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What if any experience do you have with Instagram ?

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Pat Harrison

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Instagram has been recommended as a suitable social media platform to post your art. Having looked at the website I cannot see how. If you enter a search word for any art related subject you do not get much of an answer. Maybe I am doing something wrong and I would have to subscribe first.
With Sarah, Phil, Ellen, Rose the dentist, and the granddaughter whose name I forget.

Robert Jones, Napa

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Don't know, but Facebook was suggested as well - and all I got from that was being dragged deeper and deeper into the world of Facebook: there's some interesting art on there, but as a means of promoting sales it's been (so far) entirely useless. Which suggests that if you want to sell art online, you need either to promote your own website, or get on somebody else's which specializes in it. And I'm not sure if even that works, if you're after realistic prices.

Amanda Bates

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I have been avoiding Instagram. It seems like a photo sharing thing with apparently obligatory effects. I don't want to apply effects to my photographs of paintings. That would be a lie. Of course, the effects might not be obligatory :-) Facebook, on the other hand, and Twitter, have both been instrumental in sales. Not many... Probably not enough to justify the time I spent on those sites... But the time was not cynically spent there with the intention of selling.

Haidee-Jo Summers VPROI RSMA

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I'd like to put in a word for Instagram - I love it! I've only been on it around six months but definitely prefer it to Facebook and Twitter. It is ideal for artists to post pictures of paintings, work in progress, work in situ, exhibition shots etc etc. Amanda no filters are necessary at all! I never use them, just unadulterated photos. It only takes a few seconds to post a picture and you only add a few words or hashtags. There doesn't seem to be any pressure to reciprocate with Instagram as there does seem with Facebook with pressure to add lots of friends who you don't really know or 'like' my page and then I'll 'like' yours! I only follow people on Instagram whose images I really enjoy seeing. So when I look at my Instagram feed (like your Facebook timeline) I only see great work that I like and none of the nonsense you unwittingly come across on Facebook such as American politics or cruelty to animals. Relevant hashtags allow people to find you, if they are searching. So on my posts I may put #pleinair #cornwall #oils #oilpainting etc, depending on where and what I am painting. So if somebody is searching that topic everything with that hashtag will be shown, starting with the most recent. You can also search for a user, so you can look up your favourite artists to see if they are on there. You may not just be interested in looking at paintings of course, you can look up your local town, or food photos, favourite chef, singer, beach scenes, anything. Somehow you quickly pick up followers, it's surprising how it happens. At the moment I've got 2400 followers and I'm following 269. It is also easy on Instagram to look back on all your posted photos as little square thumbnail images and it's a really nice record, like a visual journal of all you've been doing. Another thing about Instagram - I've never seen an argument take place on there - unlike Facebook where things get a little heated sometimes. On Instagram you mainly get likes on your posts, but when people do leave comments I've never seen anything other than short and positive ones! :-) I heartily recommend it, and if you want to find me on there I'm @haideejosummers :-)

Pat Harrison

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Haidee, Thank you for your detailed view on instagram. I was inclined not to bother with it but having used your hashtags I found what I was looking for. I might sign up after all.

Haidee-Jo Summers VPROI RSMA

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I will look forward to seeing you all on there! :-)
michael

Michael Edwards

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I don't know anything about instagram but will look into it. However I did put 'Free download Instagram Windows 8' into Gooogle and several options popped up.

Bill Cook

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Yep, just tried what you did Doug & got the same options. However, we definitely use Instagram on a linux-based PC runnig Chromium browser! I'll dig a bit deeper.......

Bill Cook

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Well, how truly bizarre is the modern world. Apparently: "You must create your account using the Instagram mobile app, not a computer. After you've downloaded the app and created an account, you can then view Instagram from a computer" Well, I guess that must be what we did. Works fine with a PC now. Why can't you just kick off with a PC in the first place????

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by BillCook

Bill Cook

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Well, seems worse than I thought for PC users. We only use the PC to view my daughters postings, and it seems that this is about the limit. Importantly, she tells me you can't post stuff from the PC, so I guess you were right, Doug, it pretty well is a mobile-device only platform.