To answer the question if “Instagram is a Fad or Fiction”, I have provide some information and my thoughts.
If you’re involved on social networks like Facebook or Twitter, you may have come across a photo or two that looks like it had a very elegant vintage filter applied to it. In fact, you may have come across more than just one or two considering the fact that Instagram is one of the most popular mobile photo apps to download.
If you own an iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch or an Android, Instagram could be a great tool to help uncover your inner photography skills.
But first you need an app from the iTunes App Store.
Facebook acquired Instagram for $1 Billion.
Facebook finished a deal to acquire mobile photo sharing app Instagram for approximately $1 billion in cash and stock. Instagram will remain an independently branded standalone app that’s separate from Facebook, but the services will increase their ties to each other.
Although Instagram has only been around for a short time, you’ve most likely heard of it. If you’re new to Instagram, here is a brief overview, getting started and why I think it’s so wildly popular and answer the question of Fad or Fiction.
Don’t’ get lost in all the details. Instagram is really easy to set-up and use.
Instagram Photo App
First, Instagram is a photo-sharing app for iPhone, Android and Blackberry users. One of the reasons Instagram is so popular is of the “smartphones”, iPads and Samsung’s amazing camera. So people are already taking lots of great pictures with their phones/iPads, why not try to make them more interesting?
Instagram is one of the fastest growing social startups and one of the most popular mobile photo apps for very good reason. First of all, the filters are gorgeous. It’s quite easy to take an ordinary photo and transform it into an aesthetically pleasing work of art just by applying one of the Instagram filters to it. Secondly, the filters are very easy to apply quickly so you can instantly see a preview of what your photo will look like. Switching back and forth between filter previews is extremely convenient and ensures that I’ll find the best look for my photo without needing to put in too much effort.
Besides having some great filters and an easy-to-use interface, I think that Instagram was able to grow so incredibly fast because of its sharing features. Instagram is essentially a social network in itself and I like that I can follow my friends on Instagram and see their photos in my feed with the option to “like” or leave a comment on any of them.
The “Popular” tab is also another nice touch that contributes to the social network aspect of the app, which shows Instagram photos of other users that receive lots of engagement and activity. This is great for discovering new people to follow and building a network.
Here’s a brief but amazingly quick ascendancy of Instagram:
- Launched on October 6, 2010
- #1 in the App Store within 24 hours of launch
- iPhone App of the Week
- Holds the record as quickest to reach 1 million downloads, December 21, 2010
- Launched 7 new languages
- An Instagram photo made the cover of the Wall Street Journal
- Surpassed 25 million users in early March, 2012
- Acquired by Facebook
Simply, Instagram is a photo app that is available for free from the iTunes App Store and from Google Play.
So why is everyone flocking to Instagram? What does it actually do?
First it is as easy as 1, 2, 3, 4 and easy to Get Started: (1) Go to the App Store, (2) Download, (3) Set up account, (4) Choose a username and upload a profile pic…done.
Creating an Account on Instagram
Before you can start using the app, Instagram will ask you to create a free account. All you need is a username and a password. The reason they require you to create an account is because Instagram is not just a photo app. It’s also a popular social network.
Instagram is a Social Network
On Instagram, you can follow other users’ photo streams as they post them and you can be followed back by those users (or other users) as well. Using the “Profile” icon located on the lower menu of the Instagram screen, you can search for friends by name or find friends that are already connected to you on other social networks like Facebook or Twitter.
When you decide to follow a user, that user’s Instagram photos will appear in your feed, which can be found under the “Feed” icon on the lower menu. You can press “Like” on any photo to let someone know that you admire their photography, or you can leave a comment.
When you take photos using the Instagram app, they will always appear in the feeds of the users who are following you. You can browse through the “Explore” tab to find new users to follow and creative photos to look at.
Social: Instagram, is like any other social network. It is based around having friends or followers. On Instagram you ‘follow’ people. At the top of your profile (or anyone’s profile) you will see the username, profile pic, how many photos have been uploaded, how many followers the account has, and how many they are following.
When you follow someone, their photos show up in your stream. The only other things you can do are ‘like‘ photos and comment on them. Both are appreciated. People ask questions in the comments, ‘where was this taken’ or ‘what app did you use for that? Once you get into using Instagram, you will see how laid back people are and how much fun they are having.
Taking Photos and Applying Photo Filters
After downloading the app from the App Store and creating an account, you can open the app up and snap a picture through your camera. There is a menu at the bottom of the screen and you can snap a photo by pressing the camera icon in the middle of the menu, labeled “Share.”
Once you select the green checkmark on your snapshot, you will be able to instantly transform the color, texture and overall look of your photo with just a touch of your finger. The available filters appear at the bottom of the screen.
Instagram currently has the following photo filters to choose from:
- Amaro
- Rise
- Hudson
- X-pro II
- Sierra
- Lo-fi
- Earlybird
- Sutro
- Toaster
- Brannan
- Inkwell
- Walden
- Hefe
- Valencia
- Nashville
- 1977
- Kelvin
Don’t worry about the filters if you’re new. Just get started and gain some skills after which you can apply each filter as a preview to see how each looks.
Pressing the green checkmark will set the chosen filter for your photo. You will then be taken to a screen where you can set up sharing on other social networks and where you can add a caption to the photo.
Sharing Your Instagram Photos on the Web
You can configure your Instagram account to have photos posted on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Flickr or sent by email. If these configurations are all set to “On,” then all of your Instagram photos will automatically be posted to your social networks automatically after you press “Done.”
Don’t worry, Instagram will always take you to the social network configuration page after you snap each and every photo. If you don’t want your photo shared on any particular social network, simply set the configuration to “Off.”
Additionally, you can switch the “Add to your Photo Map” option to “On” if you want to tag the photo’s location to your personal Instagram Photo Map. If you do, you can then select “Name this location” to attach a venue’s name to the photo as well.
Keep in mind that Instagram users will still be able to view your photos in their feeds, if they follow you. You must delete your photos from Instagram if you don’t want anybody to view them.
Photo Manipulation: The ‘cool’ factor of Instagram is the fact that they have 11 different filters you can use to up the interest of your pix. Even boring photos can look amazing with some of these filters. Instagram has tweaked their filter selection since launch and there are indications that eventually you will be able to purchase additional filters. Filters range from retro to futuristic. When you factor in other photo manipulation apps like Diptic, Camera+,100 Cameras and LabelBox, the possibilities are endless.
Finding People to Follow: Instagram lets you see which of your twitter and Facebook friends are using Instagram and easily start following them. There is also a ‘Invite Friends’ feature, but that simply links to your address book ~ and the rest is up to you. Instagram will also suggest users if you like.
My two favorite ways of finding people to follow are: (1) the Popular Page and (2) Seeing who is leaving interesting comments on pix I like. The Popular Page shows you which pix currently have the most Likes. You will inevitably find cat pictures, sunsets, people, quotes and really amazing lines. You can click on any photo on the popular page and see all the other photos posted by that person, and many times you will want to follow.
The Bottom Line
Is Instagram a Fad or Fiction? It is definitely not a Fad and here to stay as one of the most popular social sites today.
Summery
Instagram is photo app designed for the iPhone, iPad, Android and is a mobile social network. It can be downloaded and installed for free from the iTunes App Store on to almost any mobile 
device and uses the device’s camera to snap photos. You can than scroll through a number of vintage photo filters to instantly preview your photo through one of the filters before setting it. You can follow other Instagram users to view their photos and interact by “liking” their photos or commenting on them. Instagram also makes it very easy for you to share your photos on other popular social networks.
Instagram is a keeper.
Thanks for your visit,
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