Why Is Instagram So Addictive? Full disclosure: our appreciation and love for Instagram is still strong. With 5 Million users (on the iPhone-only platform) at last count, the photo-sharing app continues to captivate users, brands and media properties alike. Granted, the latter two are still just starting to experiment and determine what role it can best play in their communications strategy. And we have not yet seen any user engagement/user metrics, i.e., how much time users are spending on the platform to date, how many photos are submitted on a daily/weekly basis by the average users, how has this increased/decreased over time, etc.). On the note of engagement, our curiosity was caught by a recent piece by The Next Web, informing us of a Cambridge University student’s 80-page dissertation analyzing how Instagram has become the phenomenon it has become. There are some key motivations emerging for why people love to use Instagram – while none of these are mutually exclusive:
Cartagram — Geocoded Image Visualization — by Bloom Cartagr.am This is Cartagr.am, by Bloom . It shows popular public photos from Instagram arranged on a map. Click and drag to pan around ... Scroll with your mouse or + and - to zoom ... Search for a place name like New York , Paris or London or zoom to your current location . Labels fade in if you move the mouse, and fade out if you don't. We're hard at work on better integration with Instagram, a clearer set of labels, and an iPad app. We would love your feedback! Site © 2011 Bloom . Map labels are from Acetate , © 2011 Stamen and FortiusOne . Bordeaux - Dynamic Public Transport Travel Time Maps for Bordeaux close It's Mapnificent shows you the area you can reach with public transport from any point in a given time. It is available for major cities in the US and world wide. You may be interested to watch a video about what Mapnificent can do, read a blog post about how Mapnificent works or jump to the Mapnificent API Documentation. Mapnificent was originally inspired by MySociety's Mapumental which is sadly still in private beta.
An 80-page dissertation on what makes Instagram tick - TNW Industry I’m on the couch, watching TV, but I couldn’t tell you what’s playing. I have no clue what’s been said or done during the show because the entire time it’s been on, I’ve been browsing through Instagram. Apparently I’m not alone. There’s no short answer to these questions, and Master’s Cantidate at Cambridge University Zachary McCune knows that better than just about anyone. McCune spent time at a London Instagram meetup, as well as examining the behavior of people who use the app. Popularity within the network requires both publishing and interaction.Instagram users are concerned with being unique in their work.Even popular locations will often have a unique vantage in the photo to set them apart.Users are not tied to one app, often times using multiple ones to produce a single upload.There is a near-equal gender split, and the app is popular across a wide range of ages. McCune’s findings are pared down in a 5-page executive summary which I’ve embedded here.
Insta-great! Google LatLong Update Oct 3, 12:00 pm: In order to use 3D driving directions, you'll need to have the Google Earth plug-in installed on your computer. Getting directions is one of the most popular features on Google Maps, whether it be for driving, walking, biking or transit. Today, we are launching a new feature that allows you to bring your upcoming trip to life, by allowing you to preview your route in 3D. Let’s say you’re planning a road trip down the beautiful coast of California’s Highway 1 and want to be able to see what the route really looks like. California’s rugged coastline is not to be missed, but the top-down view really doesn’t give you a good sense of what this majestic terrain is like. To preview your own route, it is as simple as clicking on a button. You can pause the flight at any time by clicking anywhere in the 3D view or on the pause button in the lower left. To help you keep track of which step you are on, the current leg of the trip is highlighted in the left panel.
Consumer Production in Social Media Networks: Executive Summary Extragram New app for New York's neon Kirsten Hively is obsessive about New York's colourful neon signs. She's been photographing them, mainly at night, and runs a weekly blog called Project Neon. Just launched, however, is a Project Neon iPhone app that allows fellow neon fans to locate some of NYC's finest signs for themselves... "Project Neon began as my personal project to document New York City's current, glowing neon signs, starting on the Upper East Side," says Hively. "Because I couldn't find any good resource listing the city's working signs, I kept careful track of the addresses of each sign I photographed," she continues. Of course, making an app isn't cheap so Hively turned to Kickstarter and managed to raise the required app-building fee. Users can browse the app's photographed neon signs in various ways - in a gridded gallery as above, or on a Google map of New York with each sign tagged with a pin drop, as below: Simply choose a sign, tap on it to see it full screen
Fausses photos vintages Smartphones, Hipstamatic, Instagram et réseaux sociaux ont changé notre rapport à la photographie. Nathan Jurgenson s'intéresse ici aux photos vintages devenues soudainement très "trendy". Billet initialement publié sur CyborgOlogy et repéré par Owni.eu Nathan Jurgenson, l’auteur de cet article, travaille sur une thèse concernant la documentation de la vie privée et les réseaux sociaux. Sauf mention contraire, tous les liens de l’article sont en anglais. 1e Partie : Instagram et Hipstamatic L’hiver dernier, pendant une violente tempête de neige, mes comptes Facebook et Twitter ont été inondés de photos enneigées. Les photos (comme celle ci-dessous) provoquaient immédiatement un sentiment de nostalgie et une sensation d’authenticité qui manque souvent aux photos numériques postées sur les réseaux sociaux. Dans cet essai, j’espère montrer comment les fausses photos vintages, en apparence banales, illustrent une tendance plus large dans les médias sociaux en général. Poètes et Scribes