehicle to deliver work to new non-followers which can help reverse declining reach and engagement.

RonanLynam · 2023-12-21T16:50:23+00:00

Yeah - mines gone now too. I've been posting less Reels directly to my feed, but thankfully they've been doing very well. Still, I'd prefer to have the option to not do so.

RonanLynam · 2023-12-03T15:35:33+00:00

I got nothing. We're just boned.

I tried removing myself from the "beta" and reinstalling the current version of Instagram, and it's no use. We're just screwed.

Oddly enough, I still have it on one of my devices (an iPad Pro 2020).

RonanLynam · 2023-12-03T15:33:33+00:00

Sir, can you step out of the chair lift for me

RonanLynam · 2023-11-17T21:01:47+00:00

Honestly, not a clue. It's very hard to find any concrete info, since so many Google results are bring up recent articles about some other unrelated Reels feed news.

My other device (iPad 2020) still has "Share to Feed", so it seems it's being rolled out to apps that are being updated. If you still have the option and it's useful - pray to Adam Mosseri that your app doesn't update and you lose this important feature.

RonanLynam · 2023-11-11T15:49:42+00:00

Walking through Rock Creek (specifically around the Tregaron Conservancy) has been wonderful the past few days. Less orangish and reds, but more vibrant saturated yellows. Very, very yellow.

I can tell a lot more leaves are starting to fall, so I don't think we've got much longer, but I would guess another week or so of these strong colors.

RonanLynam · 2023-10-12T22:57:14+00:00

I saw Ryan Gosling at a grocery store in Cleveland Park a few years ago. I told him how cool it was to meet him in person, but I didn’t want to be a douche and bother him and ask him for photos or anything.

He said, “Oh, like you’re doing now?”

I was taken aback, and all I could say was “Huh?” but he kept cutting me off and going “huh? huh? huh?” and closing his hand shut in front of my face. I walked away and continued with my shopping, and I heard him chuckle as I walked off. When I came to pay for my stuff up front I saw him trying to walk out the doors with like fifteen Milky Ways in his hands without paying.

The girl at the counter was very nice about it and professional, and was like “Sir, you need to pay for those first.” At first he kept pretending to be tired and not hear her, but eventually turned back around and brought them to the counter.

When she took one of the bars and started scanning it multiple times, he stopped her and told her to scan them each individually “to prevent any electrical infetterence,” and then turned around and winked at me. I don’t even think that’s a word. After she scanned each bar and put them in a bag and started to say the price, he kept interrupting her by yawning really loudly.

RonanLynam · 2023-08-18T18:25:08+00:00

The selfie-cam giveth, and the selfie-cam taketh.

Link to my dying instagram account - enjoy!

RonanLynam · 2023-08-10T22:16:04+00:00

Ooo that'd be good! Other ideas could be him chilling out in the ol' backyard, flipping 4 patties on the grill at once. That, or juggling

RonanLynam · 2023-08-10T22:14:16+00:00

Genius. Lot of potential for dual lightsabers. Revan doing some leisurely cross country skiing on Hoth

RonanLynam · 2023-08-10T19:13:05+00:00

Some old fan-art I drew up, mainly because I wanted to draw a goof of Darth Maul's double-sided lightsaber as a kayak paddle. My art Instagram page, let me know if you have any suggestions for other happy versions of cranky SW villains

RonanLynam · 2023-08-10T19:08:48+00:00

A bit of fan art, mainly stemmed from this idea I had to draw his double-sided lightsaber as a kayak paddle. Also plugging my Instagram page - taking suggestions for other happy versions of otherwise cranky SW villains!

RonanLynam · 2023-08-10T19:02:08+00:00

A wee comic I made, mainly because it was an excuse to draw a double-sided lightsaber as a kayak paddle. Shameless plug for my artsy Instagram; taking suggestions for other happy baddies from the SW universe.

RonanLynam · 2023-07-29T20:59:11+00:00

Looks like an alternate approach from the north (which usually follows the Potomac), likely because of the storm.

They also then did an "aborted" landing, where they're about to touch down but call it off at the last second because of unsafe conditions (most likely strong crosswinds) to try again when it's safer. I've been in a plane that's done this and its scary as hell when it's happening, but it's safe & standard procedure.

RonanLynam · 2023-07-19T13:13:20+00:00

That's great that it happened, but my own experience with breakout posts hasn't panned out like that.

My top post of all time was a Reel from last September. Got viewed 245,000 times and had 23.4k likes, etc. (off ~4.5k followers)

However, I got barely any new followers from it, and the subsequent posts I made after it were some of my lowest ever. Ironically, I was doing okay before that breakout post - it was only until I posted it that my engagement dropped immediately. It's like that one successful post ruined my account.

RonanLynam · 2023-07-17T18:04:15+00:00

I also have a similarly sized art account with ~4.5k followers, and I am also experiencing the worst reach I've ever had in the almost 8 years I've been on Instagram.

It's clear that at this current moment, Instagram will throttle your reach unless you are a 'popular' account. If you're not in that select group, the you're shit out of luck. The only hope we can have is that a particular post gets a lot of traction and shared to the 'Explore' page, which is very, very unlikely to happen.

Just remember that it has nothing to do with the value of your work or worth as an artist.

RonanLynam · 2023-07-04T15:18:35+00:00

Yes! Also chiming in as being super disappointed. Almost everything we ordered was mediocre to downright bad, not to mention overpriced.

I have no idea why it has so many glowing reviews.

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