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The Why and How of Replacing Instagram in my life

TIME Magazine Cover shot by Ben Lowy with Instagram.

There are times in our lives where we must reflect on the situations before us. Sometimes those situations are simple. Sometimes they appear to be complex, but are truly simple. Other situations are truly complex, requiring much effort to overcome.

I previously posted some of my thoughts on the Instagram situation of a few weeks past. The Instagram situation is simple and complex simultaneously.

Here is my take on the simple, more personal aspect of the situation.

As a photographer and user of social media, I love the idea and former implmentation of Instagram. Like Flickr before, Instagram is (or was, depending on your perspective) a wonderful home for great photography. It has also become the home of a few more meme-worthy styles of photography.

The reason why I am moving away from Instagram (not fully, yet) is that I feel Instagram is rushing into the arms of the advertisers it sees as the reason for their billion-dollar acquisition, much the same way Facebook moved before and after their IPO.

There was enough of a backlash against Instagram this time. But what about the next? As Facebook has shown the public and its users time and time again, Facebook cares for Facebook first, advertisers second, and users third. The same shareholder pressure placed upon Facebook will now be placed upon its acquisition darling, Instagram.

I will be testing out some other Instagram alternatives in the coming weeks, and will report back here with my findings. In the meantime, I'd love to hear your thoughts about why you are or why you are not leaving Instagram. Let us here in the comments below!