Let’s be real – Instagram these days feels like trying to host a photo exhibition in the middle of a Friday camel market auction. It’s no secret that most of us photographers are deeply frustrated. The platform that once celebrated visual storytelling now seems to only care about ads, influencers selling supplements, and algorithmic chaos. Is it time to think about Instagram Alternatives?
Instagram is “free,” sure. But only in the same way that a free buffet makes you the meal. So you actually sell your soul and your eyeballs to people who paid to this platform to show whatever they want. If you want to participate in the game, you also have to pay, so your content will be shown to people who don’t particularly want to see it.
Good Old Days
Ah, the good old days – when all we wanted to do was make some pictures and share them with friends or fellow photography nerds. It was simple. Pure. You’d post a photo, someone would comment “great tones,” you’d say “thanks,” and boom – wholesome visual exchange complete.
Your grid was like a mini portfolio where people could actually see what you love to shoot. No gimmicks. No trending audios. Just vibes.
Then along came Stories, and suddenly we were no longer photographers – we were daily content machines, unintentionally subscribing to 500+ people’s food diaries. Now instead of looking at art, I’m seeing:
– Matchas of all kinds on terrazzo tables
– Feet in ski boots (captioned “day 3”)
– Yoga poses that look like a mild medical emergency
– Hikes that require at least two times the effort (because you have to go back to pick up the tripod) and a drone shot to count
And honestly, you can’t help but wonder: would half of these people even be doing any of this if they couldn’t post it? Like… are you really into seasonal terrace culture, or are we all just trapped in a social media Truman Show?
Then it became a place for video creators.
Instagram for Video Creators
Sure, I’ll admit it — videos can be great. They have the ability to show life better than photos. You can make your lunch look like it belongs in a Michelin documentary with the right music and three slow-motion close-ups. You can turn the act of boiling water into a cinematic masterpiece, if you know your way around transitions.
But then came the avalanche: videos for the sake of videos. Content that never needed to be the video, now desperately pirouetting in 9:16 just because the algorithm said so.
And now? The Explore page has turned into a circus of zombies, all performing the exact same low-effort nonsense with minor costume variations. And every time I press “Not Interested,” Instagram seems to hear: “More of this, but make it even dumber.”
Who are these people and why would I be interested to know what is the first letter of the name of their crush? That’s a mystery to me as well.
It’s like living in an interactive fever dream, but with worse editing.
No matter how much I tried to build the profile focusing on the beautiful landscapes on my instagram, no picture will ever get as many likes as a random selfie that I took in some bathroom mirror. That’s just how it works. How many times I receive DMs from people who just want to hit on a girl with pretty face (there aren’t even many photos of my face on the profile), and yet it is mostly that. Go some other places, there is a million of half-naked people there looking for those sort of comments.
The Size Matters
And another thing – can we talk about how tiny photos are on Instagram now? Sure, you can pinch to zoom in, but it’s like trying to study fine art through a keyhole. Remember when it was completely normal to shoot landscapes in – get this – landscape orientation? Yeah, there was a reason for that. It’s called sense.
But then Instagram came along and decided, “You know what would be great? If everything looked best as a vertical scroll-fest on a 6-inch screen.” And suddenly, we’re all turning our cameras sideways, not because it makes artistic sense, but because the algorithm prefers it.
Now every time you’re out in the wild, witnessing something beautiful, you have to pause and ask yourself:
“Should I shoot this vertically? Will it crop well later? Will this look good in a 4:5 ratio?”
Honestly, that is not the existential crisis I signed up for when I picked up a camera.
Instead of thinking about light, feeling, composition, or emotion, we’re out here everything to please the feed gods.
And that, my friends, is the true tragedy of modern visual culture.
Why Am I Still There?
What are the things I am looking at on Instagram these days? Still trying to support my friends, the creatives, but most of them sort of gave up and didn’t post more than 8 photos in 2022. Looking at people making art, because art is inspiring and art is life. Looking at people visiting places in the regions that I want to visit. Not looking at epic photoshopped skies over Burj Khalifa, not looking to buy pants that stretch in every direction, not looking to become a lord in Scotland. But if I was not to go and dig deep into search by tags and locations I would never see what I actually want to see.
Remove Dead Weight
A few months back I had an existential crisis, thinking that maybe removing all the dead weight followers will help with the engagement? So I eliminated 1200 accounts from my profile – people who either are just bots or shops, or never engaged into anything I do, or I just have no clue who this is and why would they follow me. Long story short, it didn’t improve the engagement one bit.
When a few years back normal would be to get 10% likes of the number of your followers, now it’s maybe 2%. With every picture it decreases to be honest. Maybe I just suck at photography… but let me tell you that once I was food poisoned, lying dead weight on the couch in the living room. There were guys cleaning the building windows across from mine, so I filmed them through the dirty window without getting off the couch. And that is the most popular post on instagram – more than 100k views. The picture that made me thousands of bucks on Getty images sales, barely has 100 likes on Instagram.
Wind of Change
I felt like giving up and abandoning posting anything, since it doesn’t bring joy anyway. Then some people told me that there were still a few of them who looked forward to seeing my images and reading my witty writings. They told me it motivates them to create something themselves. So perhaps that’s the only reason I’ll stay, but frankly speaking there is nothing really holding me there.
Now, the change is not always good, and the older we get the more we miss the good old things that made us feel great or actually did make us feel something…
Instagram will never be what it used to be, let’s just admit that. And yes, I am grateful that I had a few moments of glory thanks to it, like winning a trip to Iceland with Dream Photo Tours, or meeting a bunch of amazing individuals who definitely brought joy to my life, but these days are covered in dust just like Dubai right now.
Alternatives?
A year ago Glass application was launched as a response to photographers’ frustrations with Instagram, TikTok and the likes. Glass App is the place where you just get to share your photography. No ads, beautiful feed, EXIF data (!), ability to zoom in and see every photo in details, but most importantly a wonderful community of people who just want to enjoy the art of capturing images. And yes, you have to pay 30 bucks to be a part of the community, but seriously people, it is a price of two cups of coffee from Starbucks that you would buy without hesitation if you were running out of energy… and aren’t we all running out of energy here?
Glass has categories that you can browse through when you feel like you want to see some street photos, or landscape photos, or action photos, or portraits, or even self-portraits, and not selfies, you get me?
I bet you forgot how it feels when someone leaves a genuine comment under your photos, or asks you details about how this was shot, and not just scrolls past your image (by Allah if they even get to see it anywhere and anyhow). Someone actually spent time to appreciate and look at what you created.
Having EXIF data is great for people who know how to use their cameras. And you can tell right away if it’s a true image or someone is trying to trick you with editing. Now, there is nothing wrong about digital creations of photoshop or other editing apps, if that’s the story you want to tell, but what I dislike is that people deny it.
In the Worst Of Case
I keep telling people about this great platform, and yet they would rather be bombarded by millions of ads and god forbid something ever stops working on your insta, or it gets hacked, you’d never be able to get a response from a human being, while on Glass you can just write to Tom Watson and he will listen to your ideas and opinions on how to make this place better.
In any case, it is always better to be a part of the VIP club than yell in a crowd of yelling people where nobody listens to each other.
The choice is yours, and there is no two things that suit everybody, but I am glad to be a part of Glass community, and I hope it lives long and brings me joy and motivates me to go (or stay in) but shoot something.
Much love,
Anna
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