You have probably seen on Facebook that one of your friends has post an image via their instagr.am feed. If you haven’t clicked to find out what Instagram is all about, then you are missing out on one of the fastest growing social media outlets.
What is Instagram?
According to the developers of the free iPhone app, ‘Instagram is a fun & quirky way to share your life with friends through a series of pictures. Snap a photo with your iPhone, then choose a filter to transform the look and feel of the shot into a memory to keep around forever. We’re building the platform to allow you to experience moments in your friends’ lives through pictures as they happen. We imagine a world more connected through images of what happens around them – whether through friends or people across the world.’
Instagram allows the user to snap a photo or choose an existing photo from the gallery, apply one of eleven different effects, and share it on various social networks as well as on Instagram, which has become a social networking site of its’ own. Instagram is exclusively for the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad 2.
7,000,000 Users and 150,000,000 Photos
Yes you saw those numbers correctly. In the 9 short months since Instagram’s release, 7 million people from all over the world have shared their photos on Instagram. As of Wednesday August 3, there were 150 million images uploaded. Instagram’s users are uploading 15 photos per second!
How are people using Instagram?
People are using their iPhone’s to snap photos of important events in their lives, like birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, and engagements. Images from major events like the Super Bowl, the Oscars, the Tuscalosa and the Joplin tornado have been uploaded.
Instagram is not just being used by everyday people. Celebrities, artists, musicians, and major brands have grasped the power of Instagram and are uploading photos as another avenue to reach and communicate with their target markets. Check out @starbucks, @southwestair and @blackriverimaging.
Many photographers are using Instagram to give a behind the scenes look at their sessions. It is a fun and creative way to give clients a sneak peek at the images.
Elise Ellis of Elise Ellis Photography uploaded several images to her Instagram feed during the wedding she shot this past weekend. Elise’s Instgram handle is @eliseellis. Look her up and follow her. She has some amazing fine art images on Instagram.
Instagram Wedding Images
Other photographers are creating photo series using Instagram. @aikbengchia is an iPhone photographer based in Singapore. He has been shooting a series he calls ‘Everyday People’. His imagery is breathtaking, stunning and it is all taken with an iPhone. We don’t know @aikbengchia. We just admire his art.
Things Instagram got right.
Instagram has true social integration. Before you upload your photo to Instagram, you can choose to send your images to one or all of the following social media sites: Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Foursquare, Posterous, and Tumblr. You have to ability to geo-locate where your image was shot.
Instagram is simple. There are no fancy features nor does it do extraordinary things. It just works.
Instagram is photo sharing at is best. Besides being able to share with your networks on Flickr and Facebook, you can actually build a network of friends on Instagram through following. The developers of Instagram figured out that not only do people like to create things but they love to show their creations off. In Jolie O’Dell’s post on Mashable, she called Instagram ‘ego driven and addictive’, which is not a bad thing when it comes to iPhone apps and photography.
Are you on Instagram? What are you thoughts on this free app? How are you using it to grow your business?
Leave us your handle in the comments. We would love to follow you!
p.s. Elise Ellis is doing something awesome with her Instagram images. Stay tuned to find out what exactly Elise is doing!
