Instagram is Dead for Photographers: Here's Where to Post Instead

Social media has been the biggest agent for change in global society since the invention of the Internet itself. Early on it brought communities together, enabled old friends to reconnect, turned everyone into publishers and transformed the laugh-out-loud emoji into an object of hatred.

But as we all know, social media then transitioned into an algorithm-driven sales-focused attention-suck that turned many of us into unwitting doom-scrolling zombies and served as a channel for fake news, propaganda, conspiracy theories and hate.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

In the early days of social media, photography was a big winner in a global experiment in connectivity, enabling us to put our work in front of a potential audience in the billions. We even got our own social media platform - Instagram - which, thanks in part to the emergence of smartphone cameras, turned everyday photographers into global celebrities with massive followings and inspired millions to dutifully photograph the exact same spots.

That was then, this is now.

Instagram has now fully transitioned from a photography platform to a TikTok clone, with an algorithm-driven emphasis on Reels and most recently, a change to a 4:5 ratio portrait thumbnail size specifically for video. Facebook is a shite-laden dead-end where you have to pay to put your posts in front of bots. Twitter is an untrustworthy hate-machine for trolls and incels. Threads is more corporate shilling from Zuckerberg's global manipulation engine. And TikTok? TikTok was never for photographers anyway. It's long past time to move on. The social platforms killed photography's soul – now it's time we returned the favour.

Some Caveats

If you're currently generating income from corporate social media and it's working for you - keep at it. Anyone who can achieve positive outcomes while wading neck-deep through sewage has my respect.

Change won't be easy or quick. But given what we know about social media now and the vile fucks that run the show, surely literally anything has to be an improvement.

You won't have access to anything close to the potential audiences on mainstream social platforms, but remember that the operative word here is potential.

This article is aimed specifically at photographers, not content-creators. While I have nothing against content creators (being one myself), we're talking about photography as a hobby and art form here - the outcomes, not the processes.

Alternative Platforms for Photographers

Bluesky

Founded by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, Bluesky has evolved from a primitive service with a handful of nerdy users into a platform that could genuinely serve as an alternative to Twitter. While its user base is dwarfed by Twitter's approximately 75 times larger active monthly users, explosive growth might actually be detrimental for Bluesky, as they currently lack the infrastructure to handle it.

What makes Bluesky brilliant for photographers is its high-resolution image support, meaning your shots look far better than they do on Space Karen's platform. They're also more likely to be seen thanks to an active and rapidly growing photography community. The platform offers both straight chronological feeds (Following) and algorithm-driven feeds (Discover), giving users the choice of how they want to consume content.

Bluesky functions primarily as a relay point - a place to discover new photographers, keep up with friends' photographic output, and serve as that all-important tool - a rest-room diversion. It's the most mainstream of the new platforms, most similar to pre-Nazi Twitter and pre-Eye of Sauron Instagram, making it feel familiar to new users.

Pixelfed

The Fediverse represents a kind of open source social network of interconnected services designed from the ground-up to be decentralized and therefore immune to the rapacious appetites of billionaires. Within this ecosystem, Pixelfed emerged in 2018 as an open alternative to Instagram.

If you're wondering why you've never heard of something that's been around for over six years, it's probably because until very recently it didn't have any mobile apps - the only way to use it was through a web browser. The platform's current user base of about 450,000 is a statistically insignificant fraction (0.018%) of Instagram's 2.35 billion users.

But ask yourself when you last had an authentic interaction of some kind on Instagram. And, for the record, automated replies spamming heart or prayer-hand emojis do not count as interaction. I'm willing to bet that it's been all receiver and no transmitter for some time.

Flickr

The venerable OG photo sharing site is seeing an encouraging uptick in interest, particularly from younger photographers who've never previously used it. Flickr's strength lies in its pure focus on photography - you can upload in full resolution and full size without excessive compression forcing viewers to squint at their monitors from ten feet away.

It's an excellent platform for building a portfolio of photographs and can serve as a photo-blogging site, thanks to its powerful Albums feature. While many of the discussion forums are now fossilized relics of its heyday (which management should probably clean up), the platform remains fundamentally about the photos.

Flashes

The Bluesky team is currently developing their own Instagram-style photo-sharing app called Flashes. While still in beta testing, the demo content from developer Sebastian Vogelsang shows a very Instagram-like interface. Given the recent success of Pixelfed, there seems to be significant interest in apps that prioritize photography over short-form video content. This app could be a significant player when it launches.

Vero

Launched in 2018, Vero has experienced two major popularity spikes - first at launch, and again when Lightroom Preset salesman and king of the shilling brand ambassadors, Peter 'He's got a truck' McKinnon promoted it. With approximately 5 million users, it's not a complete failure, but it's far behind Bluesky's 30 million achieved in under a year.

While there's nothing inherently wrong with Vero - it has a great app with a lovely interface designed for sharing photographs - it feels oddly sterile and lifeless. Even McKinnon hardly posts there anymore.

Glass

Glass positions itself as Flickr's heir apparent while perfecting the art of taking itself very seriously indeed. Unlike other platforms that are either free or freemium, Glass operates on a paid model with two tiers - $40 per year for the basic plan and $129 per year for a 'Patron' badge next to your username.

The platform makes its paid nature a selling point, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. Venture capital rarely benefits user-centric services, and their transparency about subscriptions is refreshing. The website is beautifully designed, photographs look sensational, and it offers thoughtfully designed features including excellent apps, a lovely web version, series, albums, and powerful search tools.

Perhaps its most interesting feature is the complete absence of follower counts. As Tom Watson, one of the site's founders, explained, removing follower counts means appreciating a photo isn't a performative act - it's simply a nod to the photographer. While admirable, the platform can feel somewhat cliquey and inaccessible if you're not part of the in-crowd.

The Way Forward

There are many reasons photographers share their work online, and there have never been as many platforms to do so. But you need to consider what outcomes you wish to achieve, as this will determine which platform you choose to focus on.

While some argue that Instagram remains essential for professional visibility, the platform's continued shift away from photography makes this increasingly questionable. If you're posting to Instagram out of habit, ask yourself what positive outcomes have resulted from all that posting. If you can name even one good outcome, you're probably ahead of the curve.

You could, of course, ditch social media entirely and set up your own space online. At least then it would be under your direct control and highly unlikely to get targeted by a billionaire for a hostile takeover.

Key Platform Takeaways

• Bluesky: Best for discovery and community engagement

• Pixelfed: True Instagram alternative with focus on authentic interaction

• Flickr: Excellent for high-quality portfolio building

• Glass: Premium option for serious photographers

• Vero: Well-designed but lacks community vitality

• Flashes: Promising upcoming platform worth watching

The death of Instagram as a photography platform doesn't mean the end of photo sharing - it might just mean the beginning of something better.

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