I thought hard before doing this post because I hate alienating possible readers. The fact that I excluded many of my non-iPhone friends just a few posts ago (Words With Friends) made me even more hesitant to put this one on the shelf for a while. However, because I like think this application is so cool, I couldn’t help myself.
If you own an iPhone and you have not done so already, you need to download Instagram to your device.
I am not an app guy. I am very selective on which ones I get. In fact, my iPhone consists of only one and a half pages of applications, many of those coming with the phone in the first place. Saying that, I am kind of trying to get the point across that if I have an app on my phone it is not because it is some sketchy, worthless, data absorbing waste of space. You can trust me, Instagram is going to be worth your while.
A little over two weeks ago my friend Chris introduced me to Instagram. Knowing my love of taking pictures and of my love for Twitter, he told me it was pretty much something that I had to get. Instagram is an application that takes advantage of the awesome camera that iPhones have and lets you share pictures with fellow users whenever you feel like it. Making this tool even cooler, Instagram offers about fifteen different effects that you can apply to the pictures you take. Let’s face it, everyone knows that a picture (and the people who are in it) looks way better when it is in black and white or has a rose tint to it. Once you submit a picture to Instagram, it automatically saves in your iPhone’s camera roll with whatever effects you applied intact.
Instagram is the picture version of Twitter. Instead of sharing what you are doing and experiencing through 140 characters, you share it through pictures. If you love Twitter, you will love Instagram. If you hate Twitter, you will also probably still love Instagram just because it offers so much more creativity and options than Twitter ever could. Yes, you can snap a picture and post it to Instagram to explain what you are doing at the given moment but people use it in many more different ways. Users will take pictures of everyday things, whether it be out in nature or just around the house, and share with the Instagram world. Users will take much more candid shots of themselves and post, a far cry from many of the staged pictures you see on Facebook. Quotes and news headlines are also captured and shared. Yes, there are definitely the dreaded food pictures that always surface as well (I am so guilty of this). Animals are readily shared. Statements are also creatively pushed out through Instagram as well. The options are pretty much endless.
Like Facebook or Twitter, you can establish a connection with your friends. Instagram uses Twitter lingo as you “follow” these people. Your followers make up your feed. Your feed contains all the pictures in chronological order that the people you follow have posted. You have the option to “like” pictures and “comment” on pictures. It is a lot of fun to do both of these things. Instagram has been around for a little while but I think it is really now just starting to generate steam. Right now I have around fifteen followers and I am following probably around twenty-five people.
Why am I following more people than I have followers? Is it really because I am that big of a loser in that I follow people but they have no interest in following me? Well that is part of the reason of course but another reason for this is the “popular” feature that Instagram has. I don’t know technically how Instagram does it, but they pull together a bunch of the most viewed and commented pictures on the service and make them viewable to the whole Instagram community. In this “popular” feature you will find some of most bizarre pictures you have ever seen along with some of the hottest girls you have ever seen. It is pretty fun to click on these pictures and go to the user’s profile who the picture belonged to and look at all of their other photos they have submitted. From there, if I really like them I will follow them. It is kind of funny seeing some of these girls who get on the popular page. I will go to their profile and they will literally have hundreds of pictures they have just taken of themselves. Obviously there following is huge and each picture has loads of comments and likes. Instagram is a great way to get exposure…especially if you happen to be hot.
So sorry to bore all of the people who don’t have an iPhone or who would never even think about getting an application like this. However, if it does interest you, GET IT. You will have a lot of fun. You can find me on Instagram @brentreser. Please start following me, I love seeing pictures that my friends take! Ready…set…TAKE PICTURES! Don’t Blink.
Facebook
Pingback: Instagram #HashTags | Don't Blink