
Why is Instagram so messy? - anta40
I&#x27;m a photography enthusiast. For photo sharing, I use 3 services: Instagram, Flickr, and 500px.<p>Instagram is the default one. Practically everything goes there (cellphone images included). Flickr and 500px are for &quot;thoughtful&quot; images taken with real cameras (sometimes digital, sometimes film).<p>My unscientific observation shows that Instagram is the most messy of them. People post virtually <i>everything</i> there: a beautiful Swiss mountainery scene, random people passing by on the street, boring selfies with boyfriend, cute cat photos, workout pics, etc etc. Some people even set up their online shop on Instagram!<p>Seems like Flickr&#x2F;500px users have different mindset, that is to publish proper, thoughtful photos. You won&#x27;t find celebrities post their vacation snaps there.<p>My question is: why?
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mtmail
Flickr and 500px make money with paying users. The free tier, just like cloud
storage companies these days, is subsidized.
[https://www.flickr.com/account/upgrade/pro/](https://www.flickr.com/account/upgrade/pro/)

Instagram makes money with ads. They need user engagement, viral shares and
anything that makes users (viewers, not uploaders) to keep the app open
longer.

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cimmanom
Because Flickr is for storing and exhibiting your photography. Instagram is
for exhibiting your life. They have different purposes. The former doesn't
attract masses of followers, and the latter doesn't require any significant
photographic skill or even much of an eye for photography.

