The importance of social media tends to be even more evident when natural disasters are happening in the world. This relates to the recent tragedies of hurricane Sandy hitting the east coast. Social platforms play an important role in documenting these events and sharing them with the world. In the past Youtube, Facebook, and Twitter have received acclaim for the part they’ve played in sharing world news, but the newest to enter the mainstream is Instagram.

This platform has become the primary way people are sharing images of hurricane Sandy. In addition, big media players such as CNN and Time Magazine are using Instagram to extract real time images of the hurricane and its effects for broadcasting purposes. Its been reported that 10 pictures are being tagged per second on Instagram, with hundreds of thousands of pictures already posted, this is an incredible figure!

The current visual-social trend has propelled Instagram’s popularity over the last little while, making its named synonymous with popular social platforms.  A huge factor to this is its mobile-only nature, the immediacy and ease of posting while on the go makes it very appealing. Another feature is its capability to easily link to other social networks, which adds to the social experience. All in all, Instagram has a bright future. Although tragic, these global events have opened the door for Instagram and the many possibilities of its future uses.