# Article about becoming an "influencer" on Instagram



## SquarePeg (Jan 4, 2017)

Confessions of an Instagram Influencer

I thought it was an interesting read.  I'll certainly have my daughter read it as she seems to think the "lifestyle" photos that she sees are real and she spends too much time trying to create her own.


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## Dave442 (Jan 4, 2017)

I think you should sell photos to your daughter so she doesn't have to create her own .


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## Derrel (Jan 4, 2017)

Yes, interesting read, and it jibes with other articles I have read about IG. The use of the hashtags is a well-understood secret, as if such a thing existed. They need to be posted WITH the photo, and not tagged on afterwards. There is a simple science behind getting millions and millions of not-connected people to seek out other not-connected people...

Sexy girls, hunky men, lots of skin, perfected looks, stylish clothing, and the tested and proven hashtags, tagging AS the post goes up, not later, going to the pages of others and liking and commenting and following, regular posting, the whole nine yards. Kind of an odd thing, IG, but it is what it is.


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## SquarePeg (Jan 4, 2017)

Derrel said:


> Yes, interesting read, and it jibes with other articles I have read about IG. The use of the hashtags is a well-understood secret, as if such a thing existed. They need to be posted WITH the photo, and not tagged on afterwards. There is a simple science behind getting millions and millions of not-connected people to seek out other not-connected people...
> 
> Sexy girls, hunky men, lots of skin, perfected looks, stylish clothing, and the tested and proven hashtags, tagging AS the post goes up, not later, going to the pages of others and liking and commenting and following, regular posting, the whole nine yards. Kind of an odd thing, IG, but it is what it is.



I don't use IG that much, mostly for sharing things with family and friends but I have noticed the same on Flickr.  The more you fav photos or follow people, the more views/favs/followers you get.


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## SoulfulRecover (Jan 4, 2017)

People like to collect things which seems to include "likes and follows"

I follow people who post interesting (to me) photos so I can see ideas and techniques. And cool tech.

I post what I want and how I want and if people follow or like, cool. If not, oh well.

It'll be a dead media source soon

Interesting article for sure. Ive read a few of these experiment things. My sister seems to buy followers, asks for shout-outs and when she started dating her now husband, that came with a huge following as well.


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## zombiesniper (Jan 4, 2017)

I don't post for on flicker for the followers, It's just an easy repository for linking.

I've never used Instagram since I don't really care if I get a metric butt-tonne of followers. The only reason I separated my Facebook photos to a photographer site is so I wouldn't have to friend people that wanted to see my photos.

A lot of social media is a popularity contest which is awesome if you're only goal is to be popular.
I know a few people that are proud that they have over 5-10 thousand book of faces friends meanwhile every few months I hold Facebook Survivor. This is where I go through the last months worth of my news feed and decide which people have become sheep and I cut them free. Then I always post "If you can read this you've made it to the next round of Facebook Survivor". Funny how these are my most liked posts of the year.


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## jsecordphoto (Jan 4, 2017)

Derrel said:


> They need to be posted WITH the photo, and not tagged on afterwards.



Not so- adding hashtags to the actual caption looks sloppy and very few people do that. Immediately commenting with your hashtags after posting works just as well, so long as you don't wait hours/days before adding them. 

Some other comments in here are funny....IG will be dead soon? Hilarious! They're constantly updating with new features that make the platform even more attractive to photographers looking to grow their business. My engagement is WAY up after they added the "stories" feature, connecting with my audience in a more organic way and making more sales. 

There are definitely a ton of people who do treat IG like a popularity contest, who buy followers or use apps that automatically interact with accounts to build their following (accounts with 100k followers, but only get 1-2 comments and a few hundred likes per post....), but a lot of people miss the point. I'd rather have 6-7k followers who I engage with and buy prints/workshops than a million fake followers just so I can brag about numbers. 

Every so often there will be a thread discussing social media here, and it's very obvious who is out of touch with the benefits it can have for a photography business. Of course some of you don't care about business, and just shoot for fun- but don't dismiss instagram just because it's benefits aren't relevant for you.


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## tirediron (Jan 4, 2017)

I guess I'd need an Instagram account?


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## SquarePeg (Jan 4, 2017)

jsecordphoto said:


> Derrel said:
> 
> 
> > They need to be posted WITH the photo, and not tagged on afterwards.
> ...



Hi.  Was going to check out your IG but the link in your sig is broken (thought maybe it would be on your website).


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## jsecordphoto (Jan 4, 2017)

SquarePeg said:


> jsecordphoto said:
> 
> 
> > Derrel said:
> ...



@jsecordphoto


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## zombiesniper (Jan 4, 2017)

jsecordphoto said:


> Of course some of you don't care about business, and just shoot for fun- but don't dismiss instagram just because it's benefits aren't relevant for you.


Of course I'm going to dismiss something that has no benefit to me. Why would I care about it. I didn't say others can't get benefit, just that I can't, therefore I am dismissing it as a form of social media I care about.


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## DriedStrawbery (Jan 4, 2017)

For the folks who don't use IG, where do you share your work? Here? Your own websites? Facebook?


Sent from my iPhone using ThePhotoForum.com mobile app


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## zombiesniper (Jan 4, 2017)

Flickr, Facebook, a couple of forums and some lucky walls.


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## Vtec44 (Jan 5, 2017)

I actually get a bit of inquiries from IG and I don't even have that many followers.  I guess I use it for a slightly different purpose than selfies and food photos.    IG is just another way for people to see my work.


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