Anyone use Instagram?

I am continually asked (more so lately) by people for my Instagram account. I’m probably way behind the times because I don’t have one. Mainly for a 2 reasons: 1) There comes a point where I feel like I’m sharing the same image over and over across multiple platforms and when is enough enough? 2) I read a few years back that Instagram can sell and/or use your images without your consent and without paying you?

I have a couple questions:
First, is there any validity to the statement listed as my 2nd reason? 
If this is true, then why does it seem most every highly successful photographer I know use Instagram? Are they just uninformed? Or am I uninformed or perhaps just paranoid? 

Hi Kurt.  In regard to your second item, i suspect the clause you're concerned about is this one:

Proprietary Rights in Content on Instagram

    Instagram does NOT claim ANY ownership rights in the text, files, images, photos, video, sounds, musical works, works of authorship, applications, or any other materials (collectively, "Content") that you post on or through the Instagram Services. By displaying or publishing ("posting") any Content on or through the Instagram Services, you hereby grant to Instagram a non-exclusive, fully paid and royalty-free, worldwide, limited license to use, modify, delete from, add to, publicly perform, publicly display, reproduce and translate such Content, including without limitation distributing part or all of the Site in any media formats through any media channels, except Content not shared publicly ("private") will not be distributed outside the Instagram Services.

I'm not a lawyer, but I did spend a lot of years in the intellectual property world and I don't think that clause gives them the right to sell your image, though I suspect they can use it for advertising.  In looking this up, I did see that some lawyer has supposedly translated their terms and conditions into plain English, so you might want to look that up.

I don't use any of the social media services, so I can't help you with the rest.

Kurt,

I am an avid user of instagram (in fact, I all but stopped posting anywhere BUT instagram).  The 2nd point may be true to some extent - but it's irrelevant if it is true.  This is from April 2017:  95 million photos and videos are shared on Instagram per day. 9. Over 40 billion photos and videos have been shared on the Instagram platform since its conception.

Trust me, no one at instagram is looking to hijack YOUR nature images.  Additionally, instagram only allows posting via mobile platform (largely phones - though tablets make up a small portion).  The images, therefore, don't need to be very big to look beautiful on their platform.  So the worst case scenario is some digital theft - a threat that exists no matter where you post your images.  

What I like about posting on instagram is outlined below:

- Immediate response to your image via likes and comments (yes, most likes are meaningless - but it's clear that "better" images receive a "better" response)

- Interaction with people who are actually interested in what you're posting

- 100% reaching your target audience.  Let's be real, who is viewing NPN?  or your website, or even your personal facebook page?  With instagram, you're reaching a large group of people who are specifically interested in what you're posting (since they're finding your images by either following you or being interested in the hashtags you use

- Connection and Interaction with fellow photographers.  Whether it be through comments (which are now in the "reply'" format) or through direct messaging, you can connect and interact immediately and frequently.  If I have a question about a post on NPN of yours, I can leave a comment (which you won't see unless you're looking for it) or I can e-mail you, which will likely get a response within the day.  On instagram, a comment (or more personally, a direct message) will be seen almost immediately and almost always generates a quick response.  This type of interaction fosters new relationships

- The ability to see what other people are photographing in a particular area (and thus being able to deviate from it).  Say you're going to a popular destination like Iceland.  You can search photos with the hashtag of the particular waterfall you're going to and see what are the most popular (and thus, unoriginal) angles / compositions.  This allows you to deviate from these looks on the fly.  It also allows you to discover places / things / views you may not have realized existed upon visiting.  

- Seeing up-to-the-minute (or hour anyway) conditions of a place before you go or on your way there.  Say you're looking at going to the beach to do some wave photography but aren't sure what the conditions are like.  If it's a popular destination, odds are someone has made a post within the last hour (and if it's very popular, within the last 10 minutes) of that destination.  A simple hashtag search shows you what conditions are like immediately.  You can take this a step further and direct message the person to ask a question you may have.  

- Growing your photography and style.  The instagram platform (somewhat constrained on what size you can post) forces you to think in a different way when composing images.  Also, looking at hundreds of photos of like-minded people may help you get out of a creative rut as well.  While NPN is a great platform with skilled photographers - the focus is often times too detail oriented.  Yes we want to make sure our photos are tack sharp with perfect exposure and a balanced histogram.  But the digital age has changed everything (if commercial work is important to you) and it's often times not the most technically executed images that are the most well recieved.

Sure, there are reasons to "hate" instagram which of course rewards people with "likes" with people mostly absent mindedly scrolling through their feeds - but if you take the time to understand the platform and follow like-minded people (and make those friendships!) it will likely be quite rewarding.

You can check out my feed @JrookPhotos 

- Luke 

Well said, Luke.  <div class="grammarly-disable-indicator"> </div>

Luke's more experienced with it than I am.  I was late to the party, starting only about a year ago, and I do find it a good way to connect with other photographers and follow their work.  I'm still waiting for a "big break" there though, which typically happens if one of the bigger photography accounts shares your image (tagging is an important part of the process, otherwise folks won't see your work).  A friend got 800,000 views on one of his hummingbird photos in a couple days thanks to a single share by one big account, and now has nearly 30,000 "followers."  If you're in it for marketing your work, this is the type of thing that could potentially translate into some positives on the business side.

One thing I do find frustrating with it is that it's primarily a mobile-based site/app, so uploading images that have been processed on a computer can be more of a hassle than one might like.  Unless you transfer photos from your computer to your phone, then you may need a third party application that will allow you to upload from your desktop.  On Mac I use Uploader HD for Instagram, and it works okay (though it requires me to log into my IG account using my Facebook login).

Max

Thanks for the help guys! Luke, Dennis and Max, I really appreciate you all taking time out of your day to provide your information and insight. Max, I’m SUPER late to the party. 😳 since I’m not an Instagram user and behind the times, I’m not sure what you mean by a big account nor who to tag to give me that chance. But I’ll poke around to find out and yes I am looking into it for the marketing. I am probably the worst photographer at marketing my work and entering contests to get notice. For example, this was the first year I entered Natures Best and before that have only entered the annual Denver Audubon contest a few times. All my published work to date has been by lucky chance when some editor saw my work someplace and emailed me. It’s really because of a lack of time, but this year I’m determined to start sending my work to editors, entering more contests and increasing my social media presence to get my name out there. I think making myself more available on social media might be the best way to start this change so I really appreciate the replies guys. 

Kurt, I found it helpful to see what other photographers were doing in terms of tagging.  Once you start following some photographers on Instagram, check out the tags they use in their posts (or below their posts in the comments).  The tags--starting with "@" (which denotes another photographer or account holder) or "#" (basically a keyword that anyone can see when they search for it)--are what increase your exposure, in theory.  Seeing what tags others are using for their bird photos, for example, may give you a sense of what to tag when posting your own shots.

Max

Kurt, thank you so much for this post. I've been interested in this type of media for some time but like so much of the social media avenues out there I've been hesitant because I'm currently doing photography as a side line to a regular 9 to 5 job. I feel I wouldn't be able to devote enough time and energy to keep engaged with it which I think is probably pretty important once you start. I'm hoping to taper off to retirement from the day job in 18 to 24 months so look forward to follow your experience should you choose to delve into the istagram realm. 

One other note.  It just occurred to me to do a search on "Photographer's guide to instagram".  It looks like there are a ton of resources on the web on how to take advantage of it.

Even joining 2 years ago, I feel that I was late on this platform. When Facebook acquired it and put in its algorithms ity became more difficult to achieve the same reach as when I first joined. However Instagram in my opinion is the most important social network for photographers. 
@magichourtravelscapes