Lobotomy Lab: Inspector General of Instagram

Lobotomy Lab: offering piercing Insights into photography

Instagram is without a doubt the most popular photography apps ever and in all likely hood the most popular photography distribution medium ever made.  Despite this I have never been a big fan of it even after giving it a try on about 3 different occasions.  I was never a fan of how it works, it is almost impossible to search any relevant term, it is almost impossible to organize any series or project, It is filled with ads for junk, I never cared about the reels and there is far too much material that aims solely to tidelate the male audience. I could probably name a couple of other things I hated that were changes for good, but for everyone of the good changes two bad changes were made.  

I wont go into any of the comparisons to Tic Tok, or say this is the greatest failing of overlord Zuckerberg.  I don't have to as countless others have over analyzed those angles for years at this point.  I also feel that examining the failures of Instagram are not really related to anything so clear and one demential.  Instagram has failed, not financially or in concept, it has been a massive and continuing success.  It has failed photographers, models, artists and content creators by attempting to commodity every aspect of life.  I don't think this is unique to Instagram nor was it started by IG, however I think it is more insidious than any other example. The phone based mobility makes iG an almost constant factor in most peoples lives.  The super simple options and interface makes is all too easy to post or have an interaction. The seamless ease of scrolling makes it very addicting.  I know all of these are negatives as they are designed to suck people in and monetize vast amounts of time and subtly shape habits that become difficult to break. If I had a dollar for every person I knew who spent 2 hours a day on IG clapping it was “a business” or worse “Its my brand” I would be much richer… richer than all of those people combined as most of the “businesses” don't seem to make much money or any impact out side of their small circle of friends. The “branding” does a great job of sapping a vast amount of time and often money that would be better spent on any other endeavor.

I know I am not alone in this dismissal of the platform as many other serious photographers I have met are not a fan of the platform.  Some will argue that many of these people are member of the “old guard” who have fallen behind the times, others artist so eccentric they would likely never fit in to any large system. Many would brand these types of people as “unmarketable” or “bad at technology” While there is probably some truth to those sentiment I must ask; why is that a bad thing?  I don't see any compelling reason for most peopler to have a “brand.” Brands are for businesses or live stock… maybe I am hitting a bit close to a dark truth on this train of though.  These disruptive technologies never seem to benefit anyone but the handful of wealthy company owners at the very top and morally questionable sales men pushing junk to the masses.  I have never heard a compelling argument as to why either of these types of people are given any power, money or prestige. 

Maybe I am just old and jaded and don't get the “new thing” even though it is over a decade old and rather primitive in comparison to many of my other interests and work. I guess if IG was a bit more honest I would have no complaints (I still doubt I would love it).  I am tired of the supposed contests and collaborations that are really ads, the willingness of grifters to reach out to you unsolicited to sell some completely useless service, the material that is a bit too close to sexual exploitation.  I really feel like we the “user base” another great term, are being exploited if not abused.  George Orwell wrote a line I find frighteningly accurate to this situation, ”so long as they are not permitted to have standards of comparison, they never even become aware that they are oppressed.”  It that what Instagrams is?  We have the comparison, but the standards seem absent and not many people seem very happy with what we have been given.