In a world where social media is more important than actual human qualities and personalities, attention and energy is being directed to unnecessary but necessary things. To give a clear and concise example, I suggest the Instagram aesthetic.
Instagram’s roots go back to just being a way to share photos with friends, but has since become something more. It’s no longer just about the photo; it’s about the angle used, the lighting, the photo credits, and – most importantly –the caption, the filter and the compatibility with all other photos you’ve posted. And if your “timeline has been blessed,” you’ve probably already seen one of those “grid photos.” There’s so much consistency involved; I don’t have this type of commitment, I can’t even stick with one cereal because I know I’ll get tired of it.
Personally, I find it ridiculous to be cautious of every little detail, especially on a site that we probably won’t use in five to ten years. I’m not going to lie and say I’ve never looked at my overall Instagram aesthetic because I definitely have. I have stared at it for longer than necessary. And I go crazy when I have a preferred “look” I want (currently a white/light neutral with a pop of occasional color) and a picture I post doesn’t flow with it at all.
If we’re really going to start with aesthetics, Twitter should be the priority. There is so much opportunity already for customization. Besides the profile picture, you have a head banner and a space for a bio, location and even birthday. New to the relatively recent updates, Twitter now allows you to pin a tweet to the very top of your page and even retweet your own tweets (but that’s kind of weird).
First, to get a nice Twitter aesthetic going, make sure there is a nice profile picture and header photo. Definitely use a photo of yourself for the profile. The header photo is where you can be creative. You can have a picture of a quote, or the Harry Potter World landscape, or a comic strip; the possibilities are endless.
Next, work out a bio that speaks too you as well as your followers. I like one that is clever and witty. It’s super worth having a nice bio because chances are, five out of ten people that visit your profile will read your bio.
The next thing to consider is your location and birthday. You don’t want to give away too much information where people practically have your Social Security number, but just enough for people to know if you’re srat/frat, NorCal/SoCal and what school you go to.
Lastly, the part I consider to be vitally on point are the tweets. Do not just tweet about how the sidewalk was paved and other random things. Give each tweet you post a purpose and a reason to be looked at. From my experiences, tweets get the most likes if it’s super relatable to a vast majority of followers and you’re genuinely really funny. Tweets get the most retweets if your followers – just plain and simple– have the same mindset or think you’re super hilarious and want their followers to see how funny your tweet was.
Twitter aesthetics may seem hard and difficult as if there’s so much to be focused on, but when you start stalking yourself on social media late at night to make sure your profile is safe to be stalked by a stranger, you’ll be glad you started making your Twitter pleasing to the eye. (Follow me on IG and Twitter to see my failed attempts at aesthetics).
