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10-18-2018, 12:52 PM   #1
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Instagram vs...

Could use some advice and perspective. I've researched this and read some old threads on it, but thought I would fish for direction here.

I intend to formally divorce from Facebook and delete my account (burn the ships at the shore, so that I can't ever go back). Facebook and I had a trial separation a while back, but I went back with less entanglement and now I just want out again. My wife says that I basically use Facebook as instagram. I post photos there. There are few groups that I'm involved with and I'll have to figure out what to do about them, but I want to continue to socially network, but really just through photos and ideally in a place where politics are running rampant.


The fact that Facebook owns Instagram makes that feel like a shallow victory, but it seems to be otherwise what I am looking for.


I'm not an industry professional and I'm not interested in a revenue stream. I would prefer that my photos don't become someone else's property without my consent and I know that there was an issue recently with 500px around this. I also don't know if people who normally seem to like to see my photos would use something like 500px.

I use Flickr, but mostly just for storage and to link from when I post here. I intend to continue posting photos here, of course.


Is Flickr more than I'm able to see that it is? Does it function like Instagram in terms of sharing photos and casually networking? I get that I can see other people's photos there, but it doesn't seem to work like a social site does, unless I'm missing it.

Is there something that I should be considering, before I stand up to Facebook, walk out and then go across the hall to other-facebook (instagram)?

What are you guys using and what are your opinions of it? Thanks in advance for any perspective and advice.

10-18-2018, 01:42 PM   #2
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Like you I got hacked off with FB so I jumped over to Instagram. I try to be nice and engage, politely and constructively - not just saying Wow! that's stunning - how pointless. My view is if you ignore the trolls and idiots, SM sites are mostly harm free, but get drawn in and the mess starts. So far Instagram is a much nicer place to be. I really did hate FB. My fear is that FB will soon start changing (=abusing) Instagram and I'll have to jump ship, again.
10-18-2018, 01:45 PM   #3
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It seems as if ig is what you are looking for as its more of a general social media place, like fb... but not fb. I only got on ig recently because my friends are there and they wanted to see my photos. My wife likes ig because she enjoys kicking the hive and getting into discussions. I just want to see pretty pictures so i prefer flickr, and the iq is miles above insta. I deleted my fb years ago and dont miss it one bit, but then again im a grumpy old man, so ymmv.
10-18-2018, 01:58 PM - 1 Like   #4
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Instagram annoys me since it is specifically aimed at phone photos. Uploading photos from a computer is partially crippled, e.g., regarding aspect ratios. I don't know why they feel the need to act as the style police.

10-18-2018, 02:17 PM   #5
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You can put 'real' photos (that's tongue in cheek) onto your phone and upload from there, in fact that's what most people who are really serious about it do.

But yeah, it's built specifically for phones, for social media, and for quick interactions - they've always been very open about that and I'd be very very surprised if they ever change that.

Sites like flickr, 500px, APUG (for film photography), and even google+ are more oriented to high res photos and critique as opposed to 'likes'.

Then there's others like pentax forums, reddit, photo.net, vsco, etc.
10-18-2018, 02:33 PM - 1 Like   #6
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Flickr Pro - $50/ year Sept/18 & Flickr since 2014 No Problems - Have 15,000 views to date mostly last couple of years 560 Photos with a neat Stats thing on the Pro version. Photo presentation 1000% better than this forum . Links in Facebook etc. and simple download available. Hope it doesn't change with Bub Bub takeover or whatever its called.

Last edited by honey bo bo; 12-04-2018 at 03:34 PM.
10-18-2018, 02:48 PM   #7
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Flickr Pro has always been worth it for the stats...

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Most of those 'views' are from search hits...

I've never been much for the social aspect of Flickr...
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10-18-2018, 04:17 PM - 1 Like   #8
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I am a foreigner in Japan. Most of my friend and family members still use FB back home so I still keep the account but I am pretty much out of FB since early this year. No App on my phone and not log in to my account for many months already. I think I should close it for good like you. That platform is so annoying. It also takes info from everyone in my contact book regardless of FB user or not and do what they do best, makes money off it.

IG,
I also worry the greedy FB will turn IG to just another toxic social media like FB. Anyway, I still like it as for now.

I share photos on my IG page first then copy the image URL to other places (with a little help from browser's web developer tool). IG doesn't offer high-res image than phone screen resolution so people can't do anything much with the photo. (Platform that let people post high-resolution images can not protect the image no matter what.)

What type of audience you will get on IG is largely dependent on what hashtag you often use. Most people in my cycle are very much like photography or want to travel in/to Japan and they are very polite.

There is a lot of account doing follow then unfollow things, just ignores them. In fact, don't even care about those numbers.

What I like most about IG,
I think it is focusing more on visual content. It doesn't matter what they use, phone, drone, video, dslr, mirrorless, even painting.
I don't do online social but I meet people and go for photo shooting from time to time. (as far as I recall, it is 50+ this year alone) Majority of them come from IG. I used to directly offer the location for photographic worthy places in Tokyo on my IG post, but now I put information on my website instead because I can have more details and walking map there then leave site URL in the profile.
Some people are interested in my work enough to take a photo trip with me which I just start 2-3 months ago. Some didn't reserve a trip but send me a thank you message and offer to show me around their town if I go there
And many more simply want to talk and exchange photography knowledge. All in all, I learn many things from each meeting and conversation.

Last edited by tokyoscape; 10-18-2018 at 04:25 PM.
10-18-2018, 04:59 PM - 2 Likes   #9
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Why Instagram, Twitter and Facebook have succeeded over the earlier platforms like Flickr, 500pix, etc is that they're social, and that a generation of people/customers/potential clients actively engage with them again and again throughout the week or even day.

If you're not into engagement - you're not a sociable person or aren't advertising - you're far better off sticking to the older sites or putting prints on the wall. You're just pleasing yourself.
10-19-2018, 12:44 AM   #10
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Ref getting images onto IG, I just upload to Drive and point IG there to load. Works easily. Though I use a square crop on IG it isn't now limited to square only.
10-19-2018, 02:10 AM   #11
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You do know that IG is owned my FB, right? Just saying!

Another grandfathered in Flickr Pro account member.
10-19-2018, 02:24 AM   #12
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I use Instagram myself. Uploading photos isn't that bad. Put memory card in computer, edit raw file, convert to jpeg, send to phone via Bluetooth. On the phone, open folder where images is located, tap on share, select Instagram and type in a description. You don't have to crop if you don't want to. I never use any of the Instagram filters.

I also share images on Pinterest but I am not on Facebook, nor do I ever intend to be. The SJW crowd are just too scary.
10-19-2018, 04:08 AM - 1 Like   #13
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I use Flickr as my primary site for posting my photos. If you choose to be social you can and if you choose not to it’s okay also. There are several people that I flollow and that follow me that I have chats with on occasion. The other great thing is I follow and am followed by people from around the world. One I can think of right off the top of my head is a gentleman from Tunisia. He has some amazing landscapes and portraits.

I used o have the pro account but dropped it after a couple of issues where I lost notifications for a couple of weeks each time. The pro stats are nice but if I’m paying for something I expect support when there is a problem. So I recommend the free account
11-30-2021, 06:28 AM   #14
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Guys, I have no Instagram account and just recently thought about creating it. Do you have a profit from that? Does anyone order photoshoots from instagram? I'm just trying to understand if it's worth my time and energy. (Ok, I'm here with an update) My friend Sara is an SMM specialist and she told me she'll help me post on the feed, make stories, and so so on. And I just asked her about the work, how she manages all hose instagram clients' accounts and she told me that a service called onlypult helps her. So interesting, I didn't know something like that exists. She shared with me their blog about social media and now I'm gonna read it https://onlypult.com/blog/linkedin-banner-size every day.

Last edited by CanonierEx; 12-01-2021 at 04:51 AM.
12-13-2021, 05:50 AM - 1 Like   #15
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QuoteOriginally posted by CanonierEx Quote
Guys, I have no Instagram account and just recently thought about creating it. Do you have a profit from that? Does anyone order photoshoots from instagram? I'm just trying to understand if it's worth my time and energy. (Ok, I'm here with an update) My friend Sara is an SMM specialist and she told me she'll help me post on the feed, make stories, and so so on. And I just asked her about the work, how she manages all hose instagram clients' accounts and she told me that a service called onlypult helps her. So interesting, I didn't know something like that exists. She shared with me their blog about social media and now I'm gonna read it https://onlypult.com/blog/linkedin-banner-size every day.
I'm not a professional, but I find social media very hard to grow on nowadays. In my opinion, you need to have a very consistent style, and to only post in that style. This gives your page at first glance a pleasing aesthetic look which is what will cause people to follow. If you are quite eclectic in your photography, then you may find it harder to get follows. Also, nowadays, people are less likely to follow, and I think that might be down to the algorithm change. This is because they are now punished for the Follow/Unfollow behaviour. I do detest that behaviour, but the truth is that this is how many people grew in the beginning. You need to have good content too of course. Once you have 10,000 followers, your page will grow naturally, perhaps because people view you as an authority, or maybe just because you have great work. I've certainly seen some amazing accounts on Instagram.

---------- Post added 12-13-21 at 02:17 PM ----------

QuoteOriginally posted by Paul the Sunman Quote
Instagram annoys me since it is specifically aimed at phone photos. Uploading photos from a computer is partially crippled, e.g., regarding aspect ratios. I don't know why they feel the need to act as the style police.
I know this was posted a long time ago, but there are now apps that output a 3:2, 4:3, etc, image to Instagram by creating a square of whitespace. It's what I use myself on Instagram. It makes the page seem a little cleaner in my opinion, although mine still looks messy for other reasons (ie. alternating Portrait and Landscape shots; no consistent style, etc).
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