Review – Hashtag Authentic by Sara Tasker

Craftyism - Review: Hashtag Authentic by Sara Tasker | Title

I’ve really been enjoying Instagram lately. I follow a lot of crochet and crafts accounts and love seeing how creative everyone is. There’s loads of information out there about how to grow your followers, but a lot of it seems very corporate. Cue a new book – Hashtag Authentic by Sara Tasker. I’ve been having a look to see if it can help me grow my Instagram account in a way that’s more ‘me’!

What’s it about?:

Sara Tasker is the lady behind @me_and_orla, she’s a blogger and social media expert. Hashtag Authentic is her guide on how to build your Instagram account into a personal yet profitable, creative outlet.

Your Instagram gallery is just that – a hand-curated exhibition of your life in pictures and video. As the curator and designer of this gallery, you get to choose how it’s presented to the world.

Sara Tasker, Hashtag Authentic

Hashtag Authentic shows us how to produce quality Instagram photos that are unique to us and our creativity. Sara Tasker says that by being authentic to ourselves, we will attract the right type of followers This way Instagram becomes a way to meet like minded people and share in each others creativity, rather than a numbers game.

Do it for the photo, for the art, for the creativity – but never for the likes.

Sara Tasker, Hashtag Authentic

Tried and tested:

As well as passing on her years of personal experience, Hashtag Authentic has a number of practical exercises where Sara Tasker challenges us to be creative in different ways. These include journaling prompts, visual research and (scariest of all) self portraiture!

I decided to try the first exercise which involves making a list of my favourite parts of the day. For me this included reading in bed at night and playing around with colours. Next I had to think about how I could photograph these.

Craftyism - Review: Hashtag Authentic by Sara Tasker | Test 1

Another exercise further on in Hashtag Authentic, asks us to think about what attracts us to certain images on Instagram. I found that I am drawn to very bright, colourful, craft images. But also to more dark and moody scenes. I decided to combine these two challenges to come up with two photographs of my favourite parts of the day.

Craftyism - Review: Hashtag Authentic by Sara Tasker | Test 2

Final thoughts:

The message in Hashtag Authentic really made me think about how I represent myself on Instagram. My images don’t just have to be a representation of my creativity through craft. The images themselves should show my creativity. I can share my everyday, ordinary life, but the creativity comes in finding appealing ways to represent this in a photograph.

Sara Tasker also includes very useful, practical Instagram tips. From how to best use hashtags and how to engage with people whilst keeping yourself safe online. If you’re just dipping your toe in, or fully committed to growing a giant following on Instagram, I’d definitely recommend Hashtag Authentic. There’s something for everyone and everyone will interpret the information in their own unique, authentic style.

I was loaned a digital copy of this book to review by the publishers. All thoughts and opinions are my own!

This blog post contains sponsored content, affiliate or referral links which may reward me in the event of a subscription or sale. This doesn’t cost you any extra. I use these funds to feed my cat and buy more craft stuff. My cat and I thank you! For more information click here.

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