Instagram's new moves

In today's blog post i wanted to touch on another social media app that has been on the rise as of late in terms of innovation and excitement. Instagram has recently implemented two new features that i think can take the social media app to a whole another level of popularity. The first feature called "Instagram stories" is basically the same thing as snapchat where you get to post on the spot photos or videos that are usually no longer than 10 seconds. The second feature is what i am most excited about it's called " Instagram live" where anyone can start a live streaming feed of whats going on around them and with this feature everything is real time which allows for a new method of interaction.

Now The first feature is cool and everything but it's been done before and i might add that on snapchat the whole experience is far more pleasurable as they have things like little silly face filters, geolocation tags, and much more. While on Instagram's side it felt a bit bland and forced to have the feature amongst the app but never the less it's improving day by day and the content is getting better and better. Now the second feature is what i think will be the next big thing, live streaming. Now by no means were they the first to do it but i think they might be the first to actually see a return on their effort. a multitude of apps and bigger companies have tried to this same thing but to no avail as it's either to small of an app in the case of periscope, or it's to complicated and out of the way Facebook live. Instagram found the middle ground by having a well established social media application have this quick click where you can start streaming to anyone that might be interested to watch. Now some people might ask who would want to see me do a live stream? I agree to a certain extent but more and more people are doing them and it's especially prevalent when celebrities do them as the gets tons of views and feedback.

Now it's a strong move for Instagram as for a while the app felt a bit dead to me but with this recent tech i think they may be on to something. At the worst case this will only tell people that we are here to stay and we are trying to create new innovative ways for social interaction. But in the best case they have a whole new "thing" on their hands this could very well blow up and if it does that will on cement their name in the social media game even more.      
  

Snapchat's new tech, cool or whacky?

Now at this point we have all seen the new camera sunglasses made by snapchat, and if you haven't it's basically a pair of sunglasses you wear that have a small camera attached and it uploads what ever you capture straight to you snapchat feed. To some that might sound like a cool idea, a hands free camera that goes straight to my snapchat? Yes please! But to other's it might just be another overpriced piece of tech that they don't need. Today Im going to list some of the pros and cons and maybe touch on why snapchat is heading this way and how it relates to the company's brand.

$129 is what they go for but they are not the easiest things to find. At first the company was doing these random pop-up vending machines placed near big cities like Los angles and New York. They would sell out super quick and the only way you could get them would be having to pay an extra premium to who ever had them. Now they are creating more and more and slowly every one who wants one can have one. Now as to the specs of the camera they are not the best quality wise and that in my opinion might be the biggest deterrent to people. 129 dollars is a lot of money and i can imagine that if i spend that much i would like to receive a quality product in exchange. I had the chance to try them out and the looks don't fit my style so i would not be able to wear them as a regular pair of sunglasses, The user interface is easy enough, you just pair it with your phone and with a click of a button you can start recording anything you want.

Why sunglasses? The app has always carried a sense of a free and let loose feel as it is the go to when you want to post something quick and funny. Including all the silly face filters, Snapchat has set it self apart by being unique and not conforming to social media norms. With that impression i think the sunglasses fit in perfectly with the company's message. Showing innovation in terms of the company's image rather than trying to out do every social media website out there. Lastly I wanted to say that i personally won't be buying a pair any time soon but they are a cool item to check and test out, that being said what do you think? are the whacky? Or are they cool?

To learn more about the spectacles: https://www.spectacles.com/