Instagram is an online photo and video sharing social network. Instagram is app based and makes use of the ever expanding technology that today’s mobile phones offer. It was set up by two Stanford graduates in 2010 and was purchased by Facebook in 2012. Moving forward two years Instagram is now the fastest growing social network and the one that receives the highest level of engagement from users, roughly 1,000 comments and 8,500 likes per second.
- Engagement on Instagram is 15 times that of Facebook’s, with users spending an average of 257 minutes per month on the app.
- Instagram receives 1,000 comments and 8,500 likes per second. That equates to 1.2 billion likes per day.
- 200 million people across the world now use the photo app, sharing 60 million images a day.
What is Instagram and Why Is It So Popular?
Here’s a bit about the brief but amazingly quick ascendancy of Instagram
- Launched on October 6, 2010
- #1 in the App Store within 24 hours of launch
- iPhone App of the Week
- Holds the record as quickest to reach 1 million downloads, occurring on December 21, 2010
- Launched 7 new languages
- An Instagram photo made the cover of the Wall Street Journal
- Surpassed 25 million users in early March, 2012
So why is everyone flocking to Instagram? What does it actually do?
Easy to Get Started
Go to the App Store, Download, Set up account, choose a username and upload a profile pic.
Photo Sharing
You can take pictures within the app or use photos that already exist in your camera roll. You can give your photo a title, which is helpful and fun. Photos can be instantly shared, not only on Instagram, but also Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Preposterous and Tumbler. You can also connect with your foursquare account and tag your photos with location. By default, photos are public on Instagram. If you want people to have to ask permission before they follow you, set to private. To date, I don’t follow anyone with a private account. That’s what Facebook is for.
Photo Manipulation
The cool factor of Instagram is the fact that they have 11 different filters you can use to up the interest of your photos. Even boring photos can look amazing with some of these filters.
Instagram has tweaked their filter selection since launch and there are indications that eventually you will be able to purchase additional filters. Filters range from retro to futuristic. When you factor in other photo manipulation apps like Dip tic, Camera+, 100 Cameras and Label Box, the possibilities are endless.
Social
Instagram, like any other social network, is based around having friends or followers. On Instagram you ‘follow’ people. At the top of your profile (or anyone’s profile) you will see the username, profile pic, how many photos have been uploaded, how many followers the account has, and how many they are following. When you follow someone, their photos show up in your stream.
The only other things you can do are like photos and comment on them. Both are appreciated. People ask questions in the comments, like ‘where was this taken’ or ‘what app did you use for that?’. Once you get into using Instagram, you will see how laid back people are and how much fun they are having. It’s currently a very friendly community.
Finding People to Follow
Instagram lets you see which of your Twitter and Facebook friends are using it and easily start following them. There is also an ‘Invite Friends’ feature, but that simply links to your address book. The rest is up to you. Instagram will also suggest users if you like.
My two favorite ways of finding people to follow are:
- The Popular Page
- Seeing who is leaving interesting comments on pictures I like
The Popular Page shows you which photos currently have the most likes. You will inevitably find 2 cat pictures, 3 sunsets and 4 with really amazing lines (people seem to like symmetry). You can click on any photo on the popular page and see all the other photos posted by that person, and many times you will want to follow. It takes a lot of followers to end up on the popular page, so they’re usually pretty good photographers.
From there, I might look at the photos of some of the people who are leaving comments that I think are a) funny or b) similar to my thinking. Following may ensue.
I also tend to look at photos of people with interesting user names like ‘kyotosong’ or ‘lioness_in_Maui’. In general, Instagram is not about promoting your personal brand.
You will, however, find some superstars, if you consider tech geeks to be superstars. Scobleizer and Paris Lemon have accounts, as do Twitter founders Jack Dorsey and Ev Williams.
And a must follow is NPR – amazing photos. National Geographic joined Instagram but has yet to upload a photo. They are, however, taking comments on what you would like to see.
So that’s the gist of how Instagram works. What makes it so wildly popular?
The photographs.
You will find some of the most amazing photographs you have ever seen on Instagram. The tools we now have allow almost anyone with a decent eye to take beautiful, crisp shots. That’s not to say you won’t find the everyday and mundane, because you will. But as they say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
It’s important to be thoughtful about who you follow, because it’s all about who’s in your feed. What do you find interesting? Some people take shots of nothing but weddings, or landscapes, or horses. Determine what is is you want to look at, or look at whatever strikes your fancy.
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