Why illustrators, authors, and visual storytellers should reconsider Instagram and embrace Bluesky and the AT Protocol ecosystem.
For years, Instagram has been the unofficial portfolio directory of the children’s publishing industry. If you’re an illustrator, picture-book author, or aspiring creative professional, the conventional wisdom is simple: You need to be on Instagram. Publishers look there. Art directors look there. If you want to be discovered, that’s where you need to be.
But does that advice still make sense?
Instagram has evolved from a photo-sharing community into a commercial entertainment platform driven by advertising, short-form video, influencer marketing, and algorithmic recommendations. For illustrators whose work consists primarily of drawings, paintings, and static images, those changes have made Instagram increasingly ineffective as a discovery tool.
Meanwhile, alternatives built on the AT Protocol, particularly Bluesky and its photo-centric counterpart Flashes, offer something increasingly valuable: chronological discovery, searchable posts, community-driven feeds, and greater control over what users see.
Discoverability based on shared interests and genuine human interaction, rather than an algorithm’s predictions.
At a recent November 2026 SCBWI discussion, art directors were still recommending Instagram for discoverability. That advice deserves another look.
Instagram Prioritizes Engagement, Not Discovery
Instagram’s ranking systems for its various feeds, Explore, and Reels predict what individual users are most likely to watch, like, share, or comment on. The result is a personalized environment designed to keep people engaged on Instagram, not necessarily to help them discover new artists or timely content.
Consider #KidLitArtPostcard.
On the first Thursday of each month, children’s book illustrators around the world share original postcard illustrations using this hashtag. Illustrator Gina Perry has generously organized this community event, but has announced that it will continue exclusively on Bluesky and Cara.
Visit Gina Perry’s website for details.
The purpose is simple: Artists share their work on the same day and discover what everyone else is creating.
Instagram’s hashtag search, however, no longer reliably supports chronological browsing. Changes beginning in 2022 removed the Recent tab for many users, emphasizing Top and Reels results instead.
Consequently, searching #KidLitArtPostcard can produce older, popular posts and unrelated videos instead of the day’s submissions. An illustration from years ago can appear ahead of artwork created specifically for the event.
That’s not community discovery. It’s algorithmic curation.
A hashtag should help people find what’s happening today, not what an algorithm considers popular.
Source: TechCrunch’s coverage of Instagram’s hashtag changes.
Video Gets the Reach. Static Images Get Left Behind.
Instagram’s investment in Reels makes sense from an entertainment and advertising perspective. Video encourages longer viewing sessions and creates more opportunities for recommendations and monetization.
But an illustration isn’t necessarily a video.
A picture-book spread, character design, watercolor painting, or portfolio image should be able to stand on its own without being converted into a Reel or time-lapse to attract attention.
Buffer’s 2026 research, analyzing more than 52 million social media posts, found:
- Reels generated approximately 36% more reach than carousels.
- Reels generated approximately 125% more reach than single-image posts.
Interestingly, static images and carousels generated stronger engagement per person reached than Reels.
The takeaway? Video has a baked-in discovery advantage, even when static artwork generates meaningful engagement. Because the average user watches a video for a longer span of time.
An illustrator shouldn’t have to become a video producer to be discovered as an illustrator.
Source: Buffer, 2026 State of Social Media Engagement.
The Disappearing Portfolio: Links, Shelf Life, and Commercialization
For many artists, the practical shelf life of an Instagram post is roughly 24–48 hours. That’s not an official expiration period, but once an image moves down the feed, its chances of reaching unfamiliar viewers diminish considerably.
Instagram is also a poor substitute for a searchable portfolio. Its discovery tools don’t offer dependable chronological, topic-based browsing that makes an artist’s back catalog accessible.
Getting viewers to that portfolio isn’t particularly convenient, either. Links in ordinary captions and comments aren’t clickable.
Instagram penalizes accounts that attempt to push users off-platform using links, and it has strictly limited hashtag usage.
Meanwhile, organic posts compete with advertisements, sponsored content, recommended accounts, and monetized entertainment. The platform’s commercial priorities aren’t necessarily aligned with an illustrator’s professional interests.
AI, Privacy, and the Loss of Creative Trust
Perhaps the most important reason artists are reconsidering Instagram has little to do with engagement.
It’s trust.
Illustrators have legitimate concerns about their original artwork being collected, processed, or used in artificial intelligence systems without meaningful permission or compensation.
Meta has expanded its AI initiatives to include the use of public content in its AI systems and tools that allow users to incorporate public Instagram material into AI-generated creations.
These developments raise important questions:
- Is my artwork being used to train AI models?
- What control do I have over how my work is reused?
These concerns aren’t limited to Instagram, and Bluesky cannot guarantee protection against third-party scraping. Publicly posted artwork can potentially be collected from any network.
But platform policies matter. Bluesky has stated that it does not directly use user content to train generative AI models.
For artists uncomfortable with Meta’s approach to data and AI, that’s a meaningful distinction.
Bluesky and Flashes: Discovery on Your Own Terms
Bluesky isn’t simply another Instagram or Twitter alternative. It’s built on the AT Protocol, an open social networking protocol designed to support independent applications, interoperability, and user choice.
Debbie Ohi has a great explanation of the AT PROTOCOL from a kidlit perspective on her blog:
AT Protocol: explanation for non-techies?
For visual artists, one particularly interesting application to come along is Flashes, a photo-centric app built on the AT Protocol. Flashes is currently iOS-exclusive and Android support has been beta testing.
Check the dates on these results for a search of #kidlitartpostcard on Instagram vs. Flashes.
Another image-centric app using the AT Protocol is GRAIN.
The real advantage of posting to AT Protocol sites isn’t simply having another place to post pictures. It’s how people are able to discover them.
Bluesky supports searching posts by hashtag and sorting results by recency. Users can follow the day’s submissions to a creative event instead of relying exclusively on algorithmic recommendations. You can even search within each user’s timeline.
Flashes takes image posts on Bluesky and presents them in an instagram-like, chronological, photo-focused timeline, making it easier to follow visual content from participating accounts. No need to cross-post!
The AT Protocol also supports independently developed custom feeds. Imagine dedicated feeds for:
- Book launches.
- Calls for artists
- Art challenges and daily drawing events.
- Publishing announcements and opportunities.
Rather than relying on one company’s algorithm, users can choose feeds that reflect their interests. Publishers and creative communities can even develop their own.
Learn more about AT Protocol custom feeds.
But is Bluesky Really a Tiny Bubble?
Bluesky is frequently characterized in media commentary as a small “liberal bubble” or “progressive echo chamber,” largely because of the political leanings attributed to its early adopters, and the leanings of the people who control the more legacy social platforms. User traffic on Bluesky doubled during the midterm elections as users looked for real-time, reliable information from vetted sources. Bluesky has approximately 47.4 to 47.5 million total registered users.
But focusing exclusively on early-adopter demographics overlooks the more important question: What is the platform actually designed to do?
The AT Protocol offers an alternative to centralized social media control, with independent applications, portable identities, competing feed providers, and user-selected algorithms.
Recent midterm results are also a reminder that media narratives about political constituencies don’t always reflect broader public sentiment. Regardless of political affiliation, Bluesky has millions of users and can be evaluated on its practical usefulness: finding actual people, building professional relationships, and discovering creative communities. You don’t have to share someone’s politics to appreciate their artwork or collaborate professionally.
What Publishers Should Be Recommending Instead
None of this means artists should immediately abandon Instagram. It still has an enormous audience, ability for corporate-driven content to reach an audience, and publishers, agents, and art directors continue to use it.
But there’s a difference between maintaining an Instagram presence and treating it as the definitive destination for creative discovery.
Publishers and art directors should consider:
- Establishing official Bluesky accounts alongside Instagram.
- Encouraging illustrators, authors, agents, and art directors to connect there.
- Promoting community events and custom feeds focused on children’s publishing.
The objective isn’t to replace one corporate platform with another. It’s to give artists more than one place to build an audience and establish professional relationships.
The Bottom Line: The Industry Should Catch Up.
Publishers have an opportunity to help shape where the next generation of illustrators and authors builds its professional communities.
I had hoped the children’s publishing industry would be more nimble about recognizing these changes and leading the way toward a sustainable model for creative discovery. Instead, illustrators are being told to congregate on platforms increasingly working against the very things that make creative communities valuable.
Building a new following on an unfamiliar platform takes work, but maintaining the status quo of 5+ years ago has not been paying dividends. Adapting to the current online environment will take effort but position everyone for success.
Bluesky is a tool for building a presence that will work, not a platform that serves you what it wants you to see. Use the tool to create the engagement you need.
One advantage publishers have in discovering creatives on Bluesky? Users have already created feeds, lists and starter packs to help the industry connect.
Instagram helped establish an important era of visual creativity online. But the platform that exists today is not the one that originally attracted so many illustrators.
Its emphasis on video, algorithmic recommendations, commercial content, limited chronological hashtag browsing, and controversial AI practices has made it a less dependable environment for static visual creators.
Look at your Instagram feed with a new, somewhat skeptical perspective. Are you really discovering new talent like you used to?
Bluesky and the AT Protocol offer a compelling alternative: searchable posts, chronological discovery, independent feeds, photo-centric applications, and greater user control. They’re not perfect, but they deserve serious consideration.
Instagram and Twitter once provided remarkably effective ways for illustrators, authors, and publishing professionals to find one another, share work, and build relationships. We shouldn’t accept the erosion of that community as inevitable.
The best platform for creative discovery isn’t necessarily the one with the most users, the most advertising, or the most sophisticated recommendation algorithm.
It’s the one that helps people find each other.
