I thought Instagram was fantastic when it was first released. It was a fun way to share your pictures. Okay – granted that sometimes you might go overboard on the filters so it looked like abstract art. But people shared what they were doing or where they were in a visual way.
Then Facebook got scared of its growth and bought it, and Kevin Systrom thought it could survive. The rest as they say is history.
I deleted my Instagram account a while ago. ‘Normal’ people were no longer posting for fear it didn’t look good enough. It was nothing but influencers, which is nothing like real life. The algorithm was also brutal. Rarely did you see people you followed when they posted and the advertisements were ubiquitous.
I’m looking at using Pixelfed now. I really feel it could capture some of that early Instagram magic. The iOS app is currently in testing, and when it’s released, I’ll look to include links and photos on this site.