Instagram is a social photo sharing smartphone app that allows you to take photos, apply filters, and share in a quick and fun way. I'd say it's roughly the equivalent of Twitter but with pictures instead of words, and since a picture is worth a thousand words and Twitter only allows about ten words (140 characters divided by about 4 letters per word = about 10 words), an Instagram is 100 times (or two orders of magnitude) more effective as a sharing/communication tool than a Tweet. As photographers, Jade and I are biased and tend to think pictures tell a better story than words so it's safe to say we're pretty big fans of Instagram. Jade and I set up individual Instagram accounts and share our pictures with each other only. It's a nice privacy feature that allows us to kind of go nuts with pictures and not inundate (and bore) the world with the infinite minutia we find interesting. We just started an Uplift Photography Instagram (@upliftphotography) so be sure to check that out and follow us!
A little background on Instagram - it launched in October of 2010 for iPhone only but in April 2012, it also became available for Android-based phones (version 2.2 aka Froyo or later). It is hugely popular - as of May 2012, Instagram has about 50 million users. Apparently, Instagram became so popular that it began to infringe on Facebook's photosharing turf. So, Facebook stepped in with a billion dollar buyout offer for Instagram. It's not too bad of a deal for a company that's less than two years old and has only as many employees as you can count on your fingers (that is, if you have 13 fingers). The takeover has been slowed though recently due to regulatory hurdles and a review by the FTC and it's not entirely clear at this time if the acquistion will actually take place. The good news is that Instagram will remain an independent unit within Facebook if the takeover is successful. Normally, Facebook acquires companies for the engineering talent and reassigns them to other projects.
Anyway, besides taking and sharing fun pictures, there are lots of fun things to do with your Instagrams. Here we go:
This is an awesome Kickstarter project that has great potential. Instaprint prints out Instagrams by watching out for any photos tagged with a specific location or hashtag. Unfortunately, they failed to achieve their funding goal and it is likely because of the prohibitively expensive pricetag at the moment - a half day rental is $5000 - which probably only makes sense for a large event like a concert. If the pricetag came down a bit, I could see this being a great item for weddings - and the Uplift Holiday Party.
MoPho
MoPho is an app that allows you to print Instagrams directly for your phone. It's convenient when you consider the alternative, downloading pics from your phone to a compouter then uploading them to a pic printing website. It's relatively cheap and shipping is free with the code 'freeship'.
Instagram cannot be viewed any where else but on a phone. However, a few sites, like Statigram, have popped up that allow you see your photos, feed, stats, etc online.
Printstagram
Not to be confused with Printsgram, Printstagram allows you to print a 'tiny book' of Instagram photos. This was a great recommendation from Kristen of Kristen and Mike.
Here is an idea that Jade found on Pinterest for some Instagram wall art.
Angry Julie's 'What Not To Do On Instagram' Tips
And finally...here are some tips on how to avoid being 'that' Instagrammer.
That's all for now. Let your inner hipster out and instagram your ass off. Be sure to follow us so we can follow you back.
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