Behind the Scenes of Creating Instagram Posts: My Honest Thoughts on Recent AI-Driven Content

Hello, I am
Pharmacist Hirozaru, working at a pharmacy in front of a psychiatric clinic.

Thank you so much to everyone who
read my previous self-introduction article, far more than I expected!

Since it was my first self-introduction article on note,
I was a little nervous, but
the reactions from everyone pushed me forward,
and that is why I am happily writing this now.

Now, as I promised last time,
I will talk about the behind-the-scenes of my Instagram content and my honest thoughts on recent AI.
(As declared, I will also be a bit cynical. Haha.)

Do you all look at Instagram often?
Various social media platforms have developed recently, but
among them, I think Instagram is one that many people use daily.

While countless accounts in many genres are active, I have continued to post as a fairly niche pharmacist account focusing on "psychiatric medication."

In this article, I will write about how I managed to grow my account to 45,000 followers—the "behind-the-scenes of my content"—and the "lingering sense of discomfort (my honest opinion)" I feel regarding the recent remarkable progress of AI.

Since this is based on my actual experience of five years of gritty trial and error, it should be quite realistic and reliable.
Whether you are a content creator yourself,
or just someone who looks at social media,
I think you will find it interesting to see "how things work behind the scenes,"
so please stay with me until the end!

To 45,000 followers. The honest truth about the influence of content at this scale

When you reach a scale of 45,000 followers,
how much reach (influence) do you think that generates?

Honestly, it feels super lame and embarrassing to write about "influence" myself (haha), but here, to make it easier to visualize, I would like to talk about the actual "reach (the number of people who saw the post on their screen)."

This is the rough number of people reached every time I put up a post. Of course, not everyone reads it from corner to corner.
However, even if we assume that only 10% of them are reading it, you can imagine that it is a staggering number.

However, precisely because the number of followers has increased and information reaches so many people, I have started to feel a strong pressure to "never make a mistake" and "be careful about this at least."

Especially as a "pharmacist," I make delicate posts related to medication. I cannot post incorrect information, and I must create posts with a great sense of responsibility as a content creator.

Also, as the number of followers has increased, I have received many DM requests from companies for PR (product introductions). However, many requests come in where I wonder, "Does this really benefit my followers?"
Should I jump on it easily, or decline it for the sake of my followers? Ultimately, I always think that what kind of content one produces "depends on the person's own character."

Drastic change! How has post creation changed with the rise of AI?

Compared to when I started posting on Instagram, I think the environment has become dramatically better for those starting to post now.

This is truly largely due to the progress of AI.

Even for creating a single Instagram post, there are roughly this many steps involved behind the scenes.

This is the general flow, but until a few years ago when I started, it took a huge amount of time to think through these steps from scratch or research them through books and online information.
In particular, because I had to work while searching for ideas like 'what kind of information would reach many people?', I think it took anywhere from several hours to dozens of hours to create just one post.

However, nowadays, I can utilize AI for most tasks, such as brainstorming ideas, creating outlines, and generating images. Thanks to that, the work time has been reduced dramatically compared to back then.

'Well then, isn't it great and easy if you just leave everything to AI!' ...You would normally think so, right?

But this is where today's main point comes in.
While the work has become overwhelmingly easier, I have been feeling a certain 'unshakeable sense of discomfort' regarding recent Instagram content.

The 'unshakeable sense of creepiness' toward posts made solely by AI

While the work has become overwhelmingly easier,
as I look at recent social media, I have increasingly felt a sense of discomfort that could be called a 'harmful effect' of AI development.

When I look at posts from peers and other creators,
'Oh, they completely outsourced everything from the outline to the text to AI to make this,' is something I can
somehow tell.

This is especially prominent in genres like ours, such as medicine and pharmaceuticals. Posts that just copy the facts written in drug 'package inserts' or 'patient guidance leaflets' and summarize them in slightly polished language...

To put it extremely, even if you aren't a pharmacist, you can create that using AI, right? (laughs)

When I see such posts, as a peer,
'Ah, this creator probably doesn't really understand the content they are posting,' is something that
shows through, and it makes me feel very uneasy.

And above all, the biggest sense of discomfort is the question,Does that text really answer what the reader wants to know?that I have.

If you ask AI, it will perfectly summarize the correct effects of medicine and the probability of side effects occurring. But what patients struggling on the other side of the screen really want to know is not 'correct theory' straight out of a textbook.

'What should I do if I experience these side effects?'
'I don't really understand how this is different from the medicine I was taking until now.'

AI cannot answer such anxieties that patients might casually spill at the counter in the field, or honest feelings they couldn't say in the examination room.
I believe that only pharmacists who are actually working as professionals can convey information while incorporating such 'real information from the field' into their posts.

People without knowledge use only the power of AI to mass-produce 'seemingly correct information' on the surface. As a medical professional, I feel an intense sense of discomfort and even a kind of crisis that this is reaching patients' eyes.

Things I Absolutely Cannot Yield to AI (My Principles)

That is precisely why, when creating posts, I have clearly defined
“the parts I will never leave entirely to AI”.

First, the way I decide on themes is different.
I don't just tell AI, "Create a post structure about this medication."
I start by using tools like Google keyword search to manually research, "What are patients actually struggling with right now, and what words are they using to search?"

Then, whenever possible, I try to incorporate the following elements into the content of the post.

These are not pieces of information that AI picked up from the internet.
They are compiled based on my own practical experience at the counter every day and the knowledge I have gained from studying professional literature.

AI is certainly convenient, and I intend to continue using it effectively as an excellent "assistant" to help with my work.
However, I believe that ultimately, it is the job of a human standing in the field to breathe life into the text.

To keep creating posts with warmth that could never be made just by typing instructions into AI. I believe that is the important part that will resonate with my followers in my future posts, so I will continue to work hard and post steadily.

Conclusion

Thank you for reading until the end.

Wow, it ended up being quite long because I wrote down what I really think (laughs).
Sorry about that.

However, I believe this content is, to some extent, the core reason why I was able to grow my
Instagram to 45,000 followers, so if you are continuing to post on SNS,
I would be happy if you could empathize with this way of thinking
as something that might be important.

If you have become a little interested in Hirozaru's Instagram,
please take a look at it here ↓

https://www.instagram.com/hirozaru3294/