For iPhone and Android users alike, Instagram has become one of the most well-known and often used apps out there. As an avid Instagrammer myself, I can attest to the addicting nature and success of the camera filter program.
What is Instagram, you ask, to which I respond with another question: Have you been living under a rock? Even non-users of Instagram know what Instagram is. Its user-friendly interface and beautiful filters are just two aspects of this application’s growing popularity.
Whether it’s Hudson, Earlybird, Brannan, Sutro or Nashville, Instagram’s 17 different filters will surely keep your photo-taking desires busy. Each one has its own look and border to choose from, making the time spent on photo editing that much more interesting. With all those filters to choose from, it might even make the process hard. Although one could argue that photo editing on a mobile device is a bit of an oxymoron, which is a discussion for another time.
As with Twitter, Instagram is fond of hashtags. This can be used as a way to search for photos in regards to certain interests. When I search the hashtag “#boston,” photos to which the user has attached the tag will come up. Twitter and Instagram have the same search capabilities Facebook can’t fathom. Quite honestly, Facebook just isn’t the same platform.
You will find that people take pictures of the same things. Your time on Instagram could most likely consist of pictures of food, the sky, pets/animals, material things and the occasional group photo of young white women in questionable garb with their hands on their hips.
Should you invest in an Android or iPhone in order to have access to Instagram? No. It’s a great way to burn some time, share great looking pictures with loved ones, and a better way to see who has a photographer’s eye, but it’s not worth shaking your foundation, whatever phone you have.
Will it replace Facebook? No. At least I don’t think so. The only way to “post” something is to attach it to a photo. Also, something notable about Instagram is the limited audience. Where is the fun in sharing something with a smaller group when Facebook has old high school friends you never talk to, distant relatives who like to publicly embarrass you, the people you added when you were a freshman in college whom you also never speak to, and friends of friends you have met maybe three times?
Facebook will stick around, even as Instagram continues to grow. Now that the two businesses are one, stick around to see some great innovation come out of it.