Where else can photographers go for inspiration?

I have a long history with Instagram. It was the first photo app I installed on my iPhone 3Gs. I loved it, it was so much fun. In 2009. I switched to Android. Instagram wasn’t available on Android until later in 2010. I discovered another app in 2011ish, Eye Em. It was pretty good, but it really lacked something I was used to on IG feed, my friends. Although, in those days I didn’t have too many friends rocking a smartphone, IG was also a little more stable and a little cleaner.

When Instagram released an Android App. I was pretty ecstatic. I was using both Eye Em and IG apps side by side for a while. It just got to the point where I stopped using Eye Em in favor of IG. Instagram became so popular and most of my friends where on the platform.

Then Facebook bought Instagram. Ugh. It’s been all downhill since then. I’m not complaining about the ads, I’m bitching about the algorithm! It’s horrible!

IG has lost a lot of luster and has become a place where the cool kids hang out. You’re really measured by the number of followers you have and rarely the quality of your content. In fact, IG has become a place where some people try to gain a following so they could one day sell their services to advertisers as an “influencer.”

While, there is a plenty of excellent work, I fear there is a large group of people stealing quality work from others and passing it off as their own to woo followers.

Let’s be clear, Instagram is a social network more than it’s a photo-sharing platform. Which means there is a room full of investors waiting to 1. shove ads in your face and 2. take your money by “boosting” your content to a wider audience.

I am spending an increasing amount of time on Eye Em, and I encourage you to check it out. You can see my profile here: https://www.eyeem.com/u/tomstar3000. There is a great browser-based interface, with big beautiful pictures, with nowhere near as much compression as Instagram.

I put together a video tour of Eye Em on my Android Mobile Phone.