Why I don’t get Instagram

Circuit diagram & spares insideMaybe I’m too old, maybe even I’m just getting a bit jaded with the faded faux Polaroid aesthetic – but I really don’t get Instagram.

Instagram is a suddenly fashionable iPhone camera and social networking thing that aims to snatch Hipstamatic’s crown. I love Hipstamatic – I think it’s an insanely clever bit of programming, design and marketing. I wish it tweeted and could geotag Flickr uploads, but aside from those small niggles I love it to bits.

Instagram has quite a neat camera, but to get to the camera you have to sign up and sign in – yes, welcome to yet another social network.

The social side of Instagram baffles me (probably no surprise to anyone who knows me). You can browse popular photos and popular people, but this seems like another self-fulfilling, self-perpetuating party of the kind I just don’t get invited to. It’s Flickr Explore only worse – as it’s the only marketplace in town. I want to browse the UNpopular photos, find the billy-no-mates who might have some hidden gems.

Instagram seamlessly integrates Flickr, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Posterous, Foursquare – and of course the Instagram social network. So I guess it’s great if you use lots of those and have loads of contacts who also have Instagram – but I only use Flickr and Twitter and I have precisely one contact with Instagram (hello Clare!).

Still, made a few ok pictures with it. I just wish it was just a camera.

Nagra dials

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2 Responses to Why I don’t get Instagram

  1. Clare says:

    Hello! I know what you mean about the social side of it. I have just hooked up with people I already know on flickr and use it mainly as a camera for its seamless integration with twitter and flickr, both of which I love and am slightly addicted to. I don’t care for obtaining new contacts within instagram itself, though it seems a lot of people do. I think there’s also a bit of a clique thing going on with people who were on it at the start dominating. This bores me silly!

  2. blogmywiki says:

    Yes the simultaneous tweeting & upload to Flickr is neat – but if I upload a photo using the Flickr app on my iPhone, I can geo-tag it, tweet it and get all the views registered in one place on Flickr so I have an idea how many people have looked at it.

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