When Instagram first came out, did everyone only upload stuff that they shot on their phones?
Was there then a transition period when people looked at photos on Instagram and said ‘That was never shot on a phone!’ I remember that I did.
And we were right, that panoramic shot of The Golden Gate Bridge was surely shot on a Mark IV super something-or-other dSLR camera.
Did people wonder whether it was ‘OK’ to upload dSLR photos or wonder whether that was breaking the rules. (What rules?) Or did they charge right in as soon as they realised they could import photos onto their phones?
I was one of those who wondered whether it was OK. But then I have always been one to try to stick to the rules, on the assumption that the rules are made for everyone’s benefit. (Haha).
And now, with Instagram having moved away from being a spontaneous sharing app, what does Facebook make of it?
Facebook (which owns Instagram, having bought it in 2012, in case you didn’t know) surely has thoughts about all of this because the direction Instagram takes dictates how much money Facebook can make out of it.
Photograph Works 
Don’t use it, but I certainly know lots who do. Social media is such an easy way to lose time. What function – or how many functions – does it serve for you, David?
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It’s a great experiment – the first time in human history that we have the opportunity to collect data on a massive scale. Already we are finding a huge upsurge in creativity and the revelation that if you give many in the human race a voice they will behave badly.
We have a business, and Tamara and I run a Facebook page for it and a Twitter page and a Pinterest page – all the usual suspects. And that is my ‘get out’ – the reason, I tell myself, that I use social media. But in truth the benefits of the Facebook page etc are marginal and we use them in a poor fashion without much continuity. I am though in interested in how others manage it and are successful. I think there is some magic sauce that I will trip over one day and all will be revealed.
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It can be statistically expected that, of the entire population with access to the Internet, a certain amount will indeed, as you say, behave badly. However it had been my experience that the overwhelming majority of people will behave as they know they should.
“Hope for the best, but be prepared for the worst”
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I was just thinking that we need to take a step back and see this as just a slice in time. The internet is still new and we live in a new age of freedom. Perhaps like kids who are let loose in a room, some of them will behave badly – not just because they can – but as a way of exploring the limits.
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Yes precisely and, just like the kids who behave badly while looking for ‘parental’ attention; we must keep reminding them of what is – and what is not – acceptable behaviour.
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I mentioned my thoughts about ‘kids let loose in a room’ to my wife Tamara. She immediately brought up the ugly swearing by White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci and the effect this is having on discourse in world. It’s hard to argue with that, and hard not to be pessimistic.
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And I feel quite comfortable repeating my previous comment here as well 😉
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Actually, yes, I was wondering the same when I started with Instagram and I thought it was a bit of a “cheating”. Now I post on IG anything I like, even when it’s taken with a “proper” camera, but I don’t edit the photos on the computer. Obviously, I’m not much of a photographer, I take photos for fun and they’re usually pretty bad, whether they’re from a phone or a camera 😀
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I am so pleased you thought it was cheating. 🙂
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I too thought I was cheating when it dawned on me I could do it. Instagram sort of lost its «lure» when FB bought it … to me at least. At first it was for iPhone only, then it was opened up to Android. I didn’t own any iPhone while it was still in its first state. I got my first one 2013.
With regards to the above discussion; I’m happy to have lived in this ‘era’, when it was still new. Children being born into it now will take it for granted, as I did with the regular, landline phone.
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So that’s another one for ‘I thought it was cheating’ – maybe someone should do a poll? I agree about finding the technology amazing and magical and I wouldn’t want to lose that feeling.
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