I'm an artist that switched mediums. My IG is dead. Do I bother with a new account?
Sorry for the wall of text
I'm kind of stuck. I made an IG in 2017 to share my photography work. I have 947 followers to date. I understand that having a following doesn't necessarily mean anything as an artist but I feel like that number has to be a bit of a sign. Years back, a couple larger accounts shared my work and those posts would get really good engagement with shares and comments but I didn't see any increase or change on my own posts.
I had a gallery show last spring, sold no work and have had no new opportunities come from it. To be honest I think like the show was the nail in the coffin and I've been feeling like a pariah. The photo community in general is really small and I guess I just didn't fit in? I think it's mostly because I can't find or figure out who my actual audience is.
Last year, a few months after my show, I shared a random painting I'd done. That post got more engagement than almost anything I've seen in the past few years, but then I also lost a good chunk of followers since posting paintings semi-regularly. I gained back roughly the same amount followers that are interested in painting but I'm walled in at about 950 with low reach and low engagement. IG just doesn't show people what I post. Sometimes it will be hours before a post sees the first like. But my stories usually get 100-150 views and a handful of likes.
Do I delete my account and start a new one? Do I use my real name as I am currently or use an alias? Do I mention the new account to my current followers? I feel like if I do this, it's a hard signal that I'm done with photography and the photographers that follow me but I'm trying to avoid looking like I resent people.
Any advice, even if you have to be mean, is welcome.