Earlier this evening I was looking at the account of a “Bookstagrammer” and wondering how much of a thing it was, and then I saw this brief post about how Instagram is a book marketing platform. And why shouldn’t it be, it’s an ideal platform for posting pretty pictures of all sorts of things.
On Instagram, there are all these little sub-groups or communities of people posting pictures of the things they like. I follow lots and lots of dogs – chihuahuas, pugs, French bulldogs, Boston terriers. I find I learn a lot about the places the dogs live in from their photos. When we went to NYC last year I had to go to Washington Square Park – not to see the spot where Barack Obama spoke, but to visit the small dog run there, hoping to catch a glimpse of some of my favourite French bulldogs. In the end, I didn’t spot any celebrity Frenchies at WSP, but I did meet one near the Brooklyn Bridge.
I also follow other fountain pen fanciers. They like posting photos of their pens, and the rainbow of inks they use.
Then there’s the stationery lovers – there’s subgroups within these, the Traveler’s Notebook fanciers, Leuchtterm, Moleskine, you name it. Journalers, Bullet journalers, artists who work in various mediums. Calligraphers: I especially love the Japanese and Chinese calligraphers who make writing with a brush and ink seem so effortless and the characters so perfect and beautiful.
Oh, and mustn’t forget the jewellers. I like Native American and Native American inspired jewellery, and semi-precious gems like turquoise. I started following a few of these artists from Etsy – on Instagram you can learn more about what inspires them, see their process. It’s very enjoyable and interesting.
Over the years Instagram has slowly grown on me. I’ve made quite a few friends there and while it’s not the same as Twitter for learning stuff (I suppose pictures have some limitations), I enjoy the social aspect of it. And the pretty pictures aren’t half bad, either.