7 ms·

>but the idea that instagram "looks inwards" isn't Do instagram hashtags only work within Instagram? Do hashtags within Instagram look outwards, or inwards? Ho

• hasenj 11y ago
  Exactly, which emphasizes why instagram only looks inwards. In effect it's an isolated web. A web of images.
  • sho_hn 11y ago
    I'm starting to come to the conclusion that users actually sort of like this sort of thing, and that it fuels a lot of the social dynamic on the internet. What I'm seeing is that groups of friends congregate in group chats, and a lot of the activity there is sharing links into these silos, freeing content and showing it to friends. If no one was (practically, by lack of motivation to join/engage) excluded by each silo there would be less of an opportunity to introduce things to people that they don't or can't find on their own, and less social activity. Perhaps social is in the gutters between the silos?
    • gotchange 11y ago
      A clique/cabal based communities is not the future that I strive or envision for the internet. This walled-garden model for the internet will prove harmful for the open nature of this medium of communication.
    • chippy 11y ago
      Could it be group psychology? I'd like to chat with a psychologist or sociologist about this. My pet theory is that these sites, internal looking, closed etc all work on the basis of the group. And even "the wider open internet" also works on the basis of the group. However, a more forward thinking humanity may want to increase the group, the range , the diversity, or they may want to be more realistic about our psychologies....
  • noobermin 11y ago
    I'm obviously biased here, but to be fair to instagram, you do have the option of putting links in your profile. This is how the spammers on ig work, they make a profile featuring a girl with big boobs, then they heart a bunch of random photos, then put a link for "more intimate pictures" in their profile. Besides the stupid spamming, many instagrammers put a link to their blog or website in their profile, and if a specific pic has a blogpost associated with it, they mention that in the description. Yes, it is an extra step and makes the process harder for sharing external content, but I think it fits instagram very well. Instagram really isn't for blogging or communication (despite the messenging service they rolled out a while back.) It's for photo sharing, and being focused yields a better experience for doing just that.
  • deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]
• noobermin 11y ago
  Right, I fumbled on my grammar in that one sentence, but what I meant is that the nature of instagram with its "inward looking"-ness doesn't disconnect content producers from content consumers. Actually, ig connects many of us together, that is my experience at least. I'm not disagreeing with the idea that ig is inwards looking. Anyway, that sounds like the next big startup, a simple service that links hashtagged (and otherwise tagged) content from ig, twitter, blogs, and puts its access into one portal.
  • disgruntledphd2 11y ago
    Maybe we could call it RSS?