Photos Get Social With Instagram

One of my latest mobile app obsessions is Instagram. It is a free application for iPhone (coming soon to Android) that enables you to capture and share photos with others. Instagram has really blown up over the last year; since January 2011, the number of users has increased by over 14 million!

Instagram is easy to use and extremely addicting.

 

 

 

 

The Application:

Once you download and launch the Instagram app, you will see 5 tabs within the application.

 

  • Feed – displays images the people you are following have shared
  • Popular – the most popular photos, based on Instagram’s “special formula”
  • Share – upload and enhance your photos
  • News – summary of what photos your friends have liked and who they started following
  • Profile – allows you to search names, users, and tags

How to Use Instagram:

1. Take a picture – Capture a photo within Instagram, or choose an image from your iPhone Photo Library

2. Enhance the photo – The following enhancements are all optional – but highly recommended to get the best Instagram experience.

  • Filters – There are over 15 different filters that can be applied to your image.(including the ability to add the filter in real- time before you take the photo).
  • Tilt shift Blur – You can add linear and radial tilt-shift blur effects for extra depth of field.
  • Borders – Turn a border on or off while taking a picture, or add the border afterwards.
  • Captions – Add a caption about your picture.
  • Hashtags – Don’t forget to #hashtag your images, this will enable your photos to show up in searches.
  • Geotag – Add a geological location to your photos.

3. Share – Besides sharing the photo in the Instagram feed, you have the ability to also post the image to Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and more.

 Get Social:

To truly get the best experience from Instagram you need to be an active community member.

  • Like Photos – See a photo you like? Double-click on the photo, or click the Like button.
  •  Follow People – Use the Find Friends option within the Profile tab. You can add existing friends from your other social networks. Browse the Suggested Users section to see some of the most popular users.
  • Leave Comments – Comment on other users’ images, after all it’s a social network so share!

What about you? Are you addicted to Instagram like me? If you still haven’t caught the Instagram bug – download the application now and try it out.