Sometime last month Instagram and Facebook went down. That was a scary day for influencers and many small businesses, who are heavily reliant on the app for revenue. It was a reality check for many that these sorts of things happen. So, it may be time to start diversifying your stream of income. When there is an Instagram blackout, that is a day without pay and you don’t want to be in that type of situation. Considering the apps were down for six consecutive hours. may not seem like a big deal but when you miss out on paid reels, advertising, and other content. You start to get worried. Instagram is a method for promotion and advertisements for brands after all.
I guess many should consider themselves lucky that it was a few hours. Could you imagine if it were 6 days! That would be a nightmare. Instagram is widely known for its influencers. To depend on a digital system that can demonetize you or cut your pay in the blink of an eye is risky and bad for business.
Influencers Affected by the Blackout
Instagram influencer and public figure Adira Perez said Instagram’s blackout affected her severely. “Honestly speaking everyone is trying to make a way in this pandemic. Whether it’s making money off social media or not. But when it comes to those using these platforms to make their money. Whenever it’s an issue with the social platforms it’s always a loss big or small. For example, I make money off Instagram doing reels. Let’s say it’s 200 – 1K per reel a day and I post 5 that’s a 1K-5K loss in one day! Now imagine if these socials were down for a week.”
A large percentage of Instagram users find new products on the app every day. Brands have reported that they have grown considerably on Instagram. Almost 44% of brands have changed their public relations and marketing strategies to better suit social media. So, can you blame them for depending on Instagram when it proves to work? Instagram creator’s accounts are where short, content creators do influencer work. They can access Instagram’s checkout feature, which is an e-commerce solution, that helps creators within the app.
Instagram in 2017 contributed less than $5billion to Facebook. But, recently in the year 2021, Instagram exceeded $25 billion. That speaks volumes about the platform and the revenue it accumulates.
Small Businesses
Mark Zuckerberg, the owner of both Facebook and Instagram, says that he invests in small businesses and creators. Mark and his vice president Santosh Janardhan apologized for the blackouts. They blamed it on the “configuration changes on the backbone routers ” for taking the service down. Changes were made but we are unaware of what happened.
Millions of small businesses use Instagram and Facebook. There is everything they can possibly need from the online market tool, advertising, content creators, influencers, and more. The outage occurred and pushed them to other platforms such as TikTok, Snapchat, and LinkedIn. These platforms may not hold the same substance for influencers as Instagram has but there are ways around it.
New Means of Income
Instagram has always been about money. It gives off the impression that it cares about the community and that it’s organic but that is not always the case. Sooner rather than later it will be harder to push your content on the platform. This results in you paying for a boost of your content. This should make you think of new means of income. This doesn’t mean giving up on Instagram entirely. You should still use the app to its fullest advantage. But if it falls short again, you’ll have something else to fall back on. The benefits of finding a new platform are that you make more money, access to more creative tools, approaches, and new audiences.
Instagram is the platform of choice. It’s easy to connect with users through direct messages and stories and it offers a more focused community of dedicated followers that will, in turn, transform into loyal customers. But, with these blackouts arising, is it still our platform of choice?
Feature image by NeONBRAND from UNSPLASH.COM
