I could agree with that. I use instagram as well and like it for the reasons you mentioned. But what your hitting upon is that it's not necessarily photography,

I could agree with that. I use instagram as well and like it for the reasons you mentioned. But what your hitting upon is that it's not necessarily photography, but more a social experience. As you put it: >A different art form altogether. So I don't think it should be categorized as photography. And you mentioned that looking at it was a good way to learn how to be a photographer. Which I still don't think it is. The greatest photographers (those who we should be studying) did not use instagram. And for the highly skilled contemporaries that do use instagram, I highly doubt they post their best on the service.