We’ve all seen them — the edited photos taken with smartphones that our friends post all over social media. I’m talking about Instagram photos. As a longtime Blackberry user, I never really understood what the application was all about. However as a new owner of an iPhone, I’ve recently become totally into the Instagram world. Instagram recently released its long-awaited application for Android users, and I’m sure the craze will only continue to grow. Here’s a quick lesson for new users on what this application is all about.
First of all, in my opinion, Instagram is less of an app and more of an up-and-coming social media outlet. You can follow your friends who also have accounts, and this creates a timeline of photos, kind of like Twitter. You can search for specific people to follow, or you can scroll through your Facebook and Twitter connections to choose people to follow. You can comment on or “like” any photo in your timeline. Instagram keeps track of all photos that you’ve liked, and you can look through them at any time.
Instagram also allows users to view the most popular photos of the time.These are photos that have been liked by hundreds of people. Kim Kardashian’s photos often make it onto this page.
When you want to share a photo, you have the option of taking a photo at that moment or using one that you already have on your phone. Once you’ve chosen your picture of choice, you can select from 16 different filters to modify your image before sharing.
Instagram also has a news feed that is reminiscent of Facebook. It allows you to see activity among those you follow. This mostly allows you to see if they are following anyone new or if they have commented or liked anything recently. The news feed is a great tool for finding more friends who you didn’t know had Instagram accounts.
My only complaint about my new favorite app is that it’s only viewable on your phone. There are some websites like ttp://instagre.at that allow you to view your timeline, but I have yet to find a website that allows full access to Instagram from a computer. Besides that, Instagram is awesome. It’s definitely my new favorite app to check in class! Happy Instagram-ing!