When Instagram first came out three years ago, it was an innovative way to share photos; now it is a community in which 150 million users take part and share their lives.
This form of social media allows consumers and Internet-addicted teens to connect with their peers more quickly. It is a fun and exciting way to to tell others your story through a series of pictures.
Quickly snap a photo on your mobile phone, then choose a filter and send it off for your followers to “like” the picture all in just seconds. By just uploading a picture, you are able to send a message, a moment to all your followers wherever they are.
Instagram lessens the workload of having to message each person you want to contact, while also limiting the audience the picture goes to. Users on Instagram are able to make their profiles private, not enabling all to see their photos. This decreases the amount of problems that arise on sites such as Twitter and Facebook.
Many companies including Nike, Starbucks and Apple also use Instagram to promote their products and engage customers, letting users connect with other customers both online and in stores.
One of Instagram’s main attractions, however, is the ability to apply filters directly onto photos. You are saved the extra task of opening a second application to edit pictures. This makes editing pictures a much easier and efficient task.
Apple named Instagram the best photo and video app in the App store in 2012. Apple’s Top 100 Free App charts since the day it was released, creating a name for itself in the world of social media.
The app has also popularized its distinctive 16:9 square shape. Companies such as Apple, maker of the iPhone, have even taken Instagram into consideration in the making of their new software iOS7. Users updating their iPhones see that the camera now comes with the ability to take square photos.
New applications have also been inspired by Instagram to be created on the iphone. These applications confine photos to squares such as Squareready, Whitagram, Nocrop and Insta-size.
Every second, Instagram gains one new user, and an average of 58 photos as more people join this network. A total of 30 million accounts have been created and 300 million photos have been uploaded onto this social media site.
Instagram has created a phenomenon that has changed the way we share our photos with each other. Everyone from professional photographers to normal high school students use Instagram.
Though once considered an art only for professionals, photography has now become a form of communication and expression for people everywhere. While Instagram photos may pale in comparison to the work of professional photographers, — the app holds value because it allows users to communicate through photos.
People who used to seldom take pictures of their lives now feel compelled to photograph the world around them on a daily basis. Instagram has allowed users to see lives of people around the world in a new perspective.
Instagram has left its mark on history, and will forever change the way historians look at past events. In the future, a plethora of information will be available about the people who lived in our generation thanks to innovations like Instagram.
