I have used a lot of different types of social networks. Beginning with several BBSs, I wended my way through ICQ, IRC, email groups, Friendster, MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter. If there is a way to connect with people online, I've probably tried it. (Except for ChatRoulette: I knew that wouldn't end well.) So, it was with considerable surprise that I found myself engaged in an entirely new type of behavior while using the photosharing iPhone app, Instagram.
It's a simple service. It allows you to take and share photos with other people through the app. The company's Stanford-grad founders wanted to solve the "My mobile photos look lame" problem -- and they did. Instagram's filters make the pictures you take look cooler. Maybe for that reason, it's attracted a lot of photo people like Laura Brunow Miner, founder of Pictory. And I've connected with those of them that I know and I like that.
But while I was on vacation with a little time to breathe, I found myself mysteriously drawn (over and over) to the "Popular" tab in the Instagram app.
When you click on it, it looks like this:
The screen, which apparently aggregates photos that get lots of "likes," has its flaws. Some subjects do disproportionately well: dogs, cats, pretty girls' faces, the sky. (I usually tap on the dogs because I am a sucker for that sort of thing.) Also, ridiculous hipster stuff tends to get lots of likes, too (see: the photo of a pair of hip glasses).