Diary of a model

Lily spends her days as a model, rushing from shoot to show and then to another casting. On Amayzine, she tells you everything about what her life is really like. Under a different name, of course, but that means she can share all the juicy details. This week: her life on Instagram.

What is the best time to post a photo? Is it better in the morning or should I wait until five in the evening? When are my followers most active? Am I even going to get likes with this photo or should I just throw up another selfie? People (models are just people too) want to be liked and need validation, and due to Instagram's infamous algorithm, your post gets shown more if you're more popular. So if you have more likes, you get more likes. But what should you do if you're not popular enough?

Hashtags

The more hashtags you use, the better your post will perform. Especially hashtags that are frequently used seem to do well, in my opinion. And so I now see posts popping up everywhere with a whole bunch of hashtags in the caption. I get it, but I'm still not over the shame of putting #me #model #girl #like #photo under my posts. On the other hand, you might see me using the hashtag #lekkergoings, for example. But strangely enough, that doesn't do much for the activity.

Buying likes

Because people need so much validation, a whole new business has emerged, one where you can buy likes. If you look on Google, there are websites everywhere that offer two hundred likes for five euros, for example. Just transfer the money and poof, you're popular and can look at yourself in the mirror again. Because: you. have. likes. YES. There are even subscriptions you can sign up for, because the next post you make has to be a like magnet too, otherwise it doesn't count. And likes are dangerously addictive.

Being active yourself

If you like a lot of photos and comment on posts from other people (especially people with many followers), you will also get more activity on your own page. Following (and unfollowing) other people can help too. The more people see you, the greater the chance that you will become popular. But then you have to find the people who might like your posts. This all takes a lot of work and time, and ain't nobody got time for that.

Despite the fact that I, as a model, spend 90 percent of my time waiting, I don't feel like putting my energy into that. Call me a lazy Insta girl, but yeah. ‘Fortunately,’ you can also pay robots to do the work for you. These robots do everything you want. For example, they can follow and unfollow women from America aged 16 to 26 (if that’s your target audience) or leave certain comments under popular posts. You name it. Just transfer some money and you have a robot working for you. Black mirror much?

It's pretty strange that you can buy your popularity online. But if you think about it: back in the schoolyard, you were also more popular if you had bought a super rare marble or those cool pants with glitter on the back pockets. I still have to get used to this new form of popularity, I think.

Sometimes I also worry about the fact that certain posts get fewer likes (am I no longer popular? Do people think I'm stupid now?), but I never look at others how many likes they get on a post, let alone that I notice whether that is a lot or a little. Maybe we should all just like each other a lot more, so everyone feels popular. #shoutoutforshoutout and #likeforlike.

Or maybe we should just act normal and enjoy the lovely start of summer on a terrace with a beer. #tanopbouwings #lovemylife

XX Kisses from Lily