INSTAGRAM ALTERNATIVES
The best ones to tryFinding Instagram Alternatives is an obstacle that is difficult to overcome today, at least in terms of image. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg had already guessed this back in 2012 when he acquired the application for around a billion dollars, confident that photo-sharing was a business that would revolutionize the market. It can be said that he had seen it coming, as he usually does.
The potential of Instagram, linked to the constant sharing of snaps and photographs, has exploded in recent years. It is no coincidence that many companies train and update themselves on the subject, as do the many entrepreneurs who attend Social Media Manager courses with certification.
Despite this, however, the photo-sharing sector offers many other possibilities in this respect: 1X, 500Px, EyeEm, and DeviantArt are just some of the social networks for photographers that exist today.
On this page, we will look at the main alternatives to Instagram, both as regards the world of photography and the world of social networks in general.
Instagram Alternatives
If finding alternatives to Instagram in global social marketing is a somewhat complicated task, the same cannot be said for the number of apps with virtually similar functions.
1x, EyeEm, or 500px are some examples of social networks that have made photographic quality a strong point of strength, so much so that they are known and used more than classic sites for photographers.
A social platform does not only offer a great service with regard to photo-sharing, of course, but it is glaringly obvious how a social network must first compete on photo-sharing performance in order to be considered a viable Instagram alternative.
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Social networks are now real scrapbooks of our lives, which is why there are so many applications specializing in sharing and publishing photos, often to a professional standard. Let’s take a look at the most popular ones.
Instagram Lite
Don’t panic, Instagram Lite is not a blatant copyright infringement, but Instagram itself has come up with a lighter version of the platform.
Essentially the messaging and video-sharing functions are removed, but posts and stories remain. This alternative Instagram site is designed for countries with low-end smartphones.
1x
If you are looking for or passionate about social networks for photographers, what better platform than 1x?
This site is famous in the world of photo-sharing, as you can’t just publish anything. That’s right, you got it right: not every photo “deserves” to be published.
The platform itself was conceived as an art exhibition, in which the photographs displayed were first examined and then chosen by a group of experts in the field.
The photos on display are not many and the site is well known, a real guarantee among alternatives to Instagram.
500px and EyeEm
Over time, both 500px and EyeEm slowly climbed the ranks as alternative sites to Instagram.
Both allow the exclusive publication of photos, but there is more: there are marketplaces within them where you can sell your “works”, which can be purchased via the Internet.
Both platforms also allow participation in missions and competitions, activities that are certainly appreciated by the community to compete or even just to watch the various shots.
Deviant Art
We consider this platform enjoyable for photography lovers, but woe betides the idea that it is limited to daily published shots.
DeviantArt is one of the largest platforms for artists in the world, not only photographers: poets, painters, designers, and many professionals that make creativity and aesthetics their strong points are present on this site. You just have to discover it and be fascinated, it is definitely the most artistic alternative to Instagram.
A popular social network in the photographic world. A platform where “pins” are equivalent to Twitter hashtags, thus guiding users to photos and content of interest to them depending on the topic.
Over the years, it has gained more and more importance in the commercial sphere, as one can upload photos of products directly linked to the page where they can be purchased. Consequently, as well as a valuable social network for photographers, it is also recommended as an additional platform on which to focus one’s business.
Flickr
Last but not least among the alternatives to Instagram is Flickr. Launched in 2005, this platform has also taken a highly professional turn with regard to photo-sharing. The photos are in most cases taken with high-end cameras, with equally excellent results.
We are talking about a social network that is well known among enthusiasts, to the extent that it is not so unusual to find, as on the sites seen above, copyrighted pictures.
Alternatives to Instagram: Vero App
Missing from the above list of alternatives to Instagram, however, is an application: Vero App, launched in 2015 by Lebanese businessman Ayman Hariri.
Its usage is practically similar to Instagram, with the exception of stories and live streaming, which are absent from the platform. The application was not a great success initially, in fact, it did not take long for it to end up well over 500th on the list of most downloaded apps.
How did it happen, then, that Vero became one of the possible alternatives to Instagram? There are two main reasons for this and, in essence, they are indirectly linked to the changes that Instagram has undergone in recent years.
Vero App: a simple algorithm
One of the cornerstones of Vero True Social is the “simplicity” of its algorithm. Instagram is, by now, programmed in such a way that certain posts are “recommended” on the basis of interest or popularity and, consequently, placed before others.
Vero provides a chronological display of content, without recommending or targeting certain posts over others. This is an aspect not to be underestimated, a symbol of the “truthfulness” of the social interaction that the app wants to convey.
Advertising on Vero
The second reason is one of the most drastic differences between the alternatives to Instagram: there is no advertising on Vero.
Unlike Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger’s app, Hariri wanted to avoid advertisements within the platform. This is no mean feat, considering that it certainly makes time on the social network more enjoyable and smoother, without constant interruptions and warnings.
So what will be the next social after Instagram? Hard to say today, in the midst of a digital revolution involving so many businesses. If we were to draw up a ranking called “Alternatives to Instagram“, few would be viable challengers, given the increasingly incredible statistics.
More and more companies are realizing the enormous potential of social networks, true global showcases of products and brands. One of the most likely hypotheses is that in the coming years, social platforms will also “specialize” in various markets, such as LinkedIn in the business world or Twitch in the video game sector.
We conclude by mentioning two last “categories” of social networks. On the one hand, the traditional social platforms, Facebook and Twitter, which are spread practically worldwide, and on the other hand, applications that make animated multimedia content their strong points, such as Snapchat, TikTok, and Tumblr.
An Instagram alternative site does not have to be based on the world of photography, as we shall see, in order to be useful or even capable of entertaining users.
The social network par excellence. With more than 2 billion users registered to his site (2020 figures), Mark Zuckerberg was undoubtedly one of the pioneers of the social era in which we live.
If finding alternatives to Instagram is difficult, then let us try to find social networks similar to Facebook, because we are not talking about a simple social network but a generational phenomenon that has started to scan the lives of so many people since 2004.
Personal profiles, photos, chats, and friend requests are just some of the historical functions of this computer “big bang”, which, although more than 15 years after its launch, remains the undisputed leader of social networks.
Another social platform that has gained an excellent following over the years. Twitter makes interactivity its strong point, giving the possibility of publishing short posts of 280 characters maximum and contextualizing them by inserting famous hashtags (i.e. words preceded by the “#” sign).
These hashtags are real labels with which one can identify the themes and topics that these “tweets” are about: #sport, #cinema, #current affairs, #politics, and much more. If you are eager for constant updates, news, and photos from all over the world, this is definitely the social network for you.
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Snapchat and TikTok: current trends as Alternatives to Instagram
If you enjoy the speed and imagination that a “Story” can offer, Snapchat and TikTok will certainly not disappoint among the alternatives to Instagram.
Applications symbolizing the so-called Generation Z (people born between 1997 and 2010), the multimedia content offered by these social networks is usually short and, in the case of Snapchat, disappears after 24 hours.
Add to this the fact that they are characterized by a huge amount of visual and musical effects, and you get platforms where entertainment is the main theme and where you can express your creativity and inventiveness.
Beyond functionality, one of these two socials has experienced exponential growth in its business in a very short space of time: TikTok Marketing is now a full-fledged reality.
Tumblr
Although not widely used, it cannot be said that Tumblr has not made a name for itself worldwide.
This site offers multimedia content ranging from photos to GIFs, i.e. animated images, and is a popular platform for those who have a blog on a certain topic or are interested in more curated content than just sharing photos, news, and status.
These are some of the most popular Instagram alternatives. The decision of which social platform to use is, of course, based on the characteristics of each one: if the focus is on high photo-sharing standards, one is spoilt for choice among the social networks for photographers. If the needs are, on the other hand, purely oriented towards interactivity or simple entertainment, we have seen how the digital industry has so many solutions.