Instagram is one of those new platforms that have been an instant success. Like most new things, I tend to wait and get aboard only when I have to – I’m forced to – or really, when I finally get over my anxiety about learning it. Now, I love using it and I share really important things via the photos I take with my phone. Things such as what I’m eating for breakfast, hundreds of photos of Simon (my dog), and my feet, when I’m napping.
What fascinates me is the Explore key (see image above) in which the most popular photos/people/participants are featured in a 15-photo grid. You can quickly scroll through them, view any, and refresh the whole grid with a simple click in the upper right corner. These photos are a window into popular tastes, popular culture, and what seems to interest men and women – – just as my Men vs. Women series explores the same differences.
My un-scientific study and observations reveal these images to be the most popular and most revealing of our “likes:”
~~ Shoes: Okay, I don’t think I need to designate which images are more female-centric, since I hope it’s obvious. Yes, there are the occasional sneakers images, but the majority of shoe images are high-heels designer shoes. AND, more often than not, the images are shot from the pov of the person, looking down at their shoes (see above image).
~~ Nails, Make-Up, and Hair: I can’t believe how many images I see of a woman’s hands adorned with “creative” nail polish. Also, plenty of eyes and eyebrows, along with a multitude of hairstyles including some very inventive braids!
~~ Cars: The more exotic and expensive the better!
~~ Pets and Exotic Animals: Cats and Dogs predominate but there are lots of other animal photos as well, especially those of The Big Five (in Africa).
~~ Babies: Who can resist a cute baby photo, especially a cute baby bottom!?
~~ Pretty Women – especially in scant clothing: Every model worth her name and every wanna-be model is on Instagram. The images range from tatted all over babes to stylish classy society styles, along with the expected and majority-rules bikini photos (thank you G*d).
~~ Sports: GoPro and RedBull offer great images and there a bunch of them. Also, any current ongoing big sports event is covered as well as great images from literally all big sports. I see plenty of surfing shots and expect I’ll see more skiing ones in the winter.
~~ Women’s Fashion: Omg, OMG. This blows me away. How many handbags, dresses, and accessories do women need? Don’t answer that. I’m married. I know. The amount of fashion on Instagram I would guess outnumbers EVEN the number of “babes.” Fashion rules, clearly.
~~ Bling: Truly this is a sub-category of Women’s Fashion, but bling is popular without a doubt. A smaller sub of this is tattoos and piercings. Not as popular, but also present.
~~ Celebrities: Yes, Justin Beiber is all over the place. One word: UGH.
~~ Beaches (and exotic locales): Usually, these are among the coolest and best images posted. They always seem to have enhanced brilliant colors and always seem to make me want to drive to the airport immediately.
~~ Sunsets: I suppose this category is really Weather, with sunsets being the top choice and the images are usually wonderful.
~~ Selfies: A total product of the SoMe generation and cell-phone cameras, there are self-portraits in just about all the categories listed here, especially the celebrities and models.
~~ Food: We all love to eat and while most of us do post what we are eating at the moment – as if anyone cares – the popular food images are more professional images of food and usually stimulate salivation insantly.
There are also some apps that allow Instagram users to post multiple images in the same photo. Given that these images are already small – being mostly seen on a cell-phone – I do NOT get the popularity of putting the same image next to itself two or three times.
What do you observe when you peruse random photos on Instagram? Do you agree that Instagram is a reflection of popular taste and interests?
How about skipping that $5 Starbucks latte and splurging $2.99 (for the Kindle on Amazon) or $2.79 for the PDF of my new e-book? Enjoy my own informercial for it! This e-book is really a virtual journey. It’s filled with 100 photos, 7 original videos, and links to many of the stops on the trip. Click on the book cover image below to find your purchase options:
