{"id":4669,"date":"2016-08-15T07:52:51","date_gmt":"2016-08-15T14:52:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.consumercellular.com\/blog\/?p=4669"},"modified":"2023-01-11T15:54:41","modified_gmt":"2023-01-11T23:54:41","slug":"picture-using-social-media-pt-1-instagram","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.consumercellular.com\/blog\/picture-using-social-media-pt-1-instagram\/","title":{"rendered":"Picture Yourself Using Social Media, Pt. 1: Instagram"},"content":{"rendered":"

While writing an email a while ago, I mentioned to my niece that I was going to attach five or six photos to send to a friend. She looked at me like I had told her I was born on Mars. \u201cThat\u2019s old school,\u201d she piped up after thinking it over a bit. \u201cWhy don\u2019t you just use Instagram?\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019m sure by now you\u2019ve had similar conversations about social media apps with younger members of your family. They can\u2019t believe we still function without them\u2014and we can\u2019t really understand what all the fuss is about.<\/p>\n

Well, guess what? There\u2019s nothing difficult or mysterious about using social media\u2014in fact, there\u2019s a lot about it that\u2019s really fun, and convenient. If you want to stay in touch with your kids, grandkids, nieces, and nephews, it\u2019s practically a necessity. They use apps like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram the same way we used postcards and passed notes back in our day.<\/p>\n

My niece was right. I started using Instagram<\/a>, and it\u2019s made sharing photos so much easier. So this week, I\u2019ve decided to pass along a few tips about how and why you might enjoy it, too.  It\u2019s a photo and video sharing social media app that works sort of like Facebook, but instead of sharing words, you just share images. It\u2019s a digital photo album you can share with anyone or add to anytime you want.<\/p>\n

Instagram is really simple to use. You download it from your smartphone\u2019s app store (it\u2019s available for both Android and iPhone). Once you open it, it connects directly to your phone\u2019s camera and photo gallery, so with the click of a button you can either take a photo, or select an existing one.  And just like that, you\u2019ve got a picture to share.<\/p>\n

You can share photos with people whom you specifically choose. Best of all, you can categorize photos using \u201chashtags,\u201d which you create by putting the # symbol before a keyword. For example, I\u2019ll mark my photos with the tag \u201c#ThomasFamily\u201d so members of my family on Instagram can search for them. Marking your photos with consistent hashtags is an easy way to keep them organized.<\/p>\n

Another unique feature with Instagram is the ability to edit your photos. You can apply and adjust \u201cfilters\u201d to change the coloring, lighting, and even the whole mood of the image. You can convert color photos to black-and-white, or add a sepia-tone filter to give it a vintage feel.<\/p>\n

With hundreds of millions of users, Instagram is also a pretty neat way to view interesting photographs. You\u2019ll see posts from professionals, amateurs, businesses, and celebrities\u2014it seems like everyone is doing it! You\u2019ll find just about any person, place or subject you can think of here.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re now well on your way to surprising the younger set by becoming social media savvy\u2014you certainly won\u2019t be left in the dark the next time you hear your kids, or grandkids, talking about Instagram! In my next post, I\u2019ll tell you about Snapchat, another photo and video sharing app, but one that comes with a neat twist. Until then, don\u2019t be afraid to be social!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While writing an email a while ago, I mentioned to my niece that I was going to attach five or six photos to send to a friend. She looked at me like I had told her I was born on Mars. \u201cThat\u2019s old school,\u201d she piped up after thinking it over a bit. \u201cWhy don\u2019t […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":4670,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4669","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tips-tricks"],"yoast_head":"\r\nPicture Yourself Using Social Media, Pt. 1: Instagram<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Picture yourself using Instagram, the social media network for sharing photos with friends and family.\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.consumercellular.com\/blog\/picture-using-social-media-pt-1-instagram\/\" \/>\r\n<meta 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