A Different Kind of Instagram
In the digital world, it’s hard to see beyond strategic selfies and personal promo. But Marissa and I believe that Instagram and Twitter and all of those things can be pretty useful. A few years ago, the two of us created personal Instagram accounts, where we posted pictures of our crazy outfits and cool friends or, in my case, my really good-looking golden retriever. Instagram was fun, but not exactly professional. Then, Marissa had a genius idea and within a couple days she had Cur8ed, an Instagram profile where she posted her favorite editorials and reinvented them on her own body. It was genius and I was jealous. So, on a car ride with her, Marissa encouraged me to start something too. Fast forward a few months and I was the proud owner of Copy Lab, something I’ve deemed “a social experiment on taste and perception” but is, in all reality, Photoshopping designer goods onto famous paintings. Instafame still hasn’t hit either of us, but we’re having fun doing it, and it’s a lot more fun to create original content than it is to take millions of selfies (eventhough, yeah, we still do that on occasion). Marissa and I had a conversation about all things Insta a few days ago and thought we would share! –Chris Rellas
On Selfie Promotion
Chris: “Self promotion is obviously a huge part of social media. But I feel like right now, we’ve both come to this place where we’re tired of selfies and cute shoes.”
Marissa: “I think what people need to start doing is making those selfies into something meaningful. When you look at cur8ed, it’s a lot of pictures of me. But I’m doing something with those images, you know? They have some purpose.”
C: “Yeah, definitely. It’s self promotion, but it’s doing it with meaning. I don’t think it’s bad to promote yourself at all…I’m doing it right now by even talking about Copy Lab. But it’s definitely important that when you’re promoting your work, there’s actual content.”
M: “I do think there’s a difference between promoting yourself and promoting your ideas. If you want to use Instagram as a real tool, you have to showcase what you’re creating, not your lipstick
C: “Unless it’s really cool lipstick.”
M: “Well, of course. Leandra Medine, for example, she might take a picture of a popsicle that she’s eating, but it’s all in line with her look and she pairs it with written content that means something.”
C: “Self promotion is always going to be a huge part of Instagram, I guess. I think it’s all about owning it and recognizing that we’re all in this narcissistic game together. No one is getting out alive.”
M: “That was a little intense, but yes. Exactly.”
On Keeping it Tidy
C: “Everyone has that friend who Tweets something and then it auto posts as a Facebook status and then, I don’t know, somehow gets sent as an email. It’s awful.”
M: “Yeah, I know some of those! And it gets really annoying. No one needs four accounts promoting one thing.”
C: “What I love about Copy Lab and Cur8ed is that we’ve kept them on one social media channel. They can only be found on Instagram.”
M: “I agree. When you post to all these platforms, you water down your content. And you annoy people. For me, it’s really important not to be intrusive or overbearing on social media. I feel like you need to respect people. Don’t post 10 photos within five minutes. Don’t use all caps in your captions and get on people’s nerves.”
C: “Yeah, I guess if you’re creating quality content you don’t need all the loudness. I used to write in all caps, though. It’s a little embarrassing now, but I thought I was being really funny.”
On Professionalism
C: “Instagram can be a really great way for people to show their art, their styling abilities, etc., and disseminate that to an audience of potential professional connections. I love Cur8ed because you’re actually creating original content and I feel like that gets you a lot of respect.”
M: “Yeah, I think young people are naturally good at doing all of that, though. We know how to promote ourselves. We grew up with all of this. I think the most important thing is that you pay attention to the details and stay consistent with your brand, or whatever you’re calling it.”
C: “Yeah, when I had my personal account, I wrote these crazy captions and . Not that we’re in any position to give advice, but if we were to, what would you say?”
M: “I just think you need to really think hard before posting a picture. Does this photo reflect what I’m trying to get across or is it just for the Geo Tag?”
C: “Oh yeah, never do it for the Geo Tag.”
M: “Also, art direct every photo. And make sure you’re paying attention to captions. If I wanted to work with someone and saw that they misspelled a designer’s name?”
C: “EMBARRASSING! I think it’s really important to be honest and authentic. Never make your social media personality bigger than your real personality. I did that for a little bit and then people would meet me and be all disappointed. Just stay consistent with who you are. And it’s not all about the followers. I don’t have a ton, but when an employer looks on Copy Lab, at least I don’t look like an idiot who says stupid shit and gets 10,000 likes.”
On Your Image
M: “I find social media interesting because so many things, your caption, your formatting, how you use your filters, it’s all a representation of your taste and your image. It’s the least flashy way to showcase your own mind and personality.”
On Finding Your Idea
C: “Cur8ed is an amazing idea. There isn’t much else out there like it, and you’ve pulled it off so well. Let’s talk about idea creation and finding your own niche.”
M: “I got dressed one day with this idea of doing my own take on an editorial I love a lot. My outfit was entirely different from that original editorial, but each component of the outfit was based off of something from the original imageThen I posted it to my personal account with the editorial image to the right of it, and it made my brain kind of go on fire and I just had so many ideas.”
C: “Personally, I’ve always been obsessed with the uber-trend; this idea that people who may not be all that into fashion know what a Chanel Lego Bag is because they’ve just passively seen it. I think there’s a lot of power in that, and we find that phenomenon in both fashion and art. Everyone has seen a painting of Venus, but how many people know the artist who painted it? I think for anyone who is looking for their idea, it’s important not to overthink it. What do you find yourself doing at midnight on the computer? As long as it isn’t disgusting, try to make that obsession into something productive.”
M: “Agreed. I feel like Cur8ed was sitting right in front of me for so long and I never noticed that it could be something really cool that wasn’t just for me.”
