Say Cheese!

I've grown quite fond of my usual social media sites. Each have a different purpose & people group with their own world views & cultures. Here they are in order of importance: Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook, LinkedIn & Google +.  In the past few months however I have noticed something interesting. I find myself gravitating towards the stunning visuals of Pinterest & the brief pictorials of Instagram.

While I enjoy microblogging I prefer taking photos and uploading them to my iPhone and letting friends, family & loved ones share in the experience. A great pic and an appropriate hashtag on Instagram & I am off to the races. I have linked my Instagram account to my Twitter and Facebook account so I am still sharing it on those sites, but my go to ap has shifted to Instagram., Instagram is the name of an online photo sharing social Web service that lets you share your life with friends through a series of pictures captured with a mobile device. I love the simplicity of Instagram. I don’t have to think of something to say just something to show. There is a lot of beauty in the world and I notice it more then I want to talk about it. Instagram affords me that.

But late at night when I cannot sleep, I find the visuals and creativity of Pinterest to be fluid and soothing. Pinterest is a web and mobile application company that offers a visual discovery, collection, sharing, and storage tool. Users create and share the collections of visual bookmarks (boards). Boards are created through a user selecting an item, page, website, etc. and pinning it to an existing or newly created board.

Pinterest connects me with the creative world and I am inspired by how talented and brilliant people are. The built in filing system lets me find the things I have pinned and I can revisit them simply and intuitively because I get to create & label them. I even have a board on Pinterest labeled: Brilliant

Each social media site is a platform & comes with a perception these are my personal perceptions of the sites I use. 

Instagram:  Photo Journal

Twitter:       News & Megaphone

Pinterest:    Collective Creative Brain

Facebook:   Neighborhood & Family Diary

LinkedIn:    Executive Happy Hour

Google +:   Exclusive Inclusive Circles 

In each site I am still Jayne but I am aware of my personality in the sites and post accordingly. I see a not to distant future for me, where everything is connected to one site, that site is Pinterest. Pinterest is consumer driven and creative. It is not as cluttered with sales and marketing mavens as the other sites are. Maintaining several sites takes hours of time. If they all flowed out of one that would make life simpler for me. I still believe in the old adage that “a picture is worth a thousand words” and with Twitter I can only use 140 characters. True I can add a photo, but it is a different vibe & feel. I prefer to be a part of a Collective Creative Brain site. If all the above mentioned sites started to charge me for use. I would choose Pinterest. 

Ten years from now there may be a new social media site that I find delight in, but I believe for me, as long as we have mobile devices there will always be a photo involved. Say Cheese!

My New Romance with Instagram

There are so many social media sites to be involved with my head is dizzy. Should I choose one and be loyal to that tribe or should I use them all? I must admit I've grown very fond of Instagram. Don't get me wrong I love my Facebook, Twitter & the usual microblog suspects. However, I find myself drawn to the quick ability to share a picture, which evokes a mood. The old adage that a picture is worth a thousand words rings true for me.

I love photography and I love sharing life events but there are some days I really don't feel like saying much. My blog requires at least 250 words and Facebook requires at least a small story and Twitter 140 characters and some days they require a back and forth dialogue and let’s not forget to mention the obligatory cute or catchy hashtags. The photos I post on my Instagram  account usually say it all. It is quick and complete. I can choose to dialogue or hashtag if I feel like it.

I also like the easy use filters that can change the effects of the photos. It’s like a drive-by announcement. I really enjoy how I can post on Instagram and then it can be shared on the other sites simultaneously linking all my social media sites. Instagram just feels young and fresh.

So imagine my surprise that in total, Instagram has over 200million users, just behind Twitter, with younger users driving uptake. Perhaps because I am young at heart I favor it!