[Closed] Instagram - why so difficult?

Find it very easy and intuitive tbf... now, snapchat, not a clue what you do

Que?
Instagram is designed for 4yr olds, by 8yr olds.

HTH's.

bikebouy

by 8yr olds.

Thousands of engineers and scientists, and probably millions of dollars studying human behaviour at the deepest levels. But yeah. Eight year olds.

I don't really get what it's for so I figured I don't need it.

I cant even manage twitter...

Im only 26 and I feel old, my 17 year old brother has about 800 ways he communicates with people.

has about 800 ways he communicates with people

lol - all virtual? 🙂

It's a pretty cool way of seeing 21yr old girls selfie'ing in the mirror whilst wearing "fashion" items. Though, these images do have to show either a see through blouse or obligatory "leg shot" and inward pointing toes.

Or

It's a good way of sharing images of like minded sports or activities, tagged so you can see even more of the same shit.

I like the Artists and illustrators, modern art and mega filtered images and children's book illustrations. There are some very talented Artists willing to share thier works.
And Surfing photography, epic road riding, gravel bike wiggles and mates who share interesting images.

And 21yr old girls, Obvz.

Endless fun on a Spring evening can be had.

lol - all virtual?

Obviously, he is a teenager so verbal communication is non existant

I love insta, it's ace, a few mins each day looking at great biking pics and vids, also met lots of good folks through using it.

There's still some folks that don't get it though, mainly folk that are used to faceboak. Why have an Instagram account and keep it private? It's only photo sharing, bugger off back to faceboak.

What's Instagram?

Its a cocaine delivery service.

Recently started to use IG, great fun finding like minded people.
Mostly looking at bikes, dogs, art and local stuff.

And 21yr old grls obvs.

Still don't know how to post pics on here from there though......

Are you using it with a PC or smart phone? works best on the latter.

It's a right buggers muddle if trying to post off a MAC or PC, it's designed for smartphones and tablets. There are Apps available to copy images, because you can't do that direct off Insta.

I've one word of advice....

Stay clear of "preaching" "life enhancing/motivating" images, you know the sort .. quite why anyone wants to post an image of someone on top of a hill then obliterate the image with the words "one life, live it" is, well, quite beyond me.

The fact that you can only upload via a mobile device is a pain in the ass and is probably the reason it feels so unintuitive.

The fact that you can only upload via a mobile device is a pain in the ass and is probably the reason it feels so unintuitive.

I reckon the only reason there is a website version is to let [url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/39743303/luxury-fyre-festival-is-cancelled-with-ticket-holders-still-stranded-in-bahamas ]news articles[/url] link to the pics (clicks mean money *stw 2017) otherwise it would probably be totally app only.

Mystified by Twitter. I really did try. Is Instagram easier, or should a 56yo stick with vellum and quill?

I'm 60 next year and managing to use Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. It's not an age issue.

It's not very 'instant' if you have to go home and upload it on your PC, is it? 😆

It's not very 'instant' if you have to go home and upload it on your PC, is it?

But that's where his slide scanner is 😉

😆

Like the poster thread yesterday GT, you are showing your age

Cheeky **** I'm only 44! 😀

Of course the irony is that the biggest area of growth for film photographers is in the 18-24 age range.

onlysteel - Member
Mystified by Twitter. I really did try. Is Instagram easier, or should a 56yo stick with vellum and quill?

Well, do you like looking at photos? If so, try it. You can create a private account so you can view and not be viewed. My personal view is don't link it to any FB account nor Contacts, just use it for either posting images or viewing or both or just viewing.

Rarely do you see tits and such because Insta takes a dim view of the image and poster, and will either obliterate the image or take down the image. You can report posts and if you share your account and get some random "hi, sexy xxxx seeks fit males" requests you just report them and they're taken down really really quickly.
So, it's a safe image hosting/posting site viewable by anyone.

Obviously it's a bit of a selfie vacuum, but not terribly so. Some folks just like taking photos of locations and interesting stuff, or drawings or flower arrangements, or feet, or Michelangelo's Davids bottom, or trees or sunsets/sunrises... whatever.

When it first came out I steered well clear, thought it would be full of teenage girls in low cut blouses pouting (sadly that still exists) but it's matured well, it is a nice platform for an insight to other people's interests.

Easily installed on smartphones, easily deleted too, easy to set up and you are limited in what you view by your own imagination.

Mystified by Twitter. I really did try.

Me too! Never quote got Twitter - just seems a mess.

Well, do you like looking at photos? I

Instagram is about the last place to look if you appreciate photography. It's primarily a show place for social media vacuousness but sadly it is the most popular channel currently and the one you will get the most visbility through.

Flickr or 500px will give you a better aesthetic experience.

You obviously aren't looking in the right places 😉

I think Insta is awesome and much more positive than other platforms (including this forum, obvs).

That's probably just my social media vacuousness talking though.

Keep this thread alive: http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/instagram-share-your-profiles

Funny this - my son uses it. Had to drop him to friends the other day "Have you got their address?" I ask. "It's on Instagram" says he, "Just swipe left, blah de blah, find his name, wibble wibble, address there." Cool, says the 30odd years in IT nerd bloke. Could I find this address? Found a pic of a pouting teenage girl and a bequiffed footballer doing keepy-uppys, but his mate's address? 😕

You obviously aren't looking in the right places

You're almost certainly right. I really struggle to find decent work to follow on Instagram.

If you can point me in the right direction I would be genuinely very grateful.

Is there any way of getting Instagram to list photos chronologically? My feed appears to have been organised by a monkey*.

*I'm sure this is an algorithm based around 'interestingness' or 'popularityness', but it's bloody annoying when you see something then can't find it again, or comment on a photo you think is recent only to find it's a few days old.

Twitter, as a youngish chap, is beyond me. I think it's for old people or people who are more into celebrities than I am.

I really like instagram. And, for the OP, I find it very easy to use. I get to look at interesting pictures of things I like (mountains, bikes, rally cars, trains, things my mates are up to). It's very rare I see a selfie on mine, I don't go looking for them.

Is there any way of getting Instagram to list photos chronologically? My feed appears to have been organised by a monkey*.

*I'm sure this is an algorithm based around 'interestingness' or 'popularityness', but it's bloody annoying when you see something then can't find it again, or comment on a photo you think is recent only to find it's a few days old.

No, this is how it is now (changed last year). If you dont use it enough the things IG decides you might like to see are now old. If you follow a lot of stuff it can get messy, but then its like twitter in that respect because once you follow to much its pointless wishing for more organised feed, as its too much to actually track unless you use it 24/7.

Oh, and for those that're interested I'm such a big deal I have two. One more "special interest" than the other.

https://www.instagram.com/lukeellisbradley/

[img] ?ig_cache_key=MTQ4OTA1MjE1NDY0Mjk1MzczMw%3D%3D.2[/img]

https://www.instagram.com/scenic_pees/
[img] ?ig_cache_key=MTQ5MzcxMTcxNzc2MTgwNjI3OA%3D%3D.2[/img]

Luke, what's your instagram account?

I used to be ringoffire, but it got hacked and that bastards wouldn't believe I wasn't a hacker/spambot, so had to start up Muck_sweat_n_beers instead.

Ah, I did wonder why ringoffire wasn't yielding the masses of good bike posts I was hoping for!

As above, lukeellisbradley is mine. It's not 100% bikes but I do try and put a good amount of bike photos up there.

munrobiker - Just followed you, if you post pics like you do on here then it'll be well worth it.

I'm grumwynne on there.

https://www.instagram.com/grumwynne/

Been trying to up my game recently and post regularly. I use gramblr to post from a Mac, much easier IMO.

Off the top of my head, a couple of good profiles I like - Roam the Planet, Everyday Iceland, itsbigben, Yorkshire Gourmet, Nigel Slater, Mattias Frederiksson.

Aces, cheers Luke and Grum!

munrobiker - loving the scenic pees!

Can't seem to find - munrobiker
Followed Mainly of borders and sunsets 🙂
[url= http://www.instagram.com/gaz__morris/ ]Mine[/url] is mainly of borders and sunsets.

I think its only failing is that its hard to post from it to forums but otherwise I like it a lot.

https://www.instagram.com/jory04/

Mainly Bikes and Surfing with some sunsets thrown in. Some photos were even originally taken on real film.

geetee1972 - Member

Instagram is about the last place to look if you appreciate photography. It's primarily a show place for social media vacuousness but sadly it is the most popular channel currently and the one you will get the most visbility through.

There are thousands of great photographers on Instagram, both amateur and professional and every level in between. Yes there's a lot of vacuous nonsense but as social media platforms go it's probably one of the best in terms of being able to filter that out, or find a noise to signal ratio that is pleasing to your individual tastes. It's what you make of it.

If all you are seeing is attention whores and rubbish then just unfollow those people or stop searching for that type of content.

geetee1972
You're almost certainly right. I really struggle to find decent work to follow on Instagram.

Try a google search like [i]"Best (insert photography genre) photographers on Instagram"[/i] and go from there. As you start to follow one or two people, it'll recommend more people to follow along similar lines and this is probably the most fruitful way of finding quality accounts to follow. You can use hashtag searches as well but I can't comment to it's usefulness.

I find lots of great photographers but it is mostly of the incredible but slightly cheesy/over-Photoshopped travel/landscape variety.

I only really use it to share images rather than another 'full' social media platform, but it's handy for spending a few minutes looking at pictures from like-minded folks too.

https://www.instagram.com/rrrooobbbppp/

The Instagram UI is pretty awful, the Stroy stuff is incredibly irritating and they've spread it to Farcebook too. I do like the app for photo sharing though - stick mine under allan.93. Meant to link it with a blog eventually but never get round to it.

Followed a few photographers and get a pretty interesting feed most days. Just have to be careful of the aggregator types who pinch and post other people's pictures. Some do credit the photographer, some don't.

Find it easy to avoid the influencer types, had to block a few random spam accounts but not had much trouble even with a public profile.

Marginally instagram curious but only to share albums of photos with people I know already..which I already do in Facebook....could probably do in a less public 'shouty' way with a cloud if I bothered to research it more.

I use pintrest a bit at work which is useful.

Choice is good but too much choice is a faff - there are so many ways to contact friends now. Even for a Voicecall I use landline, mobile, whatsapp, facebook messenger and skype and I'm meant to keep track of which method works best for every contact.

One point that hasn't been mentioned is how it crops portrait composed 3x2 images. It doesn't seem to do it for landscape, but does for portrait, which is really annoying.

Does anyone know how to avoid that?

One point that hasn't been mentioned is how it crops portrait composed 3x2 images. It doesn't seem to do it for landscape, but does for portrait, which is really annoying.

Does anyone know how to avoid that?

Because its 'thing' was that it does square format photos. You can zoom out but then your photo looks crap and even more tiny. Take photos landscape and you dont have that problem.

Take photos landscape and you dont have that problem.

I'll just stick to using my Hasselblad then.

And can I just add that for me it's not about the quality of the pictures, it's about the contents and the vibe (man).

I like the outlet it's giving Artists and Illustrators, often these folks get pushed into printed media but Insta has opened the world up for them. A couple of illustration friends of mine have picked up commissions and one is about to embark on a couple of books in a series, without Insta she would have been trawling the Publishing network..

Quiality of photos? Ok, so a lot of the content is mass filtered, selfie stylised, snappy iPhone stuff but that's it's exact marketplace... it enables blokes like me to snap something on the phone and upload it and # it.. I'm not bothered about absolute quality I'm more interested in conveying an image. If it's quality you want then there are better places to visit.

What does make me laugh though is the random search function... if it's based on who I follow and what I like then I can asssure you 21yr old girls pouting in gym slips isn't anything like my taste.

There are some great custom motorbike builders who are on there too..

I'm still not sure why people think that content and quality are different things.

[url= https://www.instagram.com/dannyward76/ ]Mine...Bikes, Hiking, Gigs, Beer & Cake[/url]

If it's quality you want then there are better places to visit.

Where like?

Flickr?

geetee1972 - Member
I'm still not sure why people think that content and quality are different things.

Because they are, unless you want to get into arguing semantics or engage in some kind of linguistic pedantry over definitions. Quality, which I take to mean image quality or image fidelity in this context, doesn't directly imply any quality.

A photograph can be technically perfect in all regards but be completely lacking in merit, whether it's artistic merit, journalistic merit, cultural, personal, emotional etc but a photograph need not be technically sound in any area in order to convey some form or artistic expression or to have value.

geetee1972
I'll just stick to using my Hasselblad then.

It's sounds like you are far too good for Instagram and should probably avoid it.

For landscape photos I have been following, amongst others, @stianmklo and @hansstrandofficial(*)

geetee type stuff - @womeninstreet @juicylucyham and @greatarsenal

My duff stuff is at @jezzah59

(*) largely shot on Hasselblad, BTW.

I often post using "instawhite" which avoids cropping nastiness and allows you to set a border.

No, this is how it is now (changed last year). If you dont use it enough the things IG decides you might like to see are now old. If you follow a lot of stuff it can get messy, but then its like twitter in that respect because once you follow to much its pointless wishing for more organised feed, as its too much to actually track unless you use it 24/7.

I remember the change, but thought there was a way of reverting (which I think I did). Seems that option is no longer there. Ah well.

For the record, this is me. [url= https://www.instagram.com/neilcain/ ]Mainly bikes and sunsets[/url].

A photograph can be technically perfect in all regards but be completely lacking in merit,

OK so I think we agree then; there's no semantic debate to be had.

I care very little about about the technical merit, all the other merits you list are the ones that are important. The only time the technical execution becomes a factor is when it prevents any of those other merits from shining through.

My frsutration with Instagram is that I've not been able to find much in way of artistic, social docmentary/commentary, landscape or any other of the aesthetic merits you list. There is a lot of garbage on there.

Some I follow:

@aswisswithapulse, @cycleswissalps (Switzerland and Cycling)

@magnusbogucki (our wedding photog), @misssnowitall (ski pics), @manulanvin (French blues guitar guy)

My random shots are at @b34num

geetee1972

My frsutration with Instagram is that I've not been able to find much in way of artistic, social docmentary/commentary, landscape or any other of the aesthetic merits you list.

Sebastio Salgado, Cory Richards, Steve mcCurry, Nathan Hughes, Lee Trumpmore, Matthew DeLorme, Paris Gore, Laurence Crossman-Emms, Boris Beyer, Duncan Philpott, Rupert Fowler, Sam Needham, Dan Milner, Sterling Lorence, Mattias Fredrikson, Dave Trumpmore, Gary Perkin, Sven Martin, Alex Brunst and Lee Jeffries are just a few of the photographers I follow on Instagram.

Obviously there is a heavy leaning there towards MTB photographers but across those guys there is a fairly heavy flow of stunning and inspiring imagery. It might be a bit light on hard hitting social commentary or photo journalism, but that's not what I want in my news feed; I want images that might inspire me to go out on the bike and take my camera with me.

There will obviously be fine art photographers and pro photographers in various disciplines who will shun the platform because it doesn't pay them to share their work that way but that in itself doesn't negate the platform.

As an aside I follow many more illustrators than I do photographers and there are genuinely some of the best illustrators in the world on IG and their content is incredible.

There is a lot of garbage on there.

Well it's open to everyone. Across all the internet forums and social media platforms there won't be many great pieces of literature posted, despite millions of words being posted daily. Same for pictures.

Twitters straightforward as long as you understand the meaning of @ and #.

I'm being followed by Kurdish Peshmarga Special Forces!

Could never get into twitter. I have around 1000 followers but I very rarely post.

[url= https://www.instagram.com/kbrembo/?hl=en ]Various Pics @kbrembo[/url]

Check you with your nearly 3000 followers! One more now - good stuff.

grum - Member

Check you with your nearly 3000 followers! One more now - good stuff.

Like being rich in Monopoly

Check you with your nearly 3000 followers! One more now - good stuff.

And another. I like more than a bandwagon. 😉

(On a more serious note - some lovely stuff there)

I'm pretty sure for each Instagram follower your account has you receive a bar of gold bullion. It's a new thing they're rolling out.

Nobeer- I've re-added you, I did wonder what happened to ringoffire.

😆

Another worthy photographer I discovered recently.

https://www.instagram.com/josh.jordan.official/?hl=en

Another worthy photographer I discovered recently.

Well that's a bit of an odd coincidence. I just clicked on your link and in opening my Instagram feed, I see that the very same person, Josh Jordan, has just faved one of my pictures, literally about the same time you posted that link.

You're not he are you?

I've met some great people & got some brilliant sponsorship via instagram & twitter.
3606 posts and counting on IG.. https://www.instagram.com/rocketdoguk
28k tweets on Twitter @_rocketdog_

Ah yes - I remember when you blocked me on twitter 😆

im sure, but i may be wrong, that back in the day instagram wasnt a social media vehicle, but more just an app you could you use to create interesting photographs with? thats what i use it for anyway, and thats why my account is private. i have a few followers who are all bike people who i know will appreciate the content, i dont want debbie on facebook who cant believe its monday again posting pics of her dinner...

i also hate being obliterated by pics of other peoples hobbies on fb too so dont want to be another person doing that either! instabang is where its at!

No idea what them little story things are at the top of the screen tho!??

Does anyone know how to avoid that?

GT, I get around that by opening the photo with Instashot, putting it in a square background then sharing it to IG. It makes the photo smaller in the app of course, but as my stuff is usually badly developed, hastily scanned 35mm, it hardly matters. For example:

[img] [/img]

Worth a follow, depending on what you like, would be Martin Parr, Magnum, Joel Meyerowitz, Jason Lee (yes, the guy from My Name is Earl!), Ren Hang, Photo Filmy, which has some interesting guest curators, Frenchfred (aka Fred Mortagne), Chris Steele Perkins, Bruce Gilden, Ryan McGinley..

thats what i use it for anyway, and thats why my account is private

If someone follows me, and I look at their account and it's private, I move on, what's the point of having it private, it's an open photography platform?.

If you want private photo's for friends/family/doggers then facebook is what you seek.