I first used Instagram at the new Museum of Contemporary Art in Cleveland a couple of years ago, where I snapped photos of the art on the walls using my iPad camera and sent them off to my Instagram account using the museum’s WiFi (I had to ask for their password).  I thought I’d taken the time to type in the name of each artist in each photo description. Reviewing those images now (here) on my Instagram profile, I  notice blurry shots not edited out and abbreviated artist names. My picture-taking activity bundled up in my excitement of walking the galleries and viewing the art. It never occurred to me to take the time to add image tags to any of those photos. Likewise, at the Carnegie International in Pittsburgh, where the huge galleries held much more and much larger artworks, I snapped and sent my photos to Instagram without tagging them.

Today, viewing Instagram images posted by others, I’ve notice their use of image tags, such as the place tags #ArtBasel #ScopeArtFair used by those in Miami and #Brighton #thingstodoinBrighton and #openstudios used by artist Caia Matheson in the UK.

Instagram allows up to 30 tags per image. Amid the many image tags used to describe the art medium or technique, artists also tag to get the attention of buyers, with:  #affordableart #artbuyers #artcollectors #buyart #artforsale #paintingforsale #printforsale #onlineshop #interiordesign #giftideas #handpainted #Christmasgiftideas #sellart #artsales

Taking more interest in Instagram and tagging, I noticed an article by Brandon Gaille, on 6 Keys to Getting more Instagram Likes, and learned that Facebook owns Instagram. According to Gaille, “Instagram is the hottest site right now. It was experiencing phenomenal growth when Facebook acquired the site and even thereafter the growth spree seems to be unhindered.”

I also want to share Dan Zarella of HubSpot’s huge infographic on how using more tags on your Instagram photos gets you more likes: