Instagram Is: the crowd-sourced documentary
Before this domain was a blog, it was home to a short film made with and about the people who used the app.
In the early 2010s, photo sharing on phones was still new, and the people using it formed a close-knit community. They organised weekly photo challenges and "InstaMeets" in cities around the world, and followed each other for the pictures rather than the fame. Instagram Is, a short documentary released in 2013, tried to capture that moment.
The film
Instagram Is was created by Paul Tellefsen. It began as a "fake" trailer for a documentary that did not yet exist. The response was strong enough that it turned into a real project, built largely from clips and contributions sent in by users themselves. The finished film runs for around twenty minutes and gives a voice to both enthusiasts and doubters, exploring why so many people found the app meaningful and how it changed the way they looked at everyday things.
The film was covered by photography and technology sites at the time, and many of the links that still point to this domain date from that period. The original film pages for watching, the trailer, the music and taking part are no longer online. This site does not host the film and has no connection with its makers.
Why it still resonates
What stands out about the documentary today is how personal it is. It is less about followers and reach than about storytelling through snapshots: artistry, love and day-to-day life, shared with strangers who became friends. Those themes are still part of the platform, even if they are harder to find among the adverts and short videos.
What Instagram is now
The app has changed enormously since 2013. It now counts well over a billion users, and it has added Stories, Reels, shopping features and direct messaging. A whole industry of creators and influencers has grown up around it.
Influencers range from huge to tiny. Mega influencers, usually celebrities, athletes and big brand ambassadors, have a million followers or more. At the other end, micro and nano influencers have far smaller but often very loyal audiences. Our guide to Instagram influencers explains the tiers.
It can shift whole industries. Fashion, beauty, food and travel brands now plan campaigns around the platform. During the pandemic lockdowns, for example, celebrities and models turned to filming content at home, and some brand collaborations recorded in kitchens and bathrooms drew more attention than traditional advertising.
Finding people to follow depends on you. Some accounts have millions of followers; some of the most interesting have a few thousand. Expert storytellers, keen photographers and local makers are all there if you look.
Instagramis today
This domain is now an independent blog about social media, creators and visual storytelling. You can read the latest articles on our news page or learn more about the site.
Instagramis is not affiliated with Instagram, Meta Platforms or the makers of the documentary Instagram Is.