Like many other people, I made a switch a few weeks ago to begin using Flickr to share my photos, after using Instagram for most of 2012. Whether this is a good of bad choice for you and your business or brand is a matter of personal preference and whether you believe that you can reach the audience you need to connect with using either service. Both services make it easy to share photos to your Facebook and Twitter accounts, but in my experience it seems that there is still a larger community on Instagram than on Flickr at this point.
To be clear, I haven’t decided whether I will completely delete my Instagram account, but even after they attempted to clarify their new Terms of Service, this still feels like a good opportunity to re-examine which community I want to participate in during 2013.
I have noticed a few key changes in the way I use Flickr versus how I used Instagram. Because of the interface and focus of Instagram, like many other users, I tended to use filters to alter my images more on Instagram than I do when using Flickr. Flickr does offer easy-to-use filters and editing features, but I find that when I am working with a well-composed, full-frame photo rather than an artificially square photo, I tend to let the image speak for itself, without filters.
My evaluation a few weeks after making this switch is simply that Flickr feels more polished and professional than Instagram. My use may vary over time, though.
You can see my Flickr feed for how this evolves.
Have you made the switch from using Instagram to another photo sharing tool? Does it even make sense for your business or brand to do so?