I want to start this post with a confession. Instagram is not a new platform but it is new to me. As a social media user I’ve never really seen the appeal of it, when I use social sites I like there to be a mix of formats. Something I think Instagram lacks. As an art supporter, I have spent time admonishing people online for not giving credit where it is due and that is an issue with Instagram. And the art exhibition put on by Prince (Contrera, 2015) made me doubly wary of it.
As a library professional and as a member of society my personal preferences are not always going to be something I can do. Instagram is a site that more organisations are moving on to for promotion and outreach, following their patrons on to the popular platforms.
What is Instagram?
Instagram was in October 2010 hand now has 800 million monthly active users globally (Instagram, 2018) Instagram is a free photo and sharing platform with a mobile focus (Instagram, n.d.-c). Initially mobile only, web viewing was introduced in 2013 (Instagram, 2018). As of 2012, it has been a Facebook owned company (Kevin, 2012). Instagram has a reputation as being young and vibrant something encouraged by their regular updates and focus in interactivity.
The main exploration option is hashtags, Instagram allows up to 30 on a single post anything can be a hashtag available for exploration (Instagram, n.d.-b). There are limits hashtags hidden temporarily for reasons of inappropriate content (Instagram, n.d.-a) and there are trends that will need to be kept in mind. These changes in hashtag usage are instigated by trendsetters and can’t be taught they have to be experienced.
Finding accurate usage statistics for Instagram is difficult. There are some conflicting pieces of information about who is using it and little data exists for the youngest demographic. Though it is widely acknowledged that it is a platform favoured by the young, with 59% of Instagrammers in the US being under 30 (Mathison, 2018). More locally there are 9 million Australians using Instagram monthly (Cowling, 2018).
Libraries and Instagram.
As previously stated Instagram isn’t new it is just new to me and there are plenty of libraries on Instagram. There are varying types of libraries on Instagram from school libraries aiming to keep families involved and up to date (Melbourne High School Library, 2018; Mitchell High School Library, 2018), to public libraries (Eastern Regional Libraries, 2018; Los Angeles Public Library, 2018), to academic libraries (Melbourne University Library, 2018; University of Glasgow Library, 2018) to elite institutions (my phrasing for special, state and national libraries) (Library of Congress, 2018; Melbourne Cricket Club Library, 2018; State Library Victoria, 2018).
There is also professional literature on libraries and Instagram. Wallis (2014) used Instagram in an innovative manner in her academic library, to introduce the University of Montevallo college library to students by way of an interactive guided tour fashion. The session is a modern take on the scavenger hunt I’m sure we have all done or at least witnessed. Hopkins, Hare, Donaghey, and Abbott (2015) used Instagram as an example of a place for participatory culture in libraries.
And of course, as Instagram is a social media site there are plenty of social media posts with best practice and tips (Cribbs, 2017; Jones, 2017; Techavanich, 2015). Because we librarians are nothing if not a friendly and helpful bunch.
My Time on Instagram.
My first problem when creating an account was to create a name, with the popularity of Instagram coming up with names that have not already been used is difficult. My name of choice @bookishbastet is a reference to the book nature of the account and Bastet, the Egyptian deity associated with cats. For a professional organisation, a name could be used, if I was creating one for professional use rather than the experience I would use a different name.
Who to follow. I chose to follow some of my preferred performers. Largely because I knew their social media interactivity with fans was high, one in particular, Mike Shinoda, has a visual creative streak and announces album and tour information through hand-drawn pieces, perfectly suiting Instagram (Shinoda, 2018). Then I went looking for library organisations for inspiration as much as professional interest. I am also following multiple hashtags #librariesofinstagram, #bookstagram, #books, #reading being the most professionally minded.
Creating posts. My strength is in the word, not visual imagery, the primary trade of Instagram. I settled in trying to use a few different things that a library might, with the exception of my first post, a fireplace from a restaurant in eastern Melbourne that made me wish for a book. My posts focused on young adult and junior audiences. The junior selection is aimed more at the parents of children, the minimum age for Instagram is 13 years old (Instagram, n.d.-c). The posts are book stacks, recommendations and a promotional poster for a story time. I had a couple of other ideas one for a book face but couldn’t find a book I liked enough to do it with. The other was a mini display ‘libraries more than just books’, finding the space and material to action it proved impossible.
The main issue I found with Instagram was the default aspect ratio for images is square and severely cropped in an odd fashion on my device. While editing to different aspect ratio is an option it is fiddley and my phone and pudgy fingers did not enjoy the experience. I didn’t experiment much with the filters another aspect of Instagram that garners some attention. When I wanted to use them everything I tried felt a little off, possibly more my own sensibilities than any the actual appearance of the image. I didn’t do anything with videos at all, unable to find a valid reason to use it that wouldn’t be better suited to another platform.
I chose to use Instagram knowing that it may be useful for my future time in libraries, school libraries use the platform to inform parents of goings on, public libraries to reach who they can. It was a gap in my knowledge that needed to be filled and it had been a long time since I had learned a new social platform. While it is unlikely that I will continue to use it I do see the appeal.
References
Contrera, J. (2015, May 25). A reminder that your Instagram photos aren’t really yours: Someone else can sell them for $90,000. The Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2015/05/25/a-reminder-that-your-instagram-photos-arent-really-yours-someone-else-can-sell-them-for-90000/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.fde9e8e8f05c
Cowling, D. (2018, May 1). Social media statistics Australia: April 2018. SocialMediaNews. Retrieved from https://www.socialmedianews.com.au/social-media-statistics-australia-april-2018/
Cribbs, B. (2017). 12 must follow library Instagram accounts. In Rivistas. Retrieved May 25, 2018, from http://www.rivistas.com/12-must-follow-library-instagram-accounts/
Eastern Regional Libraries. (2018, May 25). yourlibraryerl. Instagram. [Instgram profile]. Retrieved from https://www.instagram.com/yourlibraryerl/?hl=en
Hopkins, P., Hare, J., Donaghey, J., & Abbott, W. (2015). Geo, audio, video, photo: how digital convergence in mobile devices facilitates participatory culture in libraries. The Australian Library Journal, 64(1), 11-22. doi: 10.1080/00049670.2014.984379
Instagram. (2018). Our Story. In Instagram Info Center. Retrieved May 23, 2018, from https://instagram-press.com/our-story/
Instagram. (n.d.-a). How can't I search for certain hashtags? In Instagram Info Center. Retrieved May 23, 2018, from https://help.instagram.com/485240378261318
Instagram. (n.d.-b). How do I use hashtags? In Instagram Info Center. Retrieved May 23, 2018, from https://help.instagram.com/351460621611097
Instagram. (n.d.-c). What is Instagram? In Instagram Info Center. Retrieved May 23, 2018, from https://help.instagram.com/424737657584573
Jones, G. (2017, 23 February). 12 insta easy Instagram library & literacy promotion ideas. YALSA. [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://yalsa.ala.org/blog/2017/02/23/12-insta-easy-instagram-library-literacy-promotion-ideas/
Kevin. (2012, April 9). Instagram + Facebook. Instagram Info Center. [Blog Post]. Retrieved from https://instagram-press.com/blog/2012/04/09/instagram-facebook/
Library of Congress. (2018, May 25). librarycongress. Instagram. [Instgram profile]. Retrieved from https://www.instagram.com/librarycongress/?hl=en
Los Angeles Public Library. (2018, May 25). lapubliclibrary. Instagram. [Instgram profile]. Retrieved from https://www.instagram.com/lapubliclibrary/?hl=en
Mathison, R. (2018, 24 January). 23+ useful Instagram statistics from social media marketers. Hootsuite. [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://blog.hootsuite.com/instagram-statistics/
McPherson, C. (2018, May 25). bookishbastet. Instagram. [Instgram profile]. Retrieved from https://www.instagram.com/bookishbastet/?hl=en
Melbourne Cricket Club Library. (2018, May 19). melbcclibrary. Instagram. [Instgram profile]. Retrieved from https://www.instagram.com/melbcclibrary/?hl=en
Melbourne High School Library. (2018, May 25). melbhslibrary. Instagram. [Instgram profile]. Retrieved from https://www.instagram.com/bookishbastet/?hl=en
Melbourne University Library. (2018, May 25). unilibrary. Instagram. [Instgram profile]. Retrieved from https://www.instagram.com/unilibrary/?hl=en
Mitchell High School Library. (2018, May 25). mitchell_hs_library. Instagram. [Instgram profile]. Retrieved from https://www.instagram.com/mitchell_hs_library/?hl=en
Shinoda, M. (2018, May 25). m_shinoda. Instagram. [Instgram profile]. Retrieved from https://www.instagram.com/m_shinoda/?hl=en
State Library Victoria. (2018, May 25). library_vic. Instagram. [Instgram profile]. Retrieved from https://www.instagram.com/library_vic/?hl=en
Techavanich, K. (2015). Libraries of Instagram. In Public Libraries Online. Retrieved May 25, 2018, from http://publiclibrariesonline.org/2015/06/libraries-of-instagram/
University of Glasgow Library. (2018, May 25). uofglibrary. Instagram. [Instgram profile]. Retrieved from https://www.instagram.com/uofglibrary/?hl=en
Wallis, L. (2014). #selfiesinthestacks: Sharing the Library with Instagram. Internet Reference Services Quarterly, 19(3-4), 181-206. doi: 10.1080/10875301.2014.983287
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