Category Archives: Instagram

Path, Twitter Cards and Instagram, and Facebook apps

I am cramming three topics into this quick blog.  I wanted to write about all three but didn’t want to spam out three posts back to back.  And, as it goes in the social media world – If I waited a week to post one of these it might not be relevant any longer.

Thus, here is your jam-packed threesome of social media topics on my mind for this fine Sunday morning in early May.

Path users can no longer “find friends” using Facebook within the app

I saw this article this morning while doing my very early morning “what’s going on out there?” twitter surf.   I am not surprised by any means.  Facebook hates things that they deem spam, or anything that comes off unclean to their users.path  They probably felt a little taken advantage of that they allowed Path to have this functionality and then family and friends of Path users were bombarded with invites, thanks to Facebook giving the “OK.”  Or so it seemed.  Facebook likes blocking things (see: Vine).  The social media war continues to get weird.

Instagram’s lack of Twitter Cards really sucks

I find this so annoying as a constant user of both Twitter and Instagram, and as one who has used Instagram for several brands from a business angle as well.   Instagram is to get that very visual content out there as a beautiful, pleasing connection with your fans.  You don’t want to just put the same photos in there that you put on other social platforms.  instagram However, you utilize other social platforms to basically ‘promote’ your Instagram posts and presence.  Now, Facebook does own it, so it obviously fully integrates on there pretty seamlessly.  I understand that Instagram was hoping this would drive more visitation to their Instagram site itself.  I get why they’re doing it.  All it did was annoy me and cause me to take in less Instagram content.

Again, the social media war drags on.

But when I am scanning my Twitter feed and see an Instagram link now, I honestly don’t even want to look at it.  I don’t want to click out and go to another website/app to see your picture.  I want to see it right there, and quickly consume it, like we used to.  I previously got most of my Instagram content from Twitter.  That all being said, I find myself using Instagram less and less.  Brands as we move forward might need to find new ways to get that content out there and not just rely on Twitter, just in case there are other people out there that hate those two extra steps now to get to your photo.  From first hand experience, once Twitter Cards went away, the brands I had on Instagram saw less activity from putting an Instagram photo out there on Twitter.  So…

The other side of this argument is from the people that use Instagram a TON, even more than Twitter.  They couldn’t care less about any of this.  For those people, this is no big deal at all.  For the Twitter-first user like me, this is a nuisance.

Are Facebook apps dying?  Or are they already dead?

I am only speaking from first hand experience managing and creating several Facebook apps for a couple different brands over the last few years.  I am not going off any article or stats that might have ‘made my mind up for me.’  So, these are just my thoughts as I’ve seen them evolve over the last 2 years.

People are really straying away from clicking on Facebook apps.  Users barely ever go to a brand’s actual page/timeline.  They consume from the newsfeed.  So, a post here and there or a sponsored story or marketplace ad will see a spike in traffic to the app, but overall it will most likely be pretty stale.

The apps themselves are more or less web pages that live within Facebook, on your brand’s page.  That just doesn’t seem that cool anymore.  People want things right there in front of them, seamless.  Not a page within a page that sometimes (God forbid) are even like-gated just to get in and see what the hell it is. Facebook-like-gate Like-gating.  So I seriously have to “sign-up” to get your status updates just so I can see this one Facebook app, or enter to win this one thing?  Real cool.

The new timeline changes will be altering the way they’re displaying anyway.  So, Facebook might already be on to this.  There will no longer be big boxes to click on.   Waiting on the verdict on that one…

Apps just aren’t cool anymore.  I said it a few sentences ago.  They are sooo 2011.

Agree with me?  Think I’m nuts?  I love to hear it.  Holler.

getting to know myself – the social media user

I’ve been “using” social media in some capacity since 2004.  I was in college when Facebook hit, and Myspace was already a ‘thing.’  I had a few Friendster requests from people even before those; I set up a profile one day and never checked it again.  So, I have been a user of some sort for the last 9-ish years.  My involvement with social media with a business/brand twist has been present since late 2009, so even that’s creeping up on 4 years.

My use of social media before 2009 was a lot different than now – the social business boom hadn’t hit yet, so we weren’t liking Facebook brand pages or getting quick info from major brands on Twitter (well, maybe a few).  And, ever since that big social business boom, I’ve been looking at it all through the lens of a social marketer/strategist/manager.  A couple months ago I wrote a blog about how taking a break from it all is healthy, and I still absolutely believe that.   But over the last two weeks I took another break and got to learn even more about myself as a social user: how I behave socially when I have no connection to the business side.

One of many Instagram posts from me over the last 2 weeks. Profound stuff.

One of many Instagram posts from me over the last 2 weeks. Profound stuff.

I have been on paternity leave for almost two weeks.  We welcomed our second child, a wonderful baby girl in early February.  So, I have given myself the opportunity to step away from it all, completely cut it off, for two weeks.  I’ve honestly been paying very little attention to what’s been going on in the social media world (I’ll have a lot of catching up to do), with brands that I work on, or brands in general.  I’ve had other priorities during these two weeks of leave.  But what I discovered after these two weeks is that I have been using social media as your everyday “user.”  I put down my social business lens.  I have been using it to be, well, social.

So, how do I use it?

Looking back at these couple weeks I can say that I used Twitter and Instagram more than any other platform.  It wasn’t even close.  I still got all of my news from Twitter and kept up on what my friends were doing on Instagram.  I also posted to Instagram more than I ever have, from my own personal account.  I posted a couple things outgoing on Facebook, but to be honest, I really didn’t look at Facebook much during my time away.  When I would look at it, I found myself much more interested in taking an action (liking, sharing, commenting) on actual friends and family’s content as opposed to a brand’s.

What does this tell me?

I am a challenging user for a brand.  I consume the content but rarely take an action.  I don’t produce a stat or metric.  I typically don’t engage, but, I am still part of that community and enjoy seeing the content come through.  So now I ask myself when looking at it through that brand lens, “What would make me actually engage with this content?”  And I’m not talking about for statistic’s sake.  I am talking about true engagement that can form a relationship and/or loyal following within the community.  If I could create something that even I would click on, then I’m winning.  That’s something I learned over these last two weeks.  As a social marketer you can strategize all day and make your users drink the Kool-Aid, but would you even drink the same Kool-Aid that you’re serving?

A vacation from social is good for you, but an extended leave with “normal” social use is a very helpful exercise and experiment.  I didn’t realize any of this until I was already doing it for almost two weeks.  Pretty interesting stuff (at least I think so).

A final point that I learned or reaffirmed: Twitter is still my favorite.

As a side note: And yes, I’m fully aware of the Harlem Shake meme.  It was unavoidable no matter how hard I tried (or didn’t try).  Seems like every brand and their brother has made a video with their own version…

my Twitter geek-out moment of the week

Every once in a while, we in social media have geek-out moments.  OK, actually probably much more than every once in a while.  This happens quite a bit.  Whether it is a new gadget, app or platform – we who “do” social media for a living are passionate about this stuff.

I had a geek-out moment last night.

I tweeted a photo that I took at the Denver Broncos training camp that day.  Simple enough, right?  I had already done some fancy editing to it in Instagram to make me think I’m a really good/cool photographer.  I wanted to share this image with the official @Denver_Broncos Twitter handle, since, you know, every once in a while big name Twitter handles spread the love.  I really thought the picture was pretty sweet.

I didn’t want to share my actual Instagram link with the Broncos community manager, as I figured that has much less chance of being re-shared to some extent.  That is more along the lines of self promoting my Instagram handle by way of my Twitter handle, and asking a big-name Twitter account to do that for me.  Too many steps and gateways.  They just want to a share a picture right there.  They have 165,000 followers and always appear to be pretty selective with what they RT and post.  Slim chance.

So, I just took the Instagram-edited photo from my phone’s memory card and shared that on Twitpic as a free-standing image.  No tie-in to Instagram.

Sure enough, about twenty minutes later, the Broncos official Twitter handle Re-Tweeted my original tweet to their large follower-base.  Granted, many of which did not see the post, but it’s still cool.   They replied to my tweet and kept my handle in their post.  This is when I geeked out.  About 10 minutes later the tweet had been RT by others 83 times and ‘favorited’ by another 34.  My Twitter handle was mentioned each time.  OMG!!!

I know, this really shouldn’t be that exciting.  Behind even the Broncos’ account is a community manager (who was totally on it after 9 PM by the way), or social manager of some kind.  A human.  Doing a similar job that I do.  However, for some reason it’s still exciting to see your Twitter handle out there mentioned by a “big deal.”  I geeked out.  I know, beat it nerd.

As of this afternoon the tweet has 126 RT, 49 Favorites, 9 other mentions and my Twitpic has been viewed over 1,200 times.

Without the Broncos boost, I guarantee I probably would have 1, maybe 2 RTs and potentially 100 views.

So with a few clicks and one post, boom.  Another quick example of the the power of social media.

And I’m a geek.

A follow-up: a month with Path and Instagram

Exactly one month ago I started using Path and Instagram.  The delay on Path was due to my utter need to avoid it as long as I could, and for Instagram it was the barrier to entry since I have only Android devices.  On that day a month ago, the Android Instagram app launched and I started to walk down the Path.  I wrote a quick blog about the two new (for me) social platforms.

My first impressions were positive for both.  I really liked how clean and easy to use Path was.  For Instagram, I already knew what I was getting myself into so there was no surprise factor, but in finally getting to use the app I quickly realized the cool factor was worth all the hype.

A month later?

Instagram is still really, really cool.  Worth a billion dollars?  Probably not.  But yes, really cool and also fun to connect with people strictly with imagery.  There are also benefits for a brand, too – sharing beautiful pictures that can quickly reach your followers to show off your product, location, style or whatever it may be you’re aiming for.  Instagram has been added to my home screen on my Evo and tablet.

Path is a bit of a different story.  While I still agree with my original assessment about the cleanliness of the app and the smooth sharing functionality with other platforms, the app is just plain boring.  I have been adding people for weeks and checking the app consistently, as well as posting my own content, and….crickets.  I never really got much more than a few views on my posts (which I will admit was pretty generic content) and other people that I followed hardly used the app.  A check-in here or there, a picture once a week.  Not much else.  The posts screamed, “I’m posting something that you’ll think is super boring, but it’s OK because I felt like my Path quota was coming up.”  The app is great and the platform had potential, but it just didn’t go anywhere.  Path has since been removed from my phone.

And there’s my update.  The winner by total knockout: Instagram.

Facebook + Instagram = a good thing?

Facetagram.  Maybe?  Maybe not.  OK, definitely not.

Yesterday Facebook announced its acquisition of wildly popular photo sharing app, Instagram.   Oh, yeah, for a cool fee of $1 billion dollars.  You know what’s really cool?  A trillion dollars.  I’m sure Sean Parker called Marky Mark right after seeing the news just to tell him that.

The over-valued money paid for the acquisition is not my topic of discussion here.  Was it way too much?  Yes.  Does it make Facebook look desperate to clean house of a company that was owning the cool factor of photo?  Yes.  Anyway, that’s a conversation for another day.

There has already been about one blog or story for each dollar going into the deal on this topic.  I am absolutely adding fuel to the fire.  And, many of these articles are centered on the fear that Facebook will destroy Instagram as we know it.

People need to just chill the F out.

There is a common and pretty popular belief in society today that maintains that anytime a bigger company buys a smaller company, that horrible things are going to happen to the smaller company’s product.  It won’t ever be the same.  Everything will change for the worse.  Pigs will fly.  The Black Plague will return.  I have no more reason to live.

People all over Twitter yesterday were freaking out about this very subject and promoting the deletion of accounts, and the overreactions are simply embarrassing and hilarious at the same time.  People, these are both free-to-use social networks and applications that allow us to interact with each other in ways like never before, and to connect with brands, businesses, and celebrities on new levels.  The fact that you, an individual user, are acting like this is going to affect your way of life is just ridiculous.  You think Facebook or Instagram cares?  And if you are calling Instagram a “sell-out,” just stop.  They are a business.  When Facebook wants to buy you for $1 Billion and you aren’t worth that much, you sell.  Boom.

I am on the opposite side of the fence.  I think this merging will be a good thing.  Facebook is one of, if not the most innovative and forward-thinking companies in the world.  Do you really think they want to ruin Instagram? No.

I know that I personally would find it pretty sweet to be able to tag my Facebook friends in Instagram photos or import multiple Instagrams at once in Facebook, instead of one at a time.  The integration should do GOOD things for both sides.  I’m looking forward to seeing what they come up with, and how they can use both sides to create an even more awesome product.

One question I do have: will Facebook then stop allowing pinning from Instagram to Pinterest?  They currently don’t allow pinning from Facebook.  That could be interesting.

People freaked out in the same manner when Timeline was launched.  My message is the same now as it was then, if you don’t like it, delete your account.  It’s free for you to use.  Don’t complain like you’re some investor that didn’t get a chance to approve the change.

Just go back to 2003 and don’t worry about any of this.  Easy, right?

Path and Instagram – so fresh, so clean

This week I did something monumental.  I started using two social platforms that previously were completely foreign to me.  Well, I knew what they were – I was aware they existed, but I had never touched them, seen the mobile app or really dug in much to what they were all about.  One was a matter of barrier to entry.  I have an Android mobile phone and tablet, so I physically couldn’t use Instagram until today.  The other, Path, I was basically avoiding simply to avoid.

I typically don’t dive into new social networks (for me) unless I plan on actually using them, and trying them out to the fullest extent without blowing my brains out.  I’ve tried certain networks and removed myself from them in the same week, and others I’ve stuck with because I either see value or I just enjoy them.  Yesterday and today I tried a new social channel, and both just might meet both criteria.  The two mobile apps are useful and also easy to use, and both have the entertainment factor.

So, why the hell would I want to extend myself into yet another social network?  Well, why not?

Instagram has been wildly popular for a while now, the king of photo sharing networks.  But, it has only been available on Apple products.  Now that I, along with all other Android users, can join the party, I expect this to grow exponentially (that sounded wrong – no, I don’t think it will grow exponentially because I am now on it).  Android users like myself have been making fun of it to no end, only because it was something we couldn’t have.  If you can’t beat em… make fun em.  I still think it’s silly that by clicking a button, people portray their photos as some masterful piece of art due to some color variances and a border, but nonetheless, that’s part of why it got so popular, right?  Everyone’s images just look better than anywhere else.   There’s your cool factor.

On to number two: Path really impressed me with how darn clean it is.  The look, feel, and use-ability is so smooth.   There is no nonsense.  This helps a newbie to Path like myself learn how to use the app in about 2.5 minutes.  There really isn’t much to it.  I really like how you can use it as your social sharing hub.  Post a Facebook status update, check-in on Foursquare, share a photo on Twitter… or, you can do all of those things at one time.   And, along with sharing it on the other networks, your post is also shared as part of your ‘path,’ which is literally a vertical map of where you go and what you do in life.  And if you don’t want to broadcast something all over the socialsphere, you can choose to only share it on Path.    There is a privacy factor I like – your path isn’t as publicly accessed as other networks, and you can pick and choose your friends on path that see your progression.

Another great thing about Path and the social sharing function- it’s a one-way street.  You share out your posts to selected social networks, and then it posts on those respective networks.  But, you don’t get bombarded with the feed from those networks of other people on your path.   Once again, very clean.  If you want to stay up on your Facebook newsfeed, go to Facebook.  But if you want to just add something to Facebook and not deal with it later, share it from Path.

These two networks have something distinctive in common.  They are both pretty much completely mobile.  Yes, they have websites, but the network itself does not sit on the world wide web as does many other social platforms.  There is very minimal functionality to the actual website of both channels – mainly just for updating your profiles.  Posts themselves from Instagram do get urls for sharing, but you can’t navigate anywhere else from the post.

I like them.  I think I’ll stick around and try both out for a while.  Instagram does have some value for businesses to set up accounts and share beautifully one-click-edited photos, but at this point I don’t think Path has any real benefit for a business.  Maybe more to come on that one.  At least that’s what I’ve discovered thus far.

Like any social networks, it’s a wait and see game.  Instagram has already proven itself to the world, but Path has not.  Now I hope they can prove themselves to me.

We’ll see if I’m still using these in 6 months.  My guess…probably.  There is just too much cool factor.