How I Grew on Instagram… and Ended Up Deleting Everything

20 hours ago
3 min read

This post… makes me really embarrassed. But it was a giant effort I made during a certain stage of my life, and it feels right to keep it here for posterity.

So, when I started making and publishing video games, my marketing plan was to have two Instagram and Twitter accounts: one for Goca Games and another more personal one as a game developer.

Things went well, especially with @goca_things (the personal one), where I reached 10,000 followers in a short time. I had everything very well organized: I posted one image every day and rotated the content. On top of that, my Instagram feed was arranged in columns: one for selfies, one for digital art, and one for miscellaneous content (pets, games I had played, hand drawings, and anything that didn’t fit into the other two categories).

That account helped me promote my first Steam game, Hei. To this day, it’s still the most downloaded game I’ve made, so the strategy was working.

Up to that point, everything was fine. But after a few months, I kind of lost control and started creating more and more accounts. I also became a bit obsessed with engagement and began removing followers. That’s when my psychological “downfall” started: I got so burned out from Instagram that I deleted all the photos and all the accounts.

So come with me down the rabbit hole of what my accounts used to be. Each one with its own logo and personality.

GOCA THINGS

As I mentioned, this was the main developer account. It actually started as a bit of a joke, and in secret from my friends and family (because I was very embarrassed). But it was going well, and it got a little to my head. I felt like I was an influencer.

GOCA POKÉMON

There was a challenge to draw Pokémon for a month, and I enjoyed it so much that I decided to draw them all. I posted between 1 and 3 designs per day. I already talked about this here. I published up to the 8th generation, more than 1,000 designs in total.

GOCA SELECTS

On this account, I recommended video games I liked. Later, it became more of a collection of games I was playing or had played, where I rated them. I still do this monthly, but now I do it on this blog instead.

GOCA SERIES

The same concept as Goca Selects, but focused on TV series, including animated series. Honestly, these last two accounts weren’t that bad. Maybe Instagram wasn’t the best platform for reviews, but it was entertaining, and the feed looked nice.

GOCA SELFIES

Well… here we reach the part that makes me embarrassed. Goca Selfies, an Instagram account only for selfies. The thing is, on Goca_Things, selfies were the content that performed best, so I decided to separate them. I promise I’m not that narcissistic.

GOCA OUTFITS

And here comes the final madness, which I still love, even if it was a bit crazy. I got completely addicted to Animal Crossing: New Horizons and created an account with daily outfits I wore in the game. I’m a total fan of the concept now that I see it.

Nowadays, only two accounts are still alive, just like at the beginning: the one for my games and the personal one (which is completely inactive and is now @gocaguillem).

Sometimes I think that if I hadn’t been so impulsive and deleted everything, maybe I would have many more followers and sell my games better… But honestly, I’m happier and calmer without worrying so much about social media. They’re a pit that’s very easy to fall into.