Cooperative Living March/April 2016 - 23

WebTalk | by Laura Emery, Field Editor
The Allure of Instagram
It's much more than just selfies and sunsets ... it's a platform for artistic expression.
ou've probably heard of Instagram.
It's a social-networking phenomenon.
What may have once been considered
by many as the land of selfies for the
young and carefree has become more
diversified in its content as the widely
popular mobile app has perfected its
presence and developed a solid reputation
in the world of social media.
It's become a platform for artistic
expression ... through images of people,
places, events and situations. Imperfectly
perfect slice-of-life images reign on
Instagram because they're spontaneous
works of art; an evocative thread of images
that tells a story of the user's multi-faceted
life and perspective. On Instagram, words
are minimal and photos are high-impact.
Blur, black-and-white, filters and frames -
these are the words that matter on
Instagram. It's a small glimpse into the
user's intimate world that can lead to better
connections, both business and personal.
And the concept of the mobile app
fits perfectly into today's society where
everything is about snippets and snapshots
- quick, easy, convenient. Videos are only
allowed to be 15 seconds long on
Instagram, and photo captions only 2,200
characters (but are rarely that long).
According to Instagram's web page, the
app has been the platform-of-choice for
such inspiring photographic moments as
the first surface image of Pluto and
Champions League celebrations, as well as
striking locales like the white pools of
Turkey and a Namibian desert ghost
town. These are just a few of the more
than 80 million photos per day shared
on Instagram.
The popular photo-sharing app first
came onto the social media scene in 2010,
but didn't command center stage until
2012. It was launched and created by Kevin
Systrom and Mike Krieger as a free mobile
app. They're now billionaires.
Instagram is one of the most widely used
sites for photo sharing - and it is often
mentioned and used by celebrities. This
might explain why Instagram has great
appeal with younger generations, as 90
percent of its 400 million users are
www.co-opliving.com
Y
reportedly under the age of 35. Many
businesses find themselves creating an
Instagram account just to gain access to
this often hard-to-reach demographic.
The other great thing about Instagram
is that it's easy and fast. To get started on
Instagram, for example, you simply
download the free app onto your
smartphone (iPhone or Android). Having
a smartphone is key, as you cannot fully
manage an Instagram account or post
images from a computer. Once you
download the app, create an account. If
you're already on Twitter or Facebook,
try to use a similar username, so it makes
it easier for people to find you.
Now, you're ready to create images, or
artsy vignettes of life. Upload them to
Instagram by clicking the camera icon on
the bottom panel. But before you post your
photo, be sure and explore your editing
options. Instagram is known for its unique
and creative digital filters. Do you want to
be mysterious and moody with Brannan,
or light and ethereal with Amaro? There is
much to ponder when it comes to filter
selection. At the bottom of your photo,
you'll see a series of little trees. These are
the range of filters that Instagram has to
offer. Click through each to see how they
alter your photo and then choose the one
that looks best with your particular image.
Other editing options include adding
frames, adding/altering tilt-shift focus (part
of your image in focus and the rest
blurred), rotating, adding lux (sharpness
and contrast), and adding captions.
The widely popular
mobile app has
perfected its
presence and
developed a solid
reputation in the
world of social media.
Once your photo is as you like it, the
next step is to add some hashtags.
Hashtags help group similar photos
together and involve a hashtag symbol (#)
placed in front of a word or short series
of words (with no spaces). You can create
your own hashtag or use others that
people have created, just click around
and explore. Hashtags make your photos
easier to find.
Now it's time to share your photo with
the world - and build your virtual
scrapbook. And, with Instagram, that's
easy. Before you publish your photo,
Instagram allows you to choose whether
you would also like to share it with
platforms other than Instagram. You can
set it up in your profile to publish to your
Facebook (which just so happens to be its
parent company), Twitter, Tumblr or Flickr
accounts, or even to email yourself a photo
each time you publish.
Once you've selected where you want to
share it, click done. The next step is to
seek out businesses and friends to
" follow. " If you're so inclined, you're
welcome to start by following Cooperative
Living magazine at www.instagram.com/
cooperativelivingmagazine. 
March-April 2016 | Cooperative Living | 21
http://www.instagram.com/ http://www.co-opliving.com
Cooperative Living March/April 2016

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Cooperative Living March/April 2016
