Boss Lady & Bob: Why I Hate Instagram Direct Message (DM)

Warning: I'm ranting this morning...

I can't even right now...this morning my first order of business is to respond pack to the mountain of emails, Facebook comments, Facebook messages, Instagram comments, and phone calls - yes PHONE CALLS - from blog readers.  We've been working on back to back huge projects and my focus has been on them with minimal attention to pretty much anything else....therefore the email-comment-message situation has gotten a bit out of hand.

When I tell you it's not unusual to receive 150 combined emails, message and comments in a day - I'm not exaggerating.  So I gotta draw the line somewhere...and Instagram DM you just got the cut!


Ashlee and Bob are a huge help with email, comments, and messages, but there are some questions or comments they just can't answer. Both of them continues to tell me there are emails, comments, messages, and whatever else that need my attention...so today it's a priority.

But I gotta tell you there's one thing I refuse to answer.  Instagram DM has put me over the top. I mean really? Do we really need another spot to direct message people? What happened to leaving a comment or an email or a tweet or a Facebook message or an IM or a live chat? WAHHHHHH

A few weeks back I literally did a google search for "How to de-activate Instagram DM" when that failed I Googled "setting an auto-responder in Instagram DM." Another #Fail

I don't want people to have the ability to direct message me on Instagram. It's not that I don't want people to contact - that's not it at all. I have built my company and my brand around customer service and helping people maximize the use of their crafting machines - so I encourage communication. But - throw me a bone IG - I need to streamline it and your DM is just not doing me any favors.

First of all...where is it? If you've ever tried to find a direct message sent through Instagram it's like playing a game of Hide and Seek. I literally can never find the inbox without spending about 5 minutes clicking every icon on the app.  Yesterday I had someone comment on one of my IG posts saying to "check DM." I literally slumped over...NO!!  Can you just comment with the question please? That way anyone else with the question can see the response, too....

Then when I finally found it - I had to accept the 1/58 message requests sitting there...and respond back on my phone. I make enough typos as it is on the computer, I can't be held responsible for trying to put together a cohesive sentence or response when I'm hunting and pecking on an iPhone 5 screen (while watching the Bachelorette Finale b/c I ran out of time during the regular work day to respond) that seems to have an auto-correct mind of its own! 

 I really just want to write back to everyone who DM's me through Instagram "Can you please just email this to me instead? Then I'll be sure not to miss your comment or question." Wahhhhh If only I could turn on an auto-responder so everyone knows where I stand on Instagram DM and recognizes I'm not intentionally ignoring their Instagram Direct Message I just 1) can't find the inbox or 2) am retaining my little bit of sanity.

Communication is important, but I have to say Instagram DM isn't doing me any favors  - in fact it's making me realize we don't need to be that socially connected. So, my IG-loving friends if you've messaged me....I'm not ignoring you (okay I am), but just know I'm doing it to keep myself sane. So just email me instead, 'k?! K!


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