Small business owner shares conversation with an Instagram media expert, who told her the algorithm favors Reels, consistency, and using all post types
Rachel Reichenbach / rainylune : Tweets: @matdryhurst , @samrolfes , @octogear , @anumationart , @mahoukarp , @pryynn , @azzistardust , @josephrooks , @peculiarart1st , @cutiesaurusart , @miss_s_creates , @matdryhurst , @ilanmuskat , @starrypaigeart , @joshin4colours , @the_jennitaur , @matdryhurst , @starryarose , @rainylune , @erikabrechtel , @girardinl , @alexhern , @emeemay , and @liahaberman Tweets: Mat Dryhurst / @matdryhurst : Newsflash from continuous engagement land I think it's positive to 100% demystify reality that these platforms explicitly prioritise those who meet their priorities alone Which have very little to do with art making. Fine. Artist first protocols will take their place https://twitter.com/... Sam Rolfes / @samrolfes : saw a guide posted by someone who spoke with insta's internal team that said you'll get deprioritized in the algorithm if you're not like posting 7 reels a week and i really wonder what the breaking point will be for these platforms making us dance for them @octogear : @rainylune Well, that's, overwhelming 👁️👄👁 ️ Posting 3 times a week? Sounds like a burnout about to happen imo, especially if you spend between 8-20 hours per piece 😩 I guess you could always fill in the gaps with pencil sketches. Oh well, have some cat pics to soothe the soul uvu 💖 https://twitter.com/... Anu Chouhan / @anumationart : @rainylune So basically IG punishes creatives who don't treat their platform like a full time job :( Norin / @mahoukarp : @rainylune @nekomori_art Ahhh man I seriously cant be bothered to keep up anymore... reels, stories, post at this time of day, # this and that...if we dont do the minimum (which is still very excessive) we litteraly get sent to the shadow realm @pryynn : @anumationart @rainylune Yes, but they don't pay you, just give you ✨ exposure ✨ @azzistardust : @rainylune So basically you need to give all your life to instagram so you can scrape some attention That's sounds amazing Joseph Rooks / @josephrooks : @Octogear @rainylune Yep. Instagram doesn't give a shit about us; the extent of our usefulness to them is in inflating the platform / new features with free content they can jam ads between. We can still have fun... but literally everything they reward or punish revolves around that dynamic. @peculiarart1st : @rainylune @nekomori_art I hate doing videos and I'm an artist who does digital and try to post as often as I can but if I pump out art daily to have a post everyday I'd burn out like I did for Inktober. How am I supposed to do stories, reels and IGTV for digital art? @cutiesaurusart : @rainylune Thanks for sharing with us, here is a pic of my pet lizard Waffles as an offering! In all seriousness, it is a bit disheartening to see how much they want us to do 😫 I have fibro like you, so your suggested alternative amount is really helpful BC I legit cannot do what they want https://twitter.com/... @miss_s_creates : @starryarose @rainylune https://pillowfort.social/ is 1) indie, 2) run by a web dev and artist herself 3) NO ALGORITHM 4) communities are great for getting eyes on your stuff! 5) Many privacy & control options! It's going to public release next month on January 15th. Mark the calendars. Mat Dryhurst / @matdryhurst : original article referenced and demands befitting a particularly sadistic hostage situation https://rainylune.com/... https://twitter.com/... Ilan Muskat / @ilanmuskat : A reminder that social media is a job, and if we don't have open standards, we have platforms that dictate terms https://rainylune.com/... @starrypaigeart : @rainylune Ugh. This just makes me want to not return to IG honestly. I'm struggling enough keeping up with work and my emntal health, the fact that IG wants us to bend over backwards to make their dang app work for us.... shameful. Josh Grant / @joshin4colours : This is simply fascinating, especially as a super casual IG user https://rainylune.com/... Jenny Odell / @the_jennitaur : “Think of it like the algorithm is grading you in a class. ... there's still participation points, homework, classwork, projects, and more. You've gotta participate throughout the class as a whole, not just show up for one test and get an A on it.” 💀 https://rainylune.com/... Mat Dryhurst / @matdryhurst : You Suffer (under the hilarious ad platform driven directive to churn out instantaneously experienced and instantaneously forgotten sub-30 second dopamine hits) https://www.youtube.com/... @starryarose : @rainylune Great article! Thanks for sharing such forbidden knowledge~ Seriously though, now I'm really curious what platform: 1) has the healthiest expectations 2) the best for artists @rainylune : i don't mean for this article to discourage anyone from making art & posting!! my intent is to provide knowledge to aid you in battle. instagram's ideals aren't for humans. keep your mental health bar in check. over time you can defeat this monster, take things at ur own pace 💖 Erika Brechtel / @erikabrechtel : Great tips in this link if you are playing the IG game *MHO: IG sucks up too much time vs creating real value IRL IG pushes superficial content from brands and lazy participation from viewers IG encourages stalker-like behavior vs relationship-building https://rainylune.com/... Lauren Girardin / @girardinl : On behalf of small nonprofits, small businesses, artists, and independent creators everywhere: To hell with @Instagram. https://rainylune.com/... Alex Hern / @alexhern : God this is insane, this world is insane, humans created this and other humans decide to perpetuate it every day https://rainylune.com/... @emeemay : @rainylune I haven't actively tried to grow my audience (lol) in any way, because it turns posting into a chore/additional source of stress. This just makes me less inclined to post at all. But also: what the fuck is a reel??? Lia Haberman / @liahaberman : Instagram's been meeting with creators and giving them a laundry list of posting requirements • 3 feed posts per week • 8-10 stories per week • 4-7 reels per week • 1-3 IGTV a week https://rainylune.com/...
Context & Ripple Effects
This December 2020 thread sits mid-arc in the story of Instagram reshaping creative livelihoods. It follows the Rookie founder's reflection on how deeply Instagram shaped her career and aesthetic, and it lands just before the platform's video pivot turned advice like this into open revolt. Rachel Reichenbach's screenshot of an expert's playbook — Reels, consistency, every post type — is the moment the algorithm's demands became explicit homework for small businesses.
First-order effects
- Small businesses and independent artists like Reichenbach's rainylune face a direct workload increase: staying visible means producing Reels on top of feed posts, Stories, and IGTV, converting creative time into format-compliance labor.
Second-order effects
- The pressure compounds into backlash — within months, [[a:969422|creatives were publicly angry that Instagram's Reels-first changes were gutting their engagement]], the predictable reaction when a photo-sharing community's reach is rerouted toward video.
Third-order effects
- The expert's advice was a leading indicator of Meta's TikTok chase: internal documents later showed Instagram's Reels trailing TikTok by an order of magnitude in daily watch hours, meaning small creators keep absorbing format shifts as the platform competes. The endpoint is the influencerization of creative work itself, where artists must build personal brands to survive platform economics.
The trend: Platform algorithms are converting creative practice into multi-format content production, with small businesses and artists bearing the adaptation cost of Meta's competition with TikTok.