"How To": Instagram

What is your favorite part of social media? Maybe it’s the status updates or the links to hundreds of interesting articles about news, lifestyle or pop culture. Maybe your favorite part is the pictures and your favorite way to upload them is through Instagram. Maybe you love the pictures and have been wanting to get the Instagram app but you aren’t sure where to start. Here is all you need to know about the popular app.

Instagram is a picture-sharing app that allows users to follow other users and like their photos. It offers 20 different filters, or edits, that you can add to your photos. Each of these filters can be adjusted from low to high. Once you are finished editing a select photo, you can upload it to Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Flickr or Foursquare, allowing you to instantly share photos with your friends. You can also add a location and tag friends within your photos.

Signing up for this fun and quirky app is easy. Download it on your phone through the App Store (iOS) or the Play Store (Android). Once you download the app, create a username and password and search for friends that you want to follow. You can also create an account online, but the mobile version is much more user friendly.

After you find your friends and select to follow them, the photos they post to Instagram will show up every time you open the app. In this way, Instagram allows you to keep updated on those around you with a quick scroll through pictures.

History of Instagram

Instagram was first launched in 2010, created by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger. Systrom and Krieger wanted to create an app that would provide a quick and easy way to upload professional looking photos to share with your friends. The name was created from a combination of two words: instant and telegram. The photos can be uploaded instantly, creating the first part of the name, and they are sent out like a telegram, creating the second part. In just 2 months, Instagram had 1 million users.

Instagram Today

Today, millions of businesses, organizations and individuals are using Instagram to find creative ways to market their brand and connect with their followers. Accounts from organizations like Sharpie use the pictures their followers upload to show their product, while sports organizations like the NFL and the Brooklyn Nets use their account to give fans up-close pictures, behind the scenes shots and more.  Whether you are interested in Instagram for personal or professional reasons, it’s a great app to consider. Learn more and sign up today and instagram.com. 

Check out the Greater Des Moines Partnership's instagram account!