A few days ago everybody read about one of Facebook’s recent and more noticeable acquisitions: Instagram. If you have never heard of Instagram it is pretty easy to explain. Basically it is an app for smartphones that applies filters to an image giving it an analogue touch and easily shares it with the Instagram community and other social networks like Facebook or Twitter. As in most other online community you can follow people and favorite their photos.
In the beginning I very much liked the app. It was so easy to take a snapshot with your phone, apply a filter and share it with your friends or the rest of the world. I liked the simplicity and spontaneity with which other people would let me take a look at their daily little adventures. I saw it as an interesting contrast to the high quality work being shown of on sites like Flickr or 500px. But now I am seeing more and more users transferring images from their DSLR cameras to their smartphones, retouch them and share them with the Instagram community. These images are easy to identify since smartphone cameras still have their weaknesses and certain images simply could not have been taken with a phone.
Why do people do that? Aren’t there sufficient places to show their work? Instagram was different. Less technique and more creativity. Now that is changing. I think Facebook will not be the reason that soon I might be moving one.
What do you think of Instagram and where do you see it?
