Like the early blogs, a good Instagram feed was labor-intensive. When she quit, Socality Barbie noted “the insane lengths many of us go to create the perfect Instagram life.” A “fashion” Instagrammer named Amanda Miller who offered an online guide to gaining followers confesses that “getting to 18.5k followers was A LOT of work.” In addition to composing and shooting photos, the feed demands interacting with strangers to make them feel engaged or heard, the way a politician or other public figure might—the way a real celebrity doesn’t have to do. As Miller writes, “Engagement: This is the hardest part because it takes something money can’t buy, and that is TIME. It takes A LOT OF TIME.”

Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, loc. 1047