I am so not "getting" this Instagram thing / do you guys want to look at each others pictures?

Will you guys plz post your usernames so I can look at these pretty photos you're taking?

But like seriously, this shit is so contrived. You can make the incredibly mundane look "so profound, dude" with these stupid filters.

add me 'bsdf'

How in the fuck. I was just going to start this thread.

trebaker. And is there any easy way to look at feeds through a browser on my computer and not on my mobile?

http://instagram.heroku.com is the first web based client but it's not very user friendly

You have some interesting people following you.

But cool. That client was helpful enough.

http://instagram.heroku.com/users/786729

is there an app that makes your photos look like they were taken with a rolleicord iv yet?

I wish there was an app that made your photos look like they were taken by someone who can't take photos

I put that Instagram thing on my phone but then realised it was this whole 'social network' thing and quickly lost interest.

You don't have to share or follow anyone.

You don't? Neato.

Sharing and following is lame imo :)

I was using it as just another lens app before I realized that there was a whole nother thing behind it.

xp but then the only way to explore is to look at the Popular pix page which is pretty terrible imo

i have an older ipod touch that doesn't have a camera. can instagram be used to apply filters to photos that are on your device but weren't taken with it?

I think so. There's a "Load from Library" option.

However, I don't know if the app they're using now will work on an older ipod.

thanks dude!

wait what does instagram 'do' that is worth one billion dollars

it puts...a filter on a photo? and lots of people use it? and that is worth one billion dollars?

its free in the app store no one tell zuck

is facebook gonna monetize hipsters?

hint: a lot (I don't know exactly how much) of the purchase price is in facebook stock, which is probably not actually worth as much as they say it is

I am (surprise surprise) enbb and mostly post pictures of (surprise surprise) my dog.

the facebook stock is almost certainly going to be worth much more than its valued at atm when it goes public in a few months

but yeah I generally find it annoying when people put those cheap instagram-type filters on their photos. The iPhone camera takes such nice photos so easily, and people ruin them with this hazy nostalgia bullshit.

Exactly my thoughts.

iphone camera (at least anything before the 4S) kinda sucks

I don't want to yell 'internet bubble' cause clearly fb and twitter and some things have a value that couldn't really have existed 10 years ago but this is just...a camera filter

wasn't there another identical thing called hipstamatic?

fb and google do this kinda thing all the time tho? buying up technology to integrate it into their own platforms... not that i'm saying instagram is worth ONE BILLION DOLLARS *dr evil pinky* but it's kinda their m.o.

yeah but why do you even need to 'buy up that technology', do they really have a patent on hipster-camera-filters? as hurting said they're not even the first to do this

my guess would be that instagram was working on some kind of expansion and fb caught wind of it and just decided to snatch whatever up whatever it was

instagram's "value" such as it is is in the social network aspect, not the filter aspect

this is just...a camera filter

― iatee, Monday, April 9, 2012 2:27 PM (40 seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

naw its a rapidly growing social network w/50m users whos main utility photo sharing is also facebooks main utility - idk abt the price but its obvs why facebook felt they needed to eat them

yeah I guess it makes more sense in that context

I have never used it so I just see the pics *on* fb

ha guessing you all are not instagram users lol xp

really its "buying" 30 million users + ownership of the most popular photo-sharing social network. facebook loves photos b/c theyre significantly more interesting than links or status updates, as measured by the # of ppl who click on them and the amount of time they spned

xp joe otm

i mean that being said 1 billion dollars is hilarious

i want a billion dollars

have you considered making an 'app'

brb making an app

wasn't there another identical thing called hipstamatic?

hipstamatic started out as just a camera filter app. they added on social stuff later after instagram took off.

or what max and joe said.

if i had one the mega millions i would've bought scoopsnoodle for $1 million

won*

so they paid like 35 bucks per user

still smh

no wonder my kids don't want to study math, obviously careers are for fools, i should be sitting around brainstorming the next killer social media platform

number of instagram users should be getting a big bump up now that they have it for android too, the fact that they have as many users as they do and it was iphone only until last week is kinda crazy

they paid $1 per photograph too

"Why is abcxys not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame."

You live in West Buttchester. No one gives a crap about your scintillating take on alt rock.

"Why is Fela Kuti in the Hall of Fame I never heard of him!"

Really, I'm sad to be made aware of your existence.

My theory is this is much of the energy behind Trump: "they laughed at my opinion."

Love the Threads teases - oh you showed me half a terrible tweet, now I’m compelled to download your app and sign up.

I keep winding up there because of the IG teases. It is so so weird.

The infinite loop of story mentions is so silly - you mention someone in your story, it gives them the option to add it to their story, which gives you the option to add their repost of your story to your story, etc etc etc.

got an account to follow some local music stuff. was curious about what it would recommend (spoiler: it has never recommended any local music stuff) and the first few days it was a bunch of awesome stuff -- skateboarding, people making rugs and pottery and knives and all kinds of crazy stuff out of metal and wood, and people skiing down mountains. so i was like, okay, i'm fine with having this as an occasional diversion. then almost abruptly my feed became about people making food (boring). then, just as abruptly, my feed became just the same obnoxious toxic internet shit. "hey bro, can i interview you in exchange for a gift card?" "i met this beautiful woman on the escalator and asked to draw her portrait." failed proposals. clips from shark tank. WHO wants to see this shit? where did all the quiet and diligent craftspeople go??? deleting ...

Not much for insta these days, but ran across the postmodernpalace account last week and have been absolutely hooked. Nostalgia for someone else’s nostalgia with some incredible images.

Yeah, think I'm done with this app. I'd gone years without getting any right wing/MAGA content pushed to me, suddenly every fifth reel is some dipshit crowing about the tariffs and how we are so winning. No matter how many times I block these accounts and click 'not interested' when given the option, they keep coming back. Presumably has to do with Zuck kissing the ring now, but it's gross and as imperfect as the app has always been, I never had this issue in all the years using it.

(i.e. to clarify, it's not the exact accounts I block that keep coming back, it's similar content though)

I don't think I ever see any political content on IG

I never have before, just in the last like two, maybe three weeks.

I've not seen any political content either. What generally happens, as far as I know, is you will be shown more of what you've previously viewed. I take an interest in a lot of music-related accounts, and that's what I now get bombarded with.

Yeah, understand how it works, just not sure why I'm seeing the uptick because I've never even seen that content on my feed until recently, much less engaged with it. My guess is I get a lot of baseball stuff because of my kid and maybe there's a depressing algorithmic overlap with dads of sports playing kids and MAGA. Whatever it is, I don't like it. Until this, my feed was like 60% music, 30% baseball, 5% architecture and like 5% of whatever popular shit the algorithm was trying to throw at me.

that post modern palace account is wonderful!

Ha, glad someone else enjoyed that!

This morning I saw three lads instagramming their bagels at a nearby cafe. They got 7 filled bagels between them and ate the lot

I was briefly tempted to take a picture of them lining up their bagels and angling their shots

Guy was on my way as I was walking, instagramming his food lol

His sandwich or whatever..

perhaps their enthusiasm for life is off the charts, but it's hard not to think they are lost souls who are mere spectators of their own lives

It’s a particular form of narcissism

better than being dicks with superiority complexes on the internet

in my core i still feel there is something weird in a "not good" way about the post, about making the post part of everything, that i can't shake. i've definitely relaxed about people doing it (though it's annoying when they're in the way of other people who are just trying to get by). i still feel enough shame from the fact that i want a dopamine hit from people like photos of me online that i only selfie a few times a week - usually on a run when no one's around. i've noticed fewer people taking selfies and videos in the gym. videos can be annoying because like .. i don't want to appear in your video just because i walked past. i feel like there's a point of balance to be achieved with photos and posting etc and that point is different for everyone. generally it feels good to trust that most people know where that point is for themselves but sometimes you wonder and i don't blame myself or others for feeling like others posting habits are a little unhinged. idk this stuff is complicated but obviously it's a part of life now might as well try to make the best of it you know.

I hadn't noticed people taking pictures of food like this anymore, but if there hadn't been such an array of bagels in formation taking up the bulk of a little cafe table its unlikely I'd have noticed this time either

yeah lol. most people are pretty quick about it but sometimes it's like .. a production. bagelmaxxing 2: the fillings.

i like it so much when people drop a few photos in a post and it's apparent they just like beautiful things, places and people and aren't as consumptive. i follow a bunch of hikers now and i've probably looked at wildflower photos for a total of an hour since march lol.

Sorry not sorry that I think contemptuously of instagram assholes surreptitiously blocking off rooms to museums for their unpermitted photo shoots or blocking the door to a church that was just starting a service (said entourage included someone with a giant foil reflector).

yeah that stuff is vile obv

i still don't get people who block entrances and exits. seems like they got some issues idk. sometimes people are just clueless.

i post pics of food i cook and eat on ig. not on my main account (i have an alt account dedicated to it) and i follow a hundred other food accounts on it. i love looking at pictures of food. also enjoy looking back on pics of old meals. great stuff

would you mind sharing your cooking account here flopson?

“You’ll see posts from Threads less often” is the biggest lie of 2025

"look at me while i hold this object, and do this thing" ugh stop it. the other problem i have is not being able to tell if a photo is fake or not.

there are some really good accounts by hobbyists and collectors that are fabulous, like this one person that refurbishes 80s/90s mac computers. https://www.instagram.com/furui_ringo/

there's one lou reed instagram where every post has a LONG and SOURCED quotation from lou or some associate. https://www.instagram.com/weapons.etc/

Gonna go with Ivy a bit on this one, for as much as certain things annoy me— Instagramming food, hiking for the 'gram and not for the hike itself, etc— I also am aware that for many people now, this is a *primary source of income,* or tied to it in a way that makes it part of the job. While the positive and negative results of this are multiple and debatable, I don't think shaming people for trying to do what they can to survive is really that cool.

For example, I follow a few...adult actors on IG. They get their money from OnlyF4ns, mostly, yes, but they drop short reels and videos on IG as a way of marketing their OF. Some of these people make hundreds of thousands of dollars every year from these pursuits, and if I was younger and didn't have a slightly fucked up body, I would be doing the same damn thing. Hell, I've thought about doing it even more recently, despite my age and fucked up body.

I guess what I'm getting at is that there is a fine line between the gross narcissism of certain social media posting and people posting because *that is literally their job.*

Yeah, recognizing that every interaction with the posts of creators helps to fund them has led me to be a little more intentional with my clicking.

table otm about people's income. i've also flirted with the idea of making my social media presence more of a "branded" thing for marketing myself as a dj or a personal trainer. i've also been curious about the adult entertainer route. i think people, generally speaking, underestimate how difficult it is to turn insta into $, or how much work it takes, and also the sheer luck involved. i myself am definitely not going to do social media for my income any time soon though as i couldn't handle the constant psychological mosh pit. and being in front of screens doesn't make me happy so being in front of them more isn't the route i want to take.

it's hard not to think they are lost souls who are mere spectators of their own lives

It's easy to think they're confident people who don't mind being looked at and commented on.

i feel like it's a bigger deal than people realize that they aren't actually being looked at and commented on. a likeness of them is being shown to others using an algorithm that catches bits of attention in the form of clicking a button.

like, it is true that social media flattens people.

but i hear what you're saying. i mean, i don't mind being looked at and commented on. i like it, which is why i still post selfies haha. it feels the best when i get likes from people i'm already friends with, who i've met and become friends with in-person. it reminds me of times i've hung out with them and makes me look forward to more. a lot of the social media experience, for me though, falls short of this, because i've done a fair amount of being a "social media slut" and courting likes / followers thinking it would be good for my dj aspirations or make me feel even more connection (because the more people who like your photos the more connected you will feel right?). in those last two categories it's definitely been a let-down. and the last thing especially - i see how that could become a really negative space to be in.

"Gonna go with Ivy a bit on this one, for as much as certain things annoy me— Instagramming food, hiking for the 'gram and not for the hike itself, etc— I also am aware that for many people now, this is a *primary source of income,* or tied to it in a way that makes it part of the job. While the positive and negative results of this are multiple and debatable, I don't think shaming people for trying to do what they can to survive is really that cool."

That's fine, Instagram all food and your life/work all you like, for money or otherwise. My posts might be dickish but I am and not typing this in the middle of the pavement and getting in other people's way.

I agree that crossing a busy intersection with your face buried in a phone, whatever the app, is Not Safe.

Yeah, in the end...it could be someone making a living, it could be someone doing it for fun, it could be someone with enormous success, it could be someone with two followers. As long as it doesn't get in other ppl's way I think that's all fine regardless, if it does then yeah ppl get to be grumpy about it.

I don't care what's posted. It does annoy me when the food is served, I'm hungry, and the person I'm dining with is all "Hold on –– gotta get a picture" in front of the damn restaurant.

social media aside, situational awareness seems to be something many people have completely lost? taking pictures or video in public only exacerbates the issue.
I was amazed and thankful when the driver of a car that had stopped in the middle of a parking lot to talk to someone walking by noticed I was approaching behind him and pulled into a spot to continue the conversation. many such cases where people haven't!

perhaps their enthusiasm for life is off the charts, but it's hard not to think they are lost souls who are mere spectators of their own lives

― more difficult than I look (Aimless), Saturday, July 5, 2025 3:43 PM (two days ago) bookmarkflaglink

I wouldn’t put it that way, but in a sense i agree. Like, now that i have a camera on my person at all times, i do find the spontaneous thrill of, say, exploring a wilderness area is disrupted by the urge to take a picture (and i’m not even talking about social media, i take pictures just so i can store them on a hard drive and revisit them whenever i want, which is never). There are times when for whatever reason i feel like “wow this is amazing” and i wanna make it recallable (i can’t) and the frustration of trying to take a good enough picture kills my enjoyment in the moment.

Eating a bagel isn’t one of those times, though. And it seems like that’s where the opportunity is- to cultivate beauty in the most ordinary settings (i.e. art-direct your life) and create a small sense of occasion in the moments that ordinarily just kinda pass you by.

I mean, reflexively i just wanna say fuck fucking instagram and i can’t believe this is even up for discussion. I don’t like the way it’s changed how we interact with public spaces and each other.

I mean i think these companies are parasitic

i feel like it's a bigger deal than people realize that they aren't actually being looked at and commented on. a likeness of them is being shown to others using an algorithm that catches bits of attention in the form of clicking a button.

Oh yeah, my engagement with this stuff is mostly watching asmr videos as a sleep aid and i’m really fascinated by how these kinds of likenesses are easily able to foster a degree of trust and disarmament that is much more difficult for a real person to achieve, and how easily this is shattered when you’re afforded a fleeting glimpse of something outside the frame

would you mind sharing your cooking account here flopson?

― five six seven, eight nine ten, begin (map), Saturday, July 5, 2025 8:27 PM (two days ago) bookmarkflaglink

too shy/circumspect to post my own but here are some accounts i like

https://www.instagram.com/snack__centre/
https://www.instagram.com/yusucooks/
https://www.instagram.com/gaba___ghoul/
https://www.instagram.com/alexacooksme/
https://www.instagram.com/karthis_cookbooks/
https://www.instagram.com/feisty_feast/
https://www.instagram.com/oobereats/
https://www.instagram.com/ecstasy_cookbook/
https://www.instagram.com/puzzoncella/
https://www.instagram.com/carry_bradshaw_/

i follow a range of stuff on my food alt, some famous chefs (i'm a huge kenji lopez-alt stan, and while youtube is undeniably his "medium" his ig is cute too), some local restos and food critics, some bougie people who eat out at high end nyc/london/hk spots all the time, some semipro foodfluencers. but my personal favs are the more homespun accounts, usually with a lowish number of followers, posting banal but occasionally beautiful meals regularly. it's a pretty nice corner of the internet, imho