The update we've all dreamed of is finally here - your Instagram pictures no longer have to be square! This is a huge breakthrough for them, and while many love it, others aren't so sure. At first, I wasn't sure, but I've switched to a new theme. Basically, it's the same thing except I no longer use Squaready and I let my pictures embrace their natural shape and form. But before I made this decision, I thought about it for a while - do I really want to do this? Would it benefit me? I thought about all this because I love Instagram and I've had a personal account on it for a couple years now. I remember when there was no such thing as tagging people! Anyway, I couldn't decide whether I would conform to the newer and seemingly better update or stick to my traditional ways. I finally decided, as you can tell, but one question stuck in my mind - is Instagram losing its touch?
When I started Instagram back in 2013 my initial reaction was: "it's a place where you share your photos and follow people where you can like their stuff." It was my first social media platform, and until recently, I never thought about it not being square. It was all we knew. It was simple. I was happy. Your photos looked neat and if you didn't want them to be square, you used an app. The developers kept making new and better changes such as more filters, location improvement, and minor tweaks here and there - until they threw in this big wrench that was a complete game-changer. Yes, it's exciting. But does it change the app and completely revamp it? Yes, to an extent, it does. I'm not saying that's a bad thing - but I wouldn't call it a good thing. I think it loses sight of what Instagram does and gives the app one less unique feature. Not that this means Instagram isn't still unique, - it's Instagram, of course it's original - but I feel that it takes away from the overall design and is too major of a change to just be brushed off.
So Should I Switch?
I did. It's simpler, easier, and cleaner. For me it means less editing time and one less app to take up storage on my phone. Also, when you're looking at a profile, the pictures all show up as square if you don't have the white background. If your white background photos are different sizes, it is messy. No joke about it. That was one thing I always hated about my feed, so I'm glad to get rid of it. This paragraph may seem completely hypocritical to the previous one, but as I've expressed, I have mixed feelings on this update and even though I've switched I'm not completely on one side or another.
Let me know what your thoughts are in the comments! I'm really curious to see everyone's take on this.
Monday, August 31, 2015
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