Instagram: More Ugly Than Beautiful
An Instagrammer’s Tell-All
Instagram is a cross-platform app. It can be used in many ways, but many forget along the way that it is just an app on your phone. You can use it to share photos of coffee, your baby being born, your love accepting a beautiful ring, an unforgettable sunset and so on. If you become a “power user,” one who browses and posts daily, you can come across some rather funny things. I have had two accounts now, both accumulating a pretty good following. With both I have been ethical, but others choose a path to attempt to further their online presence to unreachable heights through cheating and the manipulating of the system. It’s a sad fact, but it isn’t just a couple users who have done this. There are both ugly and beautiful parts of this app, pertaining to its users’ actions. I’d just like to shed light on some of it; maybe cause you to think for the day.
Hmm, that’s strange. He liked a photo of an underage girl in a bikini. Whoa, now he liked a photo of a screenshot with the Rise filter plastered on top of it. Why would he even remotely like something like that?
The Ugly
If anyone has come across something like this in the “Following” section of Instagram you are not alone. What you’re witnessing is the work of a “bot.” Bots are scripts written by people to inject into a computer program that will run them. These scripts have instructions on what the program does. In our case, they automatically post prearranged comments on photos, automatically like photos with specific hashtags of choice, follow any account and automatically unfollow them once it has sensed that the user followed the account back. These were popular in the more early days of Instagram. Most social platforms have bots and it’s just a gross part of the internet. It destroys real interaction and creates a faux relationship between the victim and the cheater. “Oh! This person liked my photo! They have a ton of followers, they appear to be popular. I gotta follow them back.” This is the reaction for non-power users who come across a like or a comment from fake “big-timers.” Their bots distribute meaningless likes and comments in hopes for followers. Having a large follower count is what matters to a lot of people. In a way, it’s a digital dick sizing competition. Who has the bigger dick? Who cares? Even going beyond using a free script found on the internet, some users use their wallets. They purchase likes and followers to fool you. They’re only fooling themselves. Perhaps they are searching for validation. They crave confirmation that their photos are as good as pros. Or perhaps they are lonely and need false interaction from people who they fool.
Money. Cheap Ads. These abusers of the Instagram community found solace in business opportunity. Their ridiculously aggrandized popularity landed them business with companies trying to reach thousands of people with a cheap budget. Instagram has been gaining traction among companies for promoting themselves with their products, announcements, contests, etc. They have spotted out the fake power users and assumed they were really great and had a real following. In modern day Instagram, 150k followers translates to about 2-3,000 active accounts. These companies don’t know this though. The cheaters have been cashing in on this while the gettin’ is good. Companies like Dos Equis have been notorious in this area.
This past year I have been victim to many things and I usually try to turn a blind eye, because in the end it doesn’t matter and my life is still great. Despite this, I tend to get too fed up and have called it out in captions or a short tweet. I’ve grown tired of people following me, commenting on my photos positively like they love my work, and then unfollowing me shortly later. They repeat this process numerous times, sometimes within the same week. I am not an oblivious person. I am aware of what you are doing and regardless if I like your photos I won’t follow back. There are countless users who have blocked me simply because I would not follow them back which is scoff-worthy. I am not a saint when it comes to unfollowing. Unfollowing users can be a modern, digital analogy of how friends are kept in your own circle. Have you remained friends with everyone you have befriended in life? No, and that’s perfectly okay. Don’t take an unfollow so personally. People’s tastes change and so do creative styles. It is inevitable both occurrences line up and an unfollow results. These types of users are also ones to use spammy hashtags (#instagood, #picoftheday, #onedirection). Websites like TagsForLikes spell it out in their title. Their blocks of hashtags are made exactly for that, for likes; nothing else. I admit in the early days I used TagsForLikes because I thought likes were everything. I was fooling myself to think an inflated number actually meant something. It’s before I knew “Instagram etiquette.” I have seen people post these blocks within seconds of each other on their photo after deleting the previous block. They repeat the process until Instagram steps in and disallows likes going to that photo after spam tags. To me, this seems like a lot of work for what you get: a number that means nothing. Another thing these types of users do is check services like Iconosquare (previously known as Statigram) to see when their photos get the most “bites.” A section of that website shows your like activity based on days and times. Users starving for likes post only in those time frames for the optimal number of likes. Once you see them posting outside of that time frame you can assume they are experimenting. Once they realize they don’t get enough attention above a threshold to their liking, they delete the post.
Elitism kills me. In any type of situation in life, elitists disgust me. Typical social gatherings with strangers end up being divided into small, separated groups with people sharing similar interests and attitudes. At some Instameets, people can do more than that in my personal observation. They can separate themselves from the crowd and hang with only the friends they brought, usually being popular IGers themselves. I have noticed they don’t talk much to anyone else until their fans awkwardly approach and attempt small talk. If you are a great photographer and become an influencer amongst your community I feel as though you should nose dive into every small group and introduce yourself to connect with people. Standing away from everyone without sharing a word or two just sweats elitism like bullets. Aside from Instameets I have an idea of what creates some elitists: the Instagram Suggested list. This is a list properly located in the “Find People to Follow” section of settings. This list is available to all 150 million active users. It is exclusive and appears to everyone on Instagram. The concept alone can create a sense of elitism once chosen to be on it for the two week window. You can have a low number of followers and likes and be handed out to the masses for two weeks and accrue tens of thousands of followers. Majority of these new followers are spam accounts. The number looks good next to their name of course, right? They feel entitled, they feel important. I don’t know about you but feeling like you’re elite because of having a “k” next to your name is ridiculous and shameful.
Photo thievery is inevitable in the information age. If you post your work on the internet and it’s great, it will be stolen and the swindler will pretend the work is his/hers and expect praise. In a way it is flattering. It’s confirming that you are great at what you do, you capture great things. In another way it is infuriating to think someone can use your hard work and try to gain acclaim for it. Instagram is no stranger to infringement and theft. Countless times my Instagram friends have temporarily posted a screenshot to “take someone down” for stealing and we all commit to it. I have caught two people stealing photos that were well-received in our community, one was actually an Instagram-made friend. I made it apparent to Instagram both times with evidence. I never heard a word back. Both people ended up on their Suggested list. If Instagram has a trustworthy user and his friends advocating these people are frauds with actual evidence, shouldn’t they do something about it? In reality, no. They were both commended for works of others and not taken off the list. In a way, Instagram supported and promoted photo stealing. They were rewarded.
I’d like to add one more super small annoyance with a choice Instagram has made recently. They no longer use Foursquare location data for geotagging photos. They instead use Facebook’s location data which everyone by now has noticed is far inferior. There are many misspelled locations and duplicate venues. I honestly don’t see myself geotagging anymore because of this unless it improves in time.
The Beauty
Connections. I have made so many great connections through the community of Instagram that I am more than grateful for. I don’t know which other platform can really offer you connection with similar-minded people. I have made a lot of great friends, immensely creative friends whom I cherish deeply. This year Andrew Hector, an Instagram friend now turned actual friend, flew from Florida to LA with his buds to go on a road trip to Utah. We caught sunset at Manhattan Beach Pier with the guru known as Pete Halvorsen, who, in my humble opinion, is one of the most influential people on the entire platform thanks to his demeanor and selflessness through beach clean ups and other events. We drove straight from the pier once it became dark to Zion National Park in Utah. We literally arrived at 4AM, changed into warmer clothes, put headlamps on and started hiking to the top of Angels Landing (about 6,000 ft above sea level) in complete darkness to catch sunrise. It was one of the most spontaneous and adventurous things I’ve ever done. I’m thankful because it wouldn’t have really happened without the help of Instagram. It brought us together. I feel as though if you use Instagram for what it’s intended for, you find it brings you together with people and it’s up to you to filter out the rest.
Aside from bringing me new friends, my beautiful girlfriend was brought into my life. Online dating is still not taken very seriously even in our expansive digital culture, but I now understand it. You can connect with someone over the Internet just as easily as you can in person if you both are honest and open. I wanted nothing more than to be her friend when I came across her because she seemed to be so lively and fun. After a short time, she shared with me her troubled connection with her dad. She was wishing to spend more time with him than she had been. She also told me he was previously a professional photographer. I told her to maybe get more interested in photography, ask for his help and to get involved more. Her Instagram feed previous to her beautiful waves and mountain landscapes consisted of selfies and Starbucks coffees, which is perfectly acceptable for any teenage girl. She started shooting better subjects and spending more time with him which was our initial goal. Her dad then started an Instagram account and has been involved ever since. Fletch has a pretty great presence in the community. They regularly go on mini-road trips together and nickname them Daddy/Daughter Pic Stops, made apparent by their hashtags #dd_picstop_(number). I am happy to feel as though I helped bring them closer again.
Another type of connection one can make on Instagram is business-related. Companies can come to you either for a job or for promotion of their products. With my Instagram not having a huge follower count, but being followed by some prestigious users, I happen to get attention from time to time. My effort of posting photos I deem to be top notch has paid off in being offered a photography job and getting recognition from companies like The Weather Channel and MyModernMet. I am so grateful.
The craft. I wasn’t interested in photography a few years ago. I was more into making music or exploring videography by creating short films. I can honestly say Instagram was the sole reason I purchased my first camera, a Canon 7D. I also bought this amazing, weaponized lens from a buddy I have made thanks to Instagram actually. I have tried to become adroit behind a DSLR by watching online videos to teach myself the ins and outs of the art. I still have a lot to learn seeing as though I don’t shoot all the time and I haven’t invested a ton of time into learning. I’m the kind of person who likes to figure out things on their own, no instruction manual. I find myself pushing my creative limits and making art better than my last “masterpiece.” Extremely ingenious work I come across on Instagram galvanizes my inner-desire to create something as good or better. This is when severe inspiration storms brew.
Inspiration. Instagram, through its users’ shared posts, location tags and captions, has sparked my inspiration exceptionally. I have stockpiled so much into my mind and future plans because of photos posted from around the world. I am fortunate enough to have a grandmother who travels the world and has inspiration to see everything possible before she leaves this gorgeous planet. She has given me the opportunity to see miles upon miles of our country and more since I was younger. I want to travel to and experience the places shared by my favorite IGers. And because they capture their part of the map so elegantly, I want to travel to meet them as well. This all happens to lead back to connections. Along with traveling, I am more inclined to boost my creativity. I have tried to keep this article anonymous, but I have to call out Jose Silva for making my life more rich through his photos. He is a goddamned genius when it comes to capturing something. His astounding eye for art really has made me look at things differently. Life is all about perspective. The way you see everything shows your character, especially if you can see it all in more than one way. In addition to Jose, there are so many people who inspire me in regards to creativity. They force me to improve my craft, enhance my understanding and make me appreciate art a lot more.
I have pointed out a few things above, both good and bad. Instagram isn’t as terrible as I have described. It’s more so behind-the-scenes trickery many are clueless about. I have written this article not because I care a great deal, but because I’d like to finally get things off my chest and have it displayed somewhere on the Internet. My advice is to make friends with honest people. Make yourself out to be an honest and humble person and good things will follow. Grow the community if you’d like to. Don’t kill it with selfishness. Instagram should be an outlet of creativity and a central social hub for creatives to interact and increase production of inspiration and innovation. I’ll leave you with something to think on: know that not everyone will like you at all regardless of how good of a person you are or how careful you are. After all, if your life is defined by pleasing others, winning their approval, or keeping them from disappointment, you are living a false life. Say and do what you want within good reason. Have a perspective from both sides so you don’t come off ignorant. Don’t ever be afraid to be yourself.
