If you are still one of the few photographers or creatives on planet earth not on Instagram, you might want to reconsider after hearing these stats. Instagram has now reached more than 500 million monthly users and 300 million daily active users. That is outrageous to think considering the large portion of those came within the last 2-3 years. It shouldn't take much to convince you that its still a powerhouse when it comes to sharing images and connecting with an audience.
I have been on Instagram for over 5 years now and I continue to find value in sharing images every single day with my following and the growing social platform. In the last couple years Instagram has added quite a few tools to users that can easily be seen as great tools for photographers in todays industry. Video clips have been extended to 60 seconds, you can now see view counts on those videos vs only likes, and also the addition of some pretty amazing business profiles and analytics. The growth in which Instagram is building is considered slow in the fast paced industry but to me that is important to their organic reach and overall appeal.
If you are new to photography or possibly a seasoned veteran, I can't stress enough how powerful a tool the social platform is currently. The fact you are able to share and post to a massive audience so quickly is far from what we as creatives were able to do even 10 years ago. As the growth of Instagram continues to build, and people use it more, the better it will be for those looking to get better reach. By simply adding a tag to your photo you are building in search capabilities for others to find you. With tags like #PortraitPhotography having over a million photos that's an unbelievable reach for people to see your work. Don't forget that even though it seems daunting and too large now, Instagram is still a great tool for photographers to get their work out there.
Like many photographers I gravitated to Instagram early on because it was a simple and clean app that helped me share images on the fly with friends and family. Over time I realized that the app could bring so much more, community. Having grown a following and connecting with so many creative people around the world over these past few years has been the most inspiring for me. I don't necessarily have a niche for shooting, but rather I shoot my daily life in family, work, and freelance photography.
