By MARISSA YOUNG<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t understand Instagram.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m always the person who is skeptical about new technology and I\u2019m always on the late side of adopting it. But, in this case, I\u2019ve thoroughly racked my brain and I just don\u2019t get the hype.<\/p>\n
Instagram is basically a photo-sharing social media service. Facebook does the same thing but so much more; besides sharing photos, you can post statuses, send instant messages, and so on. Twitter lets users share photos as well.\u00a0 In fact, you can even share Instagram photos on Facebook or Twitter, which makes even less sense to me than using Instagram as a separate entity.<\/p>\n
Instagram does let you follow celebrities, but that\u2019s what Twitter and official Facebook Pages are for. \u00a0Instagram users claim that \u201cyou get more likes on Instagram,\u201d which may very well be true, but it\u2019s not something that would be impossible on another social media outlet if users started the trend.<\/p>\n
One of my friends is adamant that Instagram is great because it lets you put filters on photos. However, there are so many photo editing apps and programs out there that make having an Instagram unnecessary.<\/p>\n
For example, I upload photos from my phone to my computer via iPhoto, which allows me to edit my photos.\u00a0 If I want, I can make them look like they would if they were taken using an Instagram filter.\u00a0 I don\u2019t need another app to do something when a program that I need to use either way can do the same thing.<\/p>\n
My friends keep pleading with me to get an Instagram. I admit, sometimes I feel out of the loop when everyone is talking about something and I can\u2019t figure out what they mean, until I realize everybody is referencing a picture from Instagram. But this isn\u2019t a compelling argument to get an Instagram. It still doesn\u2019t make sense why people can\u2019t just post all of their pictures to Facebook. If they don\u2019t want to \u201cbombard\u201d their friends\u2019 Facebook News Feeds with pictures, then why should they feel any different bombarding Instagram?<\/p>\n
Another argument that I\u2019ve gotten is that Instagram is better than Facebook or Twitter because it is only pictures. Okay, you got me there, right?\u00a0 Well \u2026 kind of. Facebook used to<\/i> have a tab you could click on to view only photos, but this feature seems to have been lost in one of Facebook\u2019s infamous updates. (There\u2019s still a tab called \u201cPhotos,\u201d which I thought was the same thing until I tried clicking on it today.\u00a0 Obviously I\u2019m not mourning the loss of the old feature.)\u00a0 In any event, I don\u2019t see why it would be necessary to have a separate News Feed for photos.<\/p>\n
Or rather, I don\u2019t see why this type of website has become dominant among technology users. My problem with Instagram isn\u2019t its existence as app, but rather its popularity.\u00a0 In today\u2019s fast-paced, convenience-obsessed culture, I am surprised that people would be interested in spending extra time on something as needless as Instagram. It\u2019s not like Instagram users stop using Facebook or Twitter, so why are so many people active on Instagram at all? I still haven\u2019t solved this mystery.<\/p>\n
I can\u2019t conceive how Instagram in itself can be used to benefit reporters because it provides no new tools or unique applications. Despite this, it is<\/i> important that reporters use this social medium because the American public is using it.\u00a0 After all, that is to whom journalists must cater.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By MARISSA YOUNG I don\u2019t understand Instagram. I\u2019m always the person who is skeptical about new technology and I\u2019m always on the late side of adopting it. But, in this case, I\u2019ve thoroughly racked my brain and I just don\u2019t … Continue reading