So there's this thing called Instagram...

Here’s the thing about Instagram. It’s addictive—sure, we get that. But there’s more to it. Instagram is a direct product of our culture’s fascination with knowing everything. Turn on your TV. If it’s primetime, you’ll most likely be privy to any number of “reality” TV shows (whether they accurately portray reality is a post for another day…). Now think about it: we like these shows because they allow us to imagine what “living their life” would be like. Obviously this isn’t the first time anyone’s ever pondered that “grass-is-always-greener” adage (we have an adage, after all); I’m sure even before Mark Twain wrote The Prince and the Pauper you had some poor guys wanting to live the life of the king. The part that makes our generation special is this: we have the ability to witness almost every aspect of the life we desire.

Do you wish your kid was cute and bitchy? Go watch “Toddlers and Tiaras.”

Sad you can’t conceive? Hit up some “[Obscene number] Kids and Counting.”

Whatever life you wish you lived, you can at least tune in to it on Friday nights.

OK, so we understand why reality TV is so popular, but how does that relate to Instagram? Well I’m glad you asked. Instagram is just a still-frame version of reality TV, available on your phone. This “phone” part is vital to the equation—if you put anything on a cell phone, it will become popular.

“Hey, let’s bring back the telegram from the 1850’s, only we’ll put it in phones and call it ‘text messaging.’”

“Honey, do you wanna help Little Timmy read his bedtime story? No? Well just put his iPhone on ‘autoreader’ and I’m sure Siri will take care of him.”

So why should photography be any different? Sure, you could spend several hundred dollars on a camera, take some classes down at the community college (or just Youtube your lessons…), and contact some near-extinct artisans on how to develop artistic prints, OR you could just download Instagram for free. For any of you who do not know, Instagram is a free app that accesses your phone’s camera and applies filters with vintage effects to your photos. Then, the photos are shared to anyone who stumbles upon them while on the Instagram app. The design of the app is, hands down, superb. The quality of the pictures and the ease of use contribute greatly to its massive following (over 30 million users in just 18 months). But the real obsession with Instagram goes back to our fascination with the lives of others.

Instagram allows you to see life through the [filtered] lives of others. Movie stars, artists, athletes, neighbors—they’re all on Instagram, and they all take pictures. Find them, like them, comment on them, stalk them, or admire from afar.

You can search “Starbucks” and see what other people do while they drink their overpriced coffee.

Hashtag “movienight” to see what brand of popcorn your friends prefer.

And why is it so important that Instagram is a phone application instead of a “grounded” website? Simple: it’s “on-the-go.” Take it with you; take pics during the big meeting in the conference room; view pics in the big meeting in the conference room. Boiling it down to its most basic purpose, Instagram is your life, segmented into 1936x1936 pixels, for all the world to see and envy. I should know—while writing this post I’ve published 3 photos