Computer and the Internet have long and firmly entered our lives - so much so that many can no longer imagine their day without these truly important components. And if earlier the World Wide Web was estimated by users as a universal source of information (be it educational materials, news or flight schedules) and a convenient way to communicate with relatives and friends who are hundreds or thousands of kilometers away, today the situation has changed a bit. At the moment, the main value of the Internet is the opportunity to share with the world a piece of your life, your emotions and feelings, find like-minded people and find out what interesting people live and breathe. In this regard, social networks are so popular today. Facebook, VKontakte, Twitter and other communities have penetrated our minds and hearts, becoming an integral part of the full-fledged life of a modern person. Not so long ago, namely in the fall of 2010, another rather specific social network appeared - Instagram. What is Instagram and what it is eaten with, we now tell. Despite the global popularity that this resource managed to conquer in three and a half years of its existence, those who were still in the dark are still there.
How the multi-million social network Instagram was born
A detailed tour that will help you answer the question "Instagram" - what is it? ", We begin with a brief description and the history of the origin of the program.
Public Photo Diary
What's the easiest way to share your experiences with other people? Of course, with the help of photography. It is from this thought that the Instagram resource developers proceeded. Take a photo of your delicious lunch or tell about a fascinating trip to Europe? Evaluate a new hairstyle or just made manicure? Show how cute your cat sleeps in the sink, or show off your coffee maker? It is enough to take a photo and send it to friends "instead of a thousand words." Moreover, earlier for this it was necessary to make a lot of extra gestures: it’s not always possible to immediately go to the social network and post a photo, but you still need to process it ... Instagram solved this problem, because it combines both a photo editor and social network. Shot, edited, shared with friends - just a few seconds, and your followers on Instagram know what you admire and how you spend time. Agree, this is interesting.
The story of the creation of Instagram
It all started with the fact that this idea seemed interesting to Michael Krieger and Kevin Systrom, who created their new project related to mobile photography in San Francisco. In March 2010, they received their first major investment in the amount of 500 thousand US dollars, and in October their development appeared in the Apple app store. It is important to note here that the original Instagram was intended to be used only on the iOS platform.
Later, several more people joined the team, including developer Shane Sweeney, who greatly contributed to the development of Insagram. The social network was improving and expanding: if in February 2011 the company was valued at $ 25 million, then a year later it was bought by Facebook for a billion US dollars! Is this not a reason to consider the project as something special and truly grandiose? Mark Zuckerberg just won’t buy anything. However, the number of users who installed the application on their smartphone confirms the success of the development: from a million people in 2010 to more than 150 million worldwide today.
Enough about the success and scope of the project, let's dwell on the capabilities of the resource, because in three years they managed to expand very much.
The opportunities that Instagram offers its users
Instagram is a huge fascinating world that fits on your phone. This resource really expands the boundaries and allows you to see what we had never dreamed of: from the most secret places of different countries of the world that the traveler himself shared through the picture, to observing the life of his neighbor / classmate or his cat. In general, there is everything here. Let's start with the basics and consider how to use Instagram most effectively and fruitfully. The purpose of the application is to share photos and gain more likes, as well as like and comment on your favorite photos, find interesting pictures and thereby learn more about things that interest you.
Application installation and registration procedure
The first thing to do is download the Instagram to your phone. You can download the program for free (and only so) in the appropriate application store: Appstore for IOS and GooglePlay for Android. Next, you need to come up with a nickname and password, which will be the key to enter your personal account, enter your email address and phone number. It will take no more than two or three minutes to register on Instagram. Now you become a full member of the social network and you can safely begin your activity, which consists in uploading photos and writing comments, as well as putting likes to other users.
The first steps in the new social network
After going through the registration process, you will be asked to subscribe, on Instagram it is called to follow (from the English follow), on all your friends and acquaintances from Facebook. This is logical, especially for someone who just started using the application. You need to follow someone’s updates and share your photos uploaded to Instagram with someone, receive likes and comments. In addition, you can immediately subscribe to the feeds of currently popular personalities on Instagram (this is not necessary, only if it is really interesting). Well, another suggestion is the ability to receive information about various events held and events that have taken place. The application will ask you for access to the photos of your gallery, so that in the future you will be able to upload them to your feed. So, the formal procedure is over. The fun begins - downloading and viewing photos!
How to share photos?
We go into the application and click on the icon in the form of a camera at the bottom of the screen. You are prompted to choose one of the following:
- upload a photo from the gallery (if you want to share some previously taken picture);
- To make a photo.
Usually the second point is used - take your picture or photograph something that attracted your attention (and, of course, you thought that the whole world should know about it, well, or at least your friends and subscribers). Next, click the "Finish" button and proceed to processing the photo. First of all, it needs to be cut. Very important point! The difference between instagram photos is that they are always square (as it turned out on old kodaks and polaroids). If you are happy with the result of cropping the photo, go to the next step on the green arrow (at the top of the screen).
Processing photos using filters
And the next step will be all adored filters and effects. "Instagram" is not just a social network, it is also a very good photo editor. We apply one of the many filters to fresh, but still “raw” photos and, voila, your picture turns into the work of a real photo artist in no time! It also conveys the atmosphere, mood and other, so important sensations that become available through photos to other users. Below we will focus on some of the most interesting effects:
- amaro - increases the amount of light in the picture, weakens the center of the photo, while increasing exposure, can also be used to give the photo a slight aging;
- rise - makes the colors in the picture softer and warmer with an emphasis on yellow shades, gives a glow to the photo;
- hudson - allows you to change the color scheme in the photo towards colder tones, well suited for architecture shots;
- sierra - reduces the contrast of colors, gives the effect of shooting on a cloudy day;
- X-Pro II - used to create a vintage effect, makes the colors in the photo brighter, juicier, more cheerful;
- earlybird - focuses on reddish-golden tones, creates a feeling of warmth, charms the edges of the photo (the atmosphere of old cowboy films);
- sutro - creates a gloomy, sinister atmosphere in the picture, used to give the photo a special surroundings;
- branan - helps to give the atmosphere of the 80s to photos, enhances the contrast of colors, adds a shade of metal;
- inkwell - used to create black and white photographs;
- nashwille - gives softness, makes the colors of the picture pastel, well suited for romantic photos;
- 1977 - creates the effect of the 70s with soft colors and their shift towards the red spectrum.
The listed types of filters are not all that the photo editor has to offer, but only some of them. The unique Instagram photo processing, available to users of this social network, allows you to turn an ordinary photo into a real masterpiece and even stretch not-so-successful shots, so use it.
Application of tags: why are they needed?
The processed photo needs to be described. Previously, only standard comments on photos were available, such as: “I enjoy the sunset and taste the delicious local wine,” “My cat loves me,” “How do you like my new dress?”, “Food in a bus full of hate. I hate Monday morning .. . ". Now, the capabilities of users have expanded, and the meaning of the descriptions has changed somewhat. You can and should add tags to regular comments.
Instagram uses them as original “markers” or keywords by which users can search for photos on a topic of interest to them. To do this, you just need to enter the word in the search that best defines your interest at the moment, and put a # sign in front of it. For example, you want to see all the pictures taken in Kaliningrad, enter the tag (it is also called the hashtag, from the English hashteg) #kaliningrad and enjoy the presented selection.
In addition, adding a tag to your photo (in the description or in the comments), you get the opportunity to earn more likes, and then new subscribers to “Instagram” will appear. What is it for? Probably amuse your pride, and just fun. By adding the desired tag, you can click on it and find other users who also used it. So you can not only expand your horizons, but also make friends by interests.
How does a tag help make your photos popular?
It is important to note that you yourself can influence how many people see your creations. Adding not one, but several tags under the photo, you expand your potential audience, as your pictures are displayed not by one, but by several requests. For example, you lie on the beach of Thailand "Kata Noi" and watch the sun slowly setting over the horizon. And a surfer walked by with a board in his hands. You can add tags under the snapshot where this moment is caught: #asia #thailand #thai #kata_noi #kata_beach #sunset #serfer #relax and the like. Then you will significantly increase your chances of being seen and, naturally, get more likes under the photo. By the way, you can write them in Russian: #Asia #Thailand # Beach # surfer, etc. The total number of tags cannot exceed 30 pieces, but this is a lot, right?
Contests, events and flash mobs on Instagram
All these events, which bring together millions of users around the world, are also made possible by the use of hashtags. With their help, people exchange experiences, blog on various topics, or together achieve some goals. For example, under the heading # I explain to experienced photographers who share tips on how to shoot properly, how to find ideas for their photos, and other interesting and useful details. And the #sekta tag unites people who want to lead a healthy sporting lifestyle and inspire others with their results. Or, for example, a special tag #RHPNewYearHoliday was timed to coincide with the New Year, with the help of which users shared the secrets of their preparation for this universal holiday.
Events can bring together a small group of people, and can reach global proportions. For example, some contests among Instagram users are sponsored by organizations such as the UN or the government of Japan. Well, the modern way to attract a large number of people to any issue.
What's new?
Let's talk a little about the innovations that were not originally on Instagram. What is large-scale and interesting developers added to the application?
Celebrate friends in the photo!
One of the pleasant moments was the opportunity to mark other users on their photos (this function is well known to those who actively use Facebook or VKontakte). Accordingly, now each member of the Instagram social network has a section in his account, where all the photos on which he was marked are presented. Thus, you can not only talk about the people who are in your picture, but also draw the attention of specific friends to the posted photo by noting them on it.
Do you want a photo? Load the video!
Another, even more ambitious and interesting update is the ability to download short videos (lasting no more than 15 seconds), to which Instagram effects are also applied. In total, 13 filters for processing video material are currently offered. This new feature is very convenient and greatly expands the scope for creativity and the exchange of emotions (after all, there are moments that a photograph is simply not able to convey). Now on Instagram it has become even more interesting, which means that the number of users of this social network has increased markedly.
Other amenities
In addition to those mentioned, other additions appeared on Instagram. For example, now you can add not only description / tags, but also indicate the location where the photo was taken.
Also, cross-sharing has become available in the application, that is, photos added to Instagram can be automatically uploaded to other resources, for example, on Facebook or Twitter. You just need to make the appropriate settings in your profile: the "Preferences" menu, "Publish Settings". Now there is no need to do double work, uploading photos first to one, then to another network.
Search on Instagram can cause sadness
Now let’s dispel the rainbow atmosphere that enveloped this grandiose photographic service. As it turned out, not everyone is so pleased with the beautiful pictures of a beautiful life laid out in tons on this social network. The Western edition of Slate made this assumption (rather, even a statement). And here is a logical explanation for this. The fact is that users, as a rule, take pictures and share them with others at the happiest moments of their lives. Someone flew to rest and "post" pictures from gorgeous beach-restaurants, someone bought a new foreign car (or just rolled on it and posted a photo from the scene), someone has fun with friends in the club, and someone has a romantic evening with a loved one. Yes, these photos gain a large number of likes, but they create a mood ... sad.
Instagram and our subconscious
Joyful or gorgeous pictures affect the subconscious of most people in the opposite way, causing them to feel envy, irritation and anger on themselves and their lives. After all, it always seems that the neighbor’s grass is greener, and here it is right in front of your eyes - in your phone. Even if a person leads a normal everyday life with daily going to work and household chores, but the photo he posted from an incendiary party (which he visits every six months), and behind it a photo from a cozy cafe or a recently purchased new thing will do the trick. It seems to us that the people on Instagram are absolutely happy, their life is full, interesting and beautiful, and ours is boring and monotonous. This is how our thinking works, and Instagram reinforces this feeling.
By the way, as it turned out, those users who post photos but don’t gain the expected number of likes also suffer. Based on all this, the popular social network was built on a kind of "podium" and called the most depressing in the ranking of social projects.
Remove Instagram from your life
If you recognize yourself in the situation described above and think that Instagram doesn’t affect your mood in the best way, understates your self-esteem or simply takes time, then the following guide is especially for you. Next, consider how to remove Instagram, if for some reason it has ceased to please you.
Despite the fact that Instagram is a smartphone application, you won’t be able to remove it from this device. Need a computer or at least a browser on your phone (for example, Safari). This is probably done so that users do not delete their accounts in a fit of emotion, thoughtlessly. So, if you decide to stop using the social network, here is a guide to erasing your account:
- Open your internet browser and go to the Instagram homepage.
- Log in to your account by entering your username and password.
- Click on the icon with your username and photo located in the upper left corner. A list opens: we are interested in the item "Edit profile".
- On the page that opens, in the lower right corner you will see the link "I would like to delete my account", click on it.
- Next, you will be asked to explain the reason why you decided to say goodbye to Instagram. In the drop-down list, select one of the most suitable for your situation. If all else fails, check "Other".
- Now you will need to re-enter the password for your account and click the "Delete my account forever" button.
Here is such a simple way to remove Instagram, if for some reason you no longer like it. However, before you do this, you should think carefully, because you break the small thread that connects you to such a large and different world of other people.
Privacy on Instagram
What is a social network? First of all, it’s putting your life on display, publicity to some extent. Therefore, we consider another common situation. Some people are happy to use this social network, but want to make their profile inaccessible for viewing by everyone. There can be many reasons for this, but the essence is the same - to hide your photos from unwanted eyes. Read how to close Instagram for a wide audience.
The first thing to do is go to settings - the icon in the left corner of your profile. Among the menu items that open, select "Photo Privacy" and check the box next to "Photo Confidential." Now, other users who, although monitoring your feed, will need to send a request to add to the subscription. You will see information about this in your news and you can either confirm the reject or reject it.
Have you got your Instagram account yet?
If you haven’t yet got a profile on Instagram, then hurry to fix this omission. After all, this social network opens a new, unusually huge and mysterious world of impressions, gives positive emotions, allows you to open the veil of personal life and leisure of people who are interesting to you, as well as share with others your feelings, joys, creative successes and other pleasant moments. The only thing you need to have for this is an IOS or Android phone. Unfortunately, on other platforms this application is not supported, there is no “Instagram” on the computer (although you can watch updates from it, but not download photos), so get the right device. And go ahead!