Friday, April 25, 2014

Instagram and Hashtags

Photos grouped by #stmarkthankfuljournal
Instagram is a little like Facebook and a little like Twitter, but it deals exclusively with photos or videos and messages.  You can like something (with a heart), you can comment on someone's photo and you can use hashtags(#) which groups all photos together that have the same hashtag.  There are 3 St. Mark hashtags (that we know of---this is very popular with teens, so there may be more) : #discoverstmark #stmarkthankful #stmarkthankfuljournal.  

#discoverstmark




The first one (#discoverstmark) is for events exclusively about or at church.  The second two were started by a few members of our circle to share their blessings.  We invite you to participate in these pages and to let the Communications Committee know if there are any others.  For example, the photo with three women with Cardinals' shirts on should have #discoverstmark but can also use #stmarkthankful.









So, how do you do this?  First, you need a smart phone, an ipod or a tablet with a camera.  Then, you download the free software.  The blue camera button at the bottom is what you can use to take photos.  The "house" is your homepage.  The "compass rose" is how you explore hashtag groupings.  The "heart in a circle' shows when someone likes your post or has commented on it. The "microwave" on the far right is your profile page telling about yourself and grouping all of your photos together.


This can also be another way to share the "Good News" with our church friends and the world.  If I use one of these photos with #gratefuljournal for example, everyone in the world who is keeping a grateful journal contributes photos.

If you want to participate, but need help, contact D.Weir, J. Morgan or any teenager!  Click here for more information on this "app".  I almost forgot that there are different effects you can put on the photos.  For example, your photos can look like 1970's era yellowed photos for those of you nostalgic for yellowed photos with a white border. :-)

This is just another piece of "social media" that allows us to share with each other and be evangelists too---an updated version of the  bulletin board in the basement of the church because people can see it without going to the church basement.  Click here.


No comments:

Post a Comment