Book Reviews, Latest articles, Uncategorized

Book review: Hashtag Authentic by Sarah Tasker

More than a billion people use Instagram world-wide; it is a highly competitive arena where lots of people make lots of money.

With a poultry 600 followers I have always struggled with it but assumed as I don’t have a perfect ‘instagramable’ life I was never going to see any improvement.

Blogging at www.meandorla.co.uk Sarah, from West Yorkshire, gave up her NHS day job when she found success both blogging and on her instagram page where she now has some 200k followers. 

I was hoping Sarah would provide something like a step-by-step guide to gain 10,000 followers. She didn’t, but what she did provide was much more valuable.

The book includes some excellent guidance on taking great photographs and looks at different subject matters from pets to family occasions. 

There is in-depth information on getting the best out of your technology, whether that be a camera or your phone, along with the best apps for editing.

There are also some helpful suggestions on how to find inspiration and ideas, not just about your photos but also on instagram stories and captions.

However for me the most valuable lesson and biggest take away was Sarah’s whole ethos on Instagram and our relationship to it. 

Rather than trying to portray a perfect life which, let’s be honest non of us have, she advocates being totally and completely authentic about our own lives. 

By illustrating the beautiful small moments of our real lives people will find something they identify with and respond to. 

To me this sounded totally sensible; beautiful photography, recording real life might also be more satisfying than portraying something fake to chase likes and follows. 

I loved all of this book, it changed the way I view Instagram from a narcissistic tool for self promotion to a method of expressing creativity and capturing snippets of life.  

It’s well worth a read if, like me, you use it as a tool to promote your blogs or business or just simply someone who enjoys taking photos and recording their lives.  

More information about Sarah Tasker including courses she runs about Instagram can be found here.

5 thoughts on “Book review: Hashtag Authentic by Sarah Tasker

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *