The Guide To Not Sucking So Bad on Instagram

By now you've probably formed a clear cut opinion about Instagram. It's the program we either love to hate, or just plain love! If there was such a thing as Instagram etiquette, or the 'right' way to Instagram, this is probably as close to anything we've seen so far. New York City filmmaker Casey Neistat decided to illustrate a few points. He does drop one word of profanity so be cautious if you're in a sensitive area. 

[Via Mashable via Casey Neistat]

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8 Comments

The sad part is Instagram is pretty much already dead.  You can hardly find anything artistic or "documentary" anymore.  It's just full of pictures of painted finger nails, Justin Beiber's face, screen captures, food, etc... etc...  And all anybody gives a crap about is obtaining followers and/or likes.  WHO EFFING CARES how many followers you get? 

 So...you follow Justin Beiber and a bunch of teenage girls? kinda concerning...

Brian I would dissagree and agree.  I find it to an amazing way to connect with my friends, real friends, who are living in other countries and states.  I can see what they are doing, where they are and what they are seeing around them.  We can use it to connect with our friends and build a list of interested followers who may, depending on your industry, turn into clients.  Yes there are many people who are only looking for followers and I tend to find these people to be tweens who are seeking attention. "Change the way you look at things and the things you look at change""...All the best! 

I think you'd be very hard pressed to say that Instagram "is dead." I don't see painted nails or Beiber's face on my instagram because I don't follow anyone who would post such things. I agree mostly with the video. I follow people who are interesting and when they become uninteresting, I stop. I find a lot of it inspiring. I don't care about followers, likes, and I don't think the people I follow care either. What makes it better than facebook (for me) is that I see what I want and I don't have to deal with a wall full of crap from relatives or acquaintances that would get upset if I deleted them.
Occasionally I might actually put a hastag on a photo, because I also sometimes like to look for other photos of #chicago, or #hdr, or #puppies, though I've never done the latter.
I like that instagram is more personal to me if I so choose. You'd have to agree that it has just as many positives, right? Maybe you "EFFING" wouldn't. I'm going to go look at #puppies now.
 

You can't really separate the photos taken in a scrapbook from the documentation they provide. A photo book/scrapbook is precious because it has photos that provide documentation.

There are some valid points here but I feel that people complaining about painted nails and pouty girls are missing out...

As someone else said, it's all about who you follow - I follow some of the most interesting professional and amateur photographers around, I love seeing their casual snaps and moments caught that otherwise wouldn't have been had they been without all their gear. It's a real treasure when used right, in fact I find Instagram more interesting than Twitter or Facebook as a social network.

Follow anyone that's interesting, if they're not then don't, simple.

What I love about Instagram is that it's a way for me to take interesting photos most days, to stay creative during my daily routine. I'm a designer in an office and find it hard to make time to shoot my own things. Instagram allows me to shoot and edit (mostly with Snapseed though) in a casual, found or 'in the moment' way.

Perhaps the filters aren't for some, if they're not then don't use them. I edit using Snapseed or the excellent but temperamental Filterstorm apps on my phone. They allow me to do edit in much the same way as Photoshop.

As with all things, the value of Instagram is in how you use it. Do a little digging and you'll find it's the most inspiring photo service / stream on the web.

You lost me at "I'm a beiber fan".

Wow... I'm late. But in regards to who I'm following... I'm just like you guys... I am following people who's work I enjoy and instagram pictures are creative and distinct. But I like looking for new, creative work as well. Thereby the "popular" page on instagram. More often than not and I'm sure all of you know exactly what I'm talking about, there's a shot Beiber's face or some ugly nails. The percentage of crap outweighs the cool stuff.