Instagram alternatives

Dikkie

No longer a newbie, moving up!
Joined
Nov 20, 2005
Messages
909
Reaction score
276
Location
Belgium / Brussels
Website
linktr.ee
Can others edit my Photos
Photos NOT OK to edit
Hello folks!

Are there any Instagram users here?

I'm a bit done with Instagram lately... perhaps some other people have the same experience as I do.
Just wanted to talk about it. (sorry for my rant)
Before I was a Flickr member (still have my account, but at some moment the interactions tumbled down to zero).
So I then switched to Instagram 10 years ago, as that app was booming at that moment.

I also was switching from carrying my heavy DSLR to my lightweight phone to take daily snapshots underway, commuting to work ...
It was the time Instagram was still photo focused.

Nowadays it's more rewarding for video-posters, making reels, posting daily stories, more going the way of TikTok.

Lately I noticed that it took away too much of my daily focus and productivity, and it seems to make me addictive and lazy.
Therefore I now started a digital detox for the next month... see what changes in my daily habits.

However, last week I was looking for alternatives for Instagram that are less addictive, but still interesting, and I also became aware at that time that lots of other people were fleeing away to alternatives.
Things were happening in the news, with Elon Musk, a lot of X users switched to something else.
With the less-ethical Meta strategies the same, a lot of users were starting to look for other stuff...

So I read about the Metaverse.... and there's the Fediverse too.
Didn't know about that.

There's Mastodon (X alternative), Pixelfed (a bit alternative for IG), Friendica (FB alt), and so on...
There's aswel BlueSky (X alternative) who is making a new photo app too to go live soon (Flashes).

So I made accounts on these platforms to test them out... it's a bit difficult to start from zero again, and almost no mainstream users there that I was following on Meta platforms.
BlueSky has "starter packs" with groups of users that you can follow directly with one click, so you get a whole bunch of people to follow with the same interest, e.g. photography.

I'm now using a website called Fedica, where I can schedule posts so I can upload a couple of my fav/best photos from before... and it's handy, you can plan and post them directly to all the platforms together at once.
But I'll now just test it out now for a month and see what's happening... I'm not sure I'll return to the other side again as I know how bad it goes.
Now that I think of it more from a distance, I see a lot of people selling themselves online, almost onlyfans, a lot of people became the product, and the content is lowbrow superficial.

There's much more reasons to make the switch from Meta/X to Fediverse.

What irritates me the most: a lot of my friends posts do not show up in my feed and after a year I go to their profile and see that they posted a lot of stuff I wasn't seeing ... they then think I've been ignoring them all the time, but that's because the feed is not shown.

IG and FB decide what content is shown, based on dodgy algorithms.

It has long been known that Meta manipulates the behaviour of their users and made them believe they have the freedom to post their opinion and are really connected to each other. But the opposite is true.

The lack of moderation on hate speech, algorithms that prioritize controversial discriminatory content (racism, LGBTQI-phobia,…), in order to get more outrage engagement leading to a wider spread of bad ideas. Invisible shadow banning censorship, echo chambers, reducing people’s reach, dividing people, pitting them against each other and so on.
The opposite of how a harmonious society should be.

More irritations: saturation of commercial advertisements in the feed, privacy issues, tiktokification by rewarding superficial reels above quality photography. Half your feed full of fake AI posts to waste your time. And above all: you are the product, people don’t realize their private data is being sold and you don’t get a single penny.

One could stay indifferent and continue supporting all these things above… or one can be part of the SOLUTION BELOW!

Switch from the Metaverse and X to the Fediverse.

There’s free alternative platforms, community driven, no algorithmic manipulations, no ads, real privacy and data control, open-source, decentralized, no billionaires involved or people on top who decide what's happening. More authenticity, less social pressure.

Imagine we all make a move towards ethical technology and free ourselves from corporate surveillance. Think about apps like Pixelfed, Mastodon, and many more!
Wouldn't it be cool if we all moved there?

If we all slowly make the transition, as from next week? Or let us just try for a month and see what happens if Meta suddenly loses their grip on all of us? You don’t have to close your accounts, yet.
What’s your opinion about this? Would you do it?

Or do you have other alternatives?
 
Interesting post! (And long. :( ) But that's OK.

I have accounts in FB and IG and use them pretty well just for posting and sharing photos. FB works best for this because that is where my real friends are.

IG isn't working that well for me. Maybe it is as you say, they going to reels and so on.

Recently I'm in Bluesky and getting little traction. I post stuff and nobody notices. I didn't know these starter packs existed! Thanks - am trying those now.

The core problem for us photographers is that everybody is making pictures but few are interested in seeing them. There is an oversupply of pics.

Not sure at this point that I want to try Fediverse. It might be great, but managing all these accounts is a bore.
 
BlueSky. Great photography community there and soon they are rolling out a photo sharing platform.
 
G'day Dikkie

you say ...
Lately I noticed that it took away too much of my daily focus and productivity, and it seems to make me addictive and lazy. Therefore I now started a digital detox for the next month... see what changes in my daily habits.

Not meaning to be rude in any way - but ...
You could 'go commando' and abandon all such platforms and simply devote your energies to one or two dedicated forums such as this one - where non-photographic stuff is not inserted to cause you to waste so much of your day

Maybe / hope this will help you 'face the world'
Phil
 
Not meaning to be rude in any way - but ...
You could 'go commando' and abandon all such platforms and simply devote your energies to one or two dedicated forums such as this one - where non-photographic stuff is not inserted to cause you to waste so much of your day

Maybe / hope this will help you 'face the world'
Phil
Yeah, perhaps it's the only way indeed.
Perhaps my focus is too shattered around too many channels (social media, other internet things).
Perhaps it's also too shattered in too many hobbies and interests. Doing 10 hobbies below average instead of only 1 above average.
I just can't help it. I can't let go my other passions, and connections.

But I'll your advise and narrow the communication channels... don't have to close the other things, I can do some time management and post on the others an update once every couple of months too.

In any way I'm not leaving this forum you know, I'm here already from 2005 and love this kind of communities. Although I'm not that active since I'm not really doing photography so much.

I recently went to Paris for a day (not that far away for me), and got my DSLR with me... didn't take it out of my bag, I took all the photos with my phone.
I noticed there is not much pressure pushing me to go for it as I did before.
 
I couldn't agree with you more about Meta, and the irony is, the "Metaverse" was coined by Neal Stevenson in his dystopian sci-fi novel, Snowcrash. I gave up on both FB an IG, they only exist now to exploit users and make money from them.

As for alternatives, there are a few: Cara (not specifically for photos, but you can still share them) Pixelfed and another platform on the horizon, Flashes from Bluesky. Beyond these platforms, you could also try a blog.
 
Hmm... Flickr should be the ideal place for sharing photos. The uploaded pics are high res, exif info is shown, comments are possible, adult content is OK, there are groups and albums.

But nobody loves Flickr.
 
Hmm... Flickr should be the ideal place for sharing photos. The uploaded pics are high res, exif info is shown, comments are possible, adult content is OK, there are groups and albums.

But nobody loves Flickr.
I loved it before... and I used it to store pictures that I then could upload on forums like this one.

But for some reason I don't have good interactions there or make connections with others like I do on Instagram very quickly.
I'm still doubting to leave IG, I really met some nice people and locals, as you can quickly view which visitors come into the bar or shop next door, as they tag it and comment there too.
IG has no privacy, that's right. Some say it's bad, but I found it handy to quickly get social and connect with others I probably wouldn't have met otherwise.
On the other hand: too much ads...

I have ads on Flickr too, as I'm a free plan user, and I stopped uploading because otherwise I get to my max 1000 images and will face the question: paid plan or delete old pictures?

What bothers me on Flickr too is that the way of engagement is so childish... hundreds of groups to tag your BW shot as "BW" or people willing to be a curator and starting a group, "like 5 pictures and .... ", "award and fav that... group".
Oh boy.

And then all the following: same as on IG. Ok it's nice to have a lot of followers, boosts your ego, fine. But on the other hand there are so many uninteresting people you follow too... you could easily unfollow, and then they're offended.
Or boring family and friends who started to follow you and wanted a follow back to see picture of what they're eating and their cats... Unfollow them and feel the rage coming :D

Perhaps I'm a bit done with that, outgrown, I don't know, perhaps I need a rest and focus on real life, doing something else, start playing my guitar again. But sooner or later I'll feel the need to record that guitar, and put something online to share... for feedback? and then I need an account somewhere, with followers :D that I don't know and will never meet :D
I'm in a cycle you know, endless !
 
Hmm... Flickr should be the ideal place for sharing photos. The uploaded pics are high res, exif info is shown, comments are possible, adult content is OK, there are groups and albums.

But nobody loves Flickr.
G'day all

Hmmmmmmm - havta disagree here matey - but for me it's the =only= site I use to display my images to family & friends, not only for the reasons referred to above, but also because it does not require visitors to create an account so as to view those images
Phil
 

Most reactions

Back
Top