Instagram in Libraries

Courtesy of http://www.engagor.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/instagram-logo.png

 

Instagram is mainly a social media mobile application, but it can be accessed on the web.  It was started in 2010.  Users can upload a photo, crop the photo, apply a filter, add a caption, tag friends, and sync the photo with Facebook and Twitter.  Users can also take photos using Instagram and still use all of the features that are listed.  Users can follow other users and they can also be followed.  Also, users can add a hashtag to the caption of the photos so that when people search for that specific hashtag they can see all the photos with that hashtag.  According to Kjersten L. Hild in “Outreach and Engagement through Instagram: Experiences with the Herman B. Wells Library Account”. “Instagram offers a novel way to engage with users of academic libraries and receive feedback, direct or indirect, on how they are using the library space (p. 32).  This way of using Instagram can also be used by other types of libraries.  The Toronto Public Library has a very active Instagram account.  They post pictures at least once a week, if not more, and they have a variety of posts which includes stills of the library and its users and images of their collections. 

Hild, K. L. (2014). Outreach and Engagement through Instagram: Experiences with the Herman B Wells Library Account. Indiana Libraries, 33(2), 30-32.