By: Courtney Rose
From the looks of it, most of the Olives jumped on the Instagram bandwagon around 2010-2012. Who would have thought that half a decade ago, a simple photo-sharing app with filters (that made us believe we are all awesome photographers) would change our lives. Today Instagram inspires us all to capture and share the best moments in our lives—even if that means staging photos just for the gram!
Not only has it changed our personal lives, it’s changed how we do business, creating another layer to branding, media relations, social media, influencer marketing, research, relationships, and more. As a fun way to take a trip down memory lane and showcase how Instagram has evolved over the years, we decided to do a side-by-side comparison of our first Instagram posts EVER and our most recent posts to dive deeper into how we utilize Instagram differently (and see just how much our photo quality has changed) – enjoy!
Bigger Photos
Stop cropping those images—Instagram now let’s us share larger images to really capture the whole scenery from head to toe!
Bye-bye, Filpagram
No need to spend time uploading images to apps like Flipagram to showcase that awesome vacation or experience—Instagram noticed our #struggle and created album sharing, allowing us to share more than one photo per post! #Winning
Tag—you’re it!
Today, Instagram lets us tag our friends or favorite businesses in posts—so we know experienced epic sunsets with us in the moment and where!
Storytelling with a Caption
There’s a time and place for everything, but there are definitely occasion worthy of adding a little more info in our captions—so use it as an opportunity to share your story alongside a beautiful photo!
#’s are Everything
#Hashtags have become second nature to us—most of us end almost every post with trendy hashtags that relate to our photos. It’s how we stay up to date with trendy topics and brand ourselves!
Cut those borders out
No need to frame those photos anymore with Instagram’s very first filters (that we were all guilty of using!). Showcase the whole photo—especially when it’s food to really make your followers hungry! 😉
Stage Your Photo for BIG Impact
Leave it up to our social media queen to have the most liked photo—staging photos are KEY. You want to make sure you have great lighting and everything positioned just right for the perfect photo that your followers will be sure to <3.
New Filters
Instagram has added multiple filters throughout the years and has said goodbye to some of the early (and intense) variations—just like we’ve all said goodbye to burned CDs…they were still a thing in 2011.
Location, Location, Location
We can let people know exactly where that moment was captured on Instagram by plugging in the location with geotags—so we can go back and look at where the fun memories were made.
Still #Trending
From “the mirror selfie” to “pics-of-pics,” especially from step-and-repeats or photo booths at amazing events, some things never change. They’re classic!
Sharing the Ambiance
Posting photos of your squad will never really go out of style, but stylish photos that capture the ambiance of a space are definitely in.
Speak in Emojis
Have fun with your caption—the power of emojis are real, so use them! 🙂