By Carly Goroff ‘13
EE Staff Writer
Is Instagram a new form of advertisement? If you are not familiar with this popular new app you might be living under a rock.
Excuse the harshness but it’s true, Instagram has taken the app market by storm and some users even prefer it to the multi-million dollar company Facebook.
In just two short years, Instagram is now a billion dollar company. Over 80% of students at Trumbull High School have an iPhone and the majority of the owners also have an Instagram account. While many users post pictures of picturesque landscapes, “selfies” or “Throwback Thursday” pics, you can’t help but notice as you scroll through your feed the numerous posts containing pictures of food, drinks, and cooking experiments.
Just the other day, an “artsy” picture of a Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks received over 85 likes! This brings up the question of advertisement. If random people from high school can generate so many views from snapping pictures of well-recognized food brands, should these companies advertise through Instagram?
Mrs. O’Connell, a member of the business department at Trumbull High School shares her opinion on the topic. “Staying current with technology will keep companies and products relevant to their technology savvy markets. Using Instagram or any of the latest technology available will keep the product “alive” and at the forefront of the consumers’ minds. So yes, Instagram is an amazing new venue to assist in advertising a product.”
Going digital and utilizing the new technology of the 21st century is a step that’s crucial to the growth and development of any business trying to succeed in the ever-evolving market. Instagram can be harnessed by companies who especially produce food and drinks because if a student from Trumbull High can target 85 viewers imagine what a worldwide company such as Starbucks could achieve.
The possibilities are endless.
It’s true I’m so addicted to Instagram it is not even funny. I find myself always on the app. I could spend a good 10 minutes looking at pictures people post. And whenever I take a picture the first thought in my mind is let me post this on Instagram and I don’t really ever think to post it on facebook anymore.
I agree with this article. It is no longer weird to see people taking pictures of their food, because you assume it is just to post on Instagram. Everyone I know has one, and is constantly updating their news feed. When people post popular brand names on Instagram, those pictures do tend to recieve more likes. I believe advertising on Instagram would be affective for any product targeted at teenagers.
I think carly took a common topic that most students can relate to (since so many kids have an instagram) and put an interesting spin on it. I like how she talked about it being a good advertising tactic rather than just provide a bland description of what instagram is. I thought it was well-written and brought up good points on why companies should advertise through instagram.
Instagram started as a photography app but now the pictures you see on it are from anything that would be considered good photography. Lots of people now take a moment to take a picture of their food before eating it just to post their meal in hopes of receiving likes or post a “throwback” picture that was only taken last week. I do enjoy the app though, it’s fun to see just pictures without other miscellaneous things like on Facebook.
I agree that instagram has become an instant addiction. All my friends have it and it has become part of Trumbull High School’s community. I never thought that I would like it as much as I do now. As soon as I got the iphone the first app I downloaded was instagram, and today I could not live without it. This article has a topic that most students can relate to, because the majority of us loves instagram.
I’m always posting my delicious food pictures on Instagram and instantly felt a connection to this article after reading the headline. A perfect topic for an article that relates to students our age.
This article is extremely relevant seeing as I don’t know anyone who does not have an instagram account. Companies would be smart to use intagram to advertise as it is a great way to introduce new products to a large, young market.