Looking back on the social media trends of the past, I’m so excited to see how this year is different—especially as we near summer. We’ve already seen many changes in social media use and engagement over the beginning months of this year, and here are just some of the trends I anticipate carrying us through the summer months.
Muted and Natural Tones
Photos uploaded to Instagram have truly landed anywhere on the spectrum: fuzzy and low-quality with poor light conditions (*raises hand* “guilty”) to oversaturated and excessively color-edited (*hides face* “guilty”). It’s a breath of fresh air, in my opinion, to see a shift to less edited and touched up photos this year. You can absolutely still have a cohesive feed by using all one preset/filter/editing method, but maybe you’ve noticed that these photo edits have been appearing far more natural in both color and style.
I’ve seen more selfies that have gone untouched (no more blurring over breakouts) and more photos with natural skin tones that don’t appear orange (can’t believe I posted as many of those as I did).
What does this look like in summer 2021?
Your feed will reflect your beautiful self as you are and your world how you see it.
Less-Than-Perfect Feeds
Want to share a photo of your bright green smoothie to your feed? Do it. A picture of you and your fur-baby on a sweaty walk? Do it! Consider this your permission—not that you need it—to let go of that pressure to have the perfect “blogger” feed; at the same time, if that’s what you want and enjoy creating, do it! Don’t let anything or anyone stop you from letting your creativity run as wild or as safe as you want.
When I first started my blog and began using my Instagram to share about my newfound creative outlet, I was met with a lot of criticism and snarky remarks from people I knew—not internet strangers! I spent far too long concerned with the things they said when this blog was truly the only thing I felt I had control over and freedom to utilize how I chose. Don’t let what others think stop you from creating something you love.
Don’t let what others think stop you from creating something you love.
What does this look like in summer 2021?
The parts of summer that make it the most wonderful (snow-cones, ice cream, drives with the sunroof open and windows down, warm sunsets, and dips in the pool) will make their way into your Instagram feed—not overly perfected backdrops and photo setups.
Be True to Yourself
As we’ve learned in 2020 and probably should’ve seen much sooner, humans struggle. We saw social media transition to a place of transparency and humanness in a way that we hadn’t seen as much before, and it was refreshing.
This year, we see that trend as well. People are showing the good along with the bad and the beautiful along with the messy. I find this balance refreshing, and I love seeing all parts of the lives of people and creators I admire.
What does that look like in summer 2021?
Summer, as great of a season as it is, is not exempt from hardship and struggle; we’ll most likely see this throughout the summer months.
Everyone is an Influencer
I know this sounds weird to say considering the advent of @influencersinthewild and recent exposure of “influencer culture,” but it’s true! Did you try a new smoothie place downtown and snap a picture to share to your story? Chances are, one of your friends will see that picture and say, “Oh, I need to check that out next time I’m that way!” Or maybe you went to a local nursery to purchase some cute succulents for your home then posted pictures of them and tagged the business. One of your “followers” has passed by that exact nursery every day for the past year and never stopped to take a look—until today. Whether you have 500 followers or 5,000 or far more than that, you do have influence. So with that, how do you want to use it?
What does that look like in summer 2021?
Summer is a fun time, and it’s likely that you’ll be documenting just a few of those moments. Will you share about your favorite local business? Will you pose a question to your friends that maybe you’ve been too scared to talk about with them in person? Will you speak up about an issue you feel passionately about? Will you teach people skills that you’ve learned? The possibilities really are endless.
Whether as a a creator or for your business or maybe just for fun, how are you planning to leverage Instagram this summer? Comment below what you think of these trends and your thoughts on the direction of social media at this time—I’d love to hear what you have to say! 🙂
Until next time,
Annie Lark
ANNIE BOYD SOWELL 