I Don’t Like Instagram
0July 31, 2013 by sharona
It’s not because of some weird aversion to new technology.
I love handwriting-to-text programs, 3D printing, giant Kaiju fighting robots, tablets, downloading obscene amounts of Doctor Who, online streaming, online chatting, CGI when it’s done well, Blu-ray, 4K, cheap TVs, buying technology online, green screens, TARDISes, growing meat in a petri dish (I still wouldn’t eat meat, but I think it’s a great idea), bringing extinct animals back to life (barring velociraptors), self-hosting websites, reading user manuals, and a lot of other things.
I don’t like Instagram.
Firstly, that whole debacle where they tried to claim ownership of all the photos hosted there. Though let’s be honest, no one wants your blurry cupcake photos, probably.
Mostly, I believe it contributes to a “pics or it didn’t happen” culture, where if something isn’t documented with a Facebook album or two, it didn’t happen. Every party means another few hundred photos, and even meals now mean at least one or two snaps tagged #nofilter (don’t lie, I’m not blind).
Last weekend I was at a Jake Bugg gig where the woman in front of me took at least ten photos each song. We were pretty far back, so they weren’t even close up photos. 120 blurry, overexposed photos of a 19-year-old musician from Nottingham.
The thing is, she’ll look at those photos once or twice when she gets back home, maybe save them to her computer or show a few friends, and then never pick them up again. What’s wrong with waiting for photos from websites to be released? Let the professionals do their jobs and enjoy their work.
But I use Twitter, so what do I know? (Follow me.)
Category thoughts | Tags: Instagram, Jake Bugg, pics or it didn't happen, technology
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