Content creators on Instagram—How users cope with stress on social media

•Content creators in social media experience stress when creating content, mainly based on the likes they receive.•The expectation when posting content is to meet a certain threshold of likes, while the interaction in the form of comments is mostly seen as an add-on.•Stress 'bleeds' from social media into offline social networks and compromises them.•Investigation of emotion-focused and problem-focused coping strategies to understand how social media content creators cope with stress due to the interaction. Social media has become an integral part of society. However, with its increased usage, a dark side can emerge: social media as a stressor. In this study, we investigate the stress experienced by content creators on Instagram when providing posts and the strategies they use to cope. Our qualitative analysis of 19 German Instagram users reveals a strong focus on likes. When posting content, the main objective is to reach a particular threshold of likes, while receiving comments is considered an additional benefit. If the threshold of likes is not met, stress is induced. Furthermore, being linked to social media can also endanger offline relationships. The resulting stress leaks from social media into offline relationships and harms them. Finally, our analysis has identified emotion-focused and problem-focused coping strategies that social media content creators use to manage stress resulting from interactions.