Let's Talk About Instagram

I joined Instagram a couple of years ago, which actually made me a little late to the Insta-party.  So many of my blogger pals had already been 'gramming for quite some time at that point, but I was one of those stubborn BlackBerry users who took forever to let go.  After I finally made the switch to an iPhone and signed up for an IG account - something about which I'd been omg-so-excited for months - I didn't even use it all that much.  Between Twitter, Facebook, and the what sometimes feels like 5 million other social media apps out there, on top of the blog, I felt like I was already spending plenty of time oversharing without adding a picture app into the daily mix.

But somehow, over time, Instagram won.  These days I use it more than any other platform (Pinterest is a close second, but that's another post).  There's just something about being able to quickly share an image and a brief caption as a means to visually display a moment in your life.  It's easy, simple, streamlined, and no fuss. For the most part, there's no planning or over-editing or vast amounts of time involved. You take a picture with your phone, you share it.  In less than a couple of minutes, you've told a story.  Then you scroll through your feed and quickly get to see lots of other people's stories, without a big time commitment.  It works.

Instagram is no longer just for pictures of food or babies (guilty!) or dogs or sunsets or 'selfies' either.  More and more brands are using it as a means of promotion through giveaways, product placement, and mini ads. (Some brands even attribute their success to IG.)  Celebrities use it to post candid shots of their 'real lives.'  Bloggers use it as a micro-blogging platform.  (I even know some bloggers who have said goodbye to their blogs all together in favor of Instagram).  And here I am, devoting a full blog post to it.  To an app.  It's not even a new app or an app that people haven't posted about a hundred times before.  Yet somehow, even years after its introduction, it's still worth mentioning.  Its growth (from number of users to reasons for using) has been exponential.  At least in my eyes, Instagram has become a pretty big deal. 

What are you thoughts on the IG phenomena, and the role it plays in the online community these days?  And if you're an Instagram user, please leave your username and/or link in the comments so I can check out your photos!  You can find me and follow along under username bubbyandbean, or by clicking right here.