Growing on Instagram without getting flagged as spam?
Last week I went on a little following spree, engaging with other jewelers and desert art accounts, and within a day my ability to like or comment got temporarily restricted. Instagram basically told me I was behaving like a bot, which honestly stung because I was just excited to connect with people making similar work.
I post pretty regularly, mostly bench shots of half-finished bezels and my terrible cactus sketches that somehow keep getting likes. But I clearly crossed some invisible line with how fast I was interacting. I don't want to slow down on building community, but I also can't afford to get my account shadowbanned or worse when I'm trying to get my rings and pendants in front of more people here in Albuquerque and beyond.
Has anyone figured out a rhythm for growing engagement without tripping those spam filters? What's actually worked for you?
I had this exact thing happen to me a few months ago. Got excited about finding a bunch of other enamelists and metalsmiths and went on a follow and comment tear, then boom, restricted. It felt personal but it really is just an algorithm thing. What helped me was spreading it way out. I follow maybe ten accounts in the morning while I'm waiting for my kiln to come up to temp, then another ten later in the evening. In between I just use the app normally, scrolling, watching a reel or two, leaving a real comment on someone's work. The key for me was making sure I actually looked at each profile and engaged with something specific before following. It mimics how a person actually browses rather than how a script runs. Your bench shots of half finished bezels sound like exactly the kind of content that draws real community, so it's worth keeping that account safe.