There is one common denominator I see that people struggle with when they use social networks like Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, and most recently Snapchat.
This made a lot more sense for me when I read Fred Wilson’s No Pain No Gain and Jeffrey Kalmikoff’s You’re Using Instagram Wrong posts. What typically happens for users is their feeds lose value and they churn out of these highly powerful services quickly. What are they doing wrong? In many cases, they are following only their friends instead of following their interests.
The reason why I love and use Twitter and Instagram, and now Snapchat so much is because I took the time to carefully curate those feeds with users who are not necessarily my friends, but interesting people who share thoughts, photos, and stories that fit my interest profile.
In my short time using Snapchat, I’ve encountered people who get random pictures sent by friends, but their Story feed is empty. In my case, the Story feed has anywhere from 10-40 posts at any given time, and the feed instantly becomes as interesting as Twitter and Instagram because I’ve taken the time to follow accounts that use the medium creatively and correctly.
My friend David Perell asked me to share that list, so I will here. Keep in mind these are the accounts that make the feed interesting for me. Snapchat’s Discovery features are pretty horrible right now, but like Fred Wilson said in his post, “When it comes to social media, no pain means no gain.” Take the time to find users you like, and your feed will be just as enjoyable for you.
Are there any users you like that I missed? Tweet me @levnaginsky with some recommendations
Lev Naginsky 