The Psychology Behind the Game-Changing App

Who has a smart phone these days without Instagram installed on their phone? You know someone like that? Are they older than 40 years of age? Yep, thought so. Almost no one that falls into the millennial age bracket and has a smart phone is foreign to Instagram. For years now, Instagram has been changing the way we all operate. It has been changing the world ever since it was launched 8 years ago. The big question now is: Why is it so popular?

Yes, it is because the photo sharing platform innovates and updates its features every now and then so they stay interesting. That’s from its marketing point of view. But the fact that most of us couldn’t imagine the world without it is almost a phenomenon. I can’t remember the days before the Instagram, what would I do with my “Instagenic” menus? There must be more to it than just those updates and new features.

Let me be blunt and put it out there: Instagram is very popular because it gets us; modern, 21^st century human beings. It satisfies our hunger for self actualization, self expression and social networking. Next question is: How?

It is oh so visual

Humans are visual beings. We process an image around 60,000 times faster than text, a research concluded. Instagram, being an image based platform, offers a simple and even faster way to process all those images.

And with the ability to ‘like’ images, the more likes we get, the more we want to post new better photos and the more others want to come back to see. It is a cycle. That is why we like it and it is effective as a marketing tool because it pleases the eye and it’s only natural. We are not forcing anyone to view our brands on Instagram, they will come and stay if they enjoy our content.

It fulfills human desires

Instagram promotes individuality, creativity, and self-expression. It is our very need as humans to fulfill the drive of self-development and creative expression. And through this process, we seek validation from others (read: likes from our followers). Instagram is basically a platform for popularity. It’s funny how on Instagram normal people get to play celebrities and celebrities get to be normal people.

While it may sound bad, it can be beneficial for your brands. By creating the right content, you can build whatever persona you wish your brand to have. You can decide the specific types of followers you wish to gather. Anything is possible.

So far and yet so close

Technology has made distance seem smaller. Instagram does that, too, even on a more personal level. We all like to be a part of something bigger and better than us. Instagram allows us to get personal with the community or celebrity we adore. It lets us think that we are all connected.

With this ability to bring users closer, Instagram has risen to be the new generation of marketplace. Because of its user-friendliness, consumers love browsing on Instagram better as opposed to traditional websites. And on the other hand, it allows brands to answer the consumers’ needs better.

Instagram is a huge playground that offers limitless possibilities but that does not mean you can be careless about your online persona. Now that we know the psychology behind Instagram, we shall know how to play it to our strength. Happy ‘gramming!