Maybe the most remarkable quality of modern apps is how quickly they become mainstays in everyday life, and just as quickly are sources of opportunity for those in the creative fields. Instagram is a perfect example of this. Created as recently as 2010, the photo and video sharing social medium has become as popular as Facebook, which in fact owns it since 2012. Instagram was launched by programmers Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, and with a specific goal in mind. The two men saw the potentials for social media focusing on images as an extension of already popular chat sites, and how Foursquare was too limited in user options of adding content. Not unexpectedly, subscribers were in the millions from the start, eager to take advantage of how the site enables both visual and video exposure, and allows them to edit and organize the content they upload. Technology also makes all of these processes extremely easy, and all of the above explains why Instagram today has over eight hundred million users. Now within the vast Facebook arena, it is inevitable that Instagram will soon have subscribers numbering in the multiple billions.
Personally, and issues with any social media aside, I would strongly encourage others to investigate what Instagram offers, with the qualification that the app does only what they choose to do with it. More exactly, many have problems with the media because they perceive it as an exercise in the “unreal,” or even a potentially dangerous habit. The reality is different and simply because Instagram, like any site, is nothing more than an instrument. All that matters is understanding what it may bring to your life and, as both a graphic design major and a social person, I have no intention of ignoring the benefits. In plain terms, posting images provides me with a tool never before available in this scope. Not only am I enabled to “see” my own work more objectively when it appears in the context of the app, but I also generate valuable feedback. As with any social media interaction, responses are by no means always helpful. Some, in fact, can be malicious. As long as I maintain my focus and confidence, however, I am easily able to recognize meaningful criticism, and this is crucial for all artists. I consider the interesting and honest reactions, and I am motivated to take my work in different directions, or only edit to add clarity, other possible perceptions, and new interpretations.
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At the same time, and while I enjoy and recommend these Instagram advantages for others, my support involves a different benefit as well. It is not exactly correct to think of using Instagram as relaxing, apart from posting only fun and social pictures and videos. However, there is an actual, satisfying feeling created even when focusing on graphic art within the context of the app. It is work and it is not work, because the ease of use and the virtual social environment translate work into a more relaxing experience. This effect may be created by how, as I “play” with my designs on Instagram, work and play become one. I know absolutely that the control I enjoy over my work gives me a sense of empowerment as well. My time and efforts within Instagram also motivate me to consider just how many people, never thinking of themselves as visual artists in any way, may be inspired to study the arts, graphic design and otherwise. Beyond anything else, Instagram exists as opportunity, to be used or not used as the individual chooses. For me, there are specific assets in presenting my work, but I am always mindful of the point mentioned earlier. Interaction and exposure aside, Instagram has great value as a new canvas on which all of us may experiment.
