Instagram VS EyeEm

 

A few weeks ago a friend shared a link to what seemed to me at the time another photo app  – EyeEm – trying to out shine Instagram. I took a few photos using the app during a recent long weekend in Annapolis, MD then promptly shuffled the app to the back burner.

Recently, Instagram updated their Terms of Service to include wording that appeared to signal their intention of using member photos  in advertisements without notifying or sharing revenue with the creator of the photo. There was no opt-out of this change outside of deleting your account before the new year.  Needless to say, it brought an outpouring of criticism from stunned users.  Cofounder of Instagram, Kevin Systrom responded to the outcry by stating Instagram has no intention to sell you photos.  Which by and large is true, but they have reserved the right to do so.

I get that Instagram has to develop a business plan and profit module. If Instagram content curators happen upon a photo of mine they would like to use for advertising purposes, I’m happy to sell them the  photo for this purpose. To be clear – I want their business to continue to be successful but not by trampling on the content makers that make Instagram such a success in the first place.  How difficult would it be to set up a photographer fee schedule for those users who would be interested in selling photos for Instagram advertising?

During this internet brouhaha, I took another look at the free photo app called EyeEm.  Scrolling through photos on the site, I came across this image from the founders of EyeEm:

Simple and clear message to users. No misunderstanding or re-explanation needed.  I’ve heard this app described as a Instagram hopeful. Poking around the app for little over a week, I found it is not like Instagram at all, it has its own personality and features distinctively its own.  Intuitive and easy to use, it is available to both iPhone and Android users.

I like that it is not a square format site, as much as I love square photography, I don’t exclusively take photos in that manner. This app is great place to share all my photographic gems.  One rather interesting feature is the Around Me section that collects photos of other users within the same geographic area. It is fascinating to see what other users in the same location are photographing and sharing.   I also like the Albums feature that organizes photos for you into themed albums such as Nature, Baseball, etc. You can favorite an album than just click on the Favorite Album tab to view all photos linked to this album. This is a great way to sort photos into categories for better viewing, something that is lacking on Instagram.

Up until recently you could share your photos with Flickr, but today while using the app I noticed the Flickr had been removed from the list of social media sharing sites. The developers may want to restore the Flickr sharing option.

I like the app, it has its own personality, fascinating features and a smart system for organizing user photos. If Instagram is still has not restored its faith with you, EyeEm is a strong alternative mobile photo sharing site that you may consider jumping to in the near future.