Instagram was the social networking app I checked out this week. With over a billion users, it is the most popular social network after Facebook and YouTube. (https://www.dreamgrow.com/top-15-most-popular-social-networking-sites/). I never use Instagram. My reasons for avoiding it are simultaneously ridiculous and practical; my mind associates the word Instagram with Kardashian, and that makes me cringe, plus I don’t have much free time to spend, so I never found the interest in spending it on something that made the Kardashians a household name.
It’s no secret that Facebook owns Instagram – Literally owns it, not in the menacing, criminal “I own you!” type of way. Facebook is my own social networking platform of choice. I have noticed increasing integration between Facebook and Instagram, as find more ways for them to interface are brought forward.
DEMOGRAPHICS
Instagram’s most active users are in the 18- to 29-year-old demographic, with 71% reporting they use the platform, according to the Pew report. (That’s up from 59% in 2016). And 55% of users say that they check in on the app more than once a day. Also according to Pew Research, more women than men are using Instagram: 39% of female respondents use Instagram, and 30 % of men surveyed do. The following chart, from Statista, shows the breakdown of Instagram users aged 13 and up, as of October 2019.
Pew Research found that, of 3 major ethnic groups it surveyed, black Americans were using Instagram the most. In the United States, 43% of black respondents said they use Instagram, 38% of Hispanic respondents, and 32% of white respondents.
The United States is the global leader in active Instagram users, with 120 million users. The Pew Research survey found 42% of urban respondents use Instagram. Of suburban respondents, 34% use Instagram. And of those living in rural areas, just 25% are Instagram users. (https://blog.hootsuite.com/instagram-demographics/).
INSTAGRAM BASICS
Every Instagram user has an Explorer page, showing the latest posts from people or organizations that the user follows. My friend Melissa was kind enough to share her Explorer page with me …
Instagram offers filters much in the way of Snapchat. They do not seem as varied or entertaining though. I have it on good authority that the user can actually take a snap, use a Snapchat filter, screenshot it and post it on Instagram. Melissa is a creative user, intertwining platforms. Here she Snapchatted, and posted the screenshot to her Instagram. Then she took another screenshot and texted it to me so I could save it and post it on Tumblr. Following this path can make you dizzy …
A lot of users seem to Instagram photos of their food or moments of their daily life, even obscuring faces in part for artistic sake. Or maybe my daughter is just a bad photographer…
FOR BUSINESS
Brands and organizations use Instagram with a lot more finesse than many individuals seem to use it. But for users who are a business or organization, Instagram offers an opportunity to have a business profile and business account.
Instagram provides a terrific amount of data for business account holders. To get a business account with Instagram, an organization must first set up a Facebook page for its brand. Once set up, Instagram Insights provides substantial feedback data; followers, reach, impressions, link clicks, profile visits, data about performance of specific posts, likes, comments and saves, taps forward, taps back, and a whole bunch of other stats that I don’t understand yet but will explore at https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/how-to-use-instagram-insights.
FINAL THOUGHTS
My annoying teenagers tell me I’m not young enough for Instagram, that parents only belong on Facebook. After learning a lot more about this platform I’ve decided to set up an Instagram for a new project I’m launching, so we’ll see who gets the final say on that!
Whether you want to share how good you look on your way to work, your delicious looking brunch entrée, the tropical drink you ordered on your night out, show where you are, or any other random thing that crosses your mind, Instagram is certainly a great, easy forum for it.
