All photos credit to Remi Levitt.
The infamous social media app that has turned the simple act of snapping a picture into an ordeal seemingly bigger than life itself - Instagram - can now judge users on the aesthetic of their feed. The three picture wide grid on Instagram that shows up when clicking on the user’s profile, is what’s known as a feed.
Many Instagram users are familiar with editing apps such as VSCO, Piccollage and Lightroom, which are frequently used to create cohesive ‘themes’ across one’s Instagram feed; but there is an app that places the task of achieving an aesthetically pleasing look in its own hands: Planoly.
“If i know I have to post something, I can plan out exactly what I will post and what the caption will be, and then just post it from the app [Planoly],” India Rubin ’21 said. “I also like [Planoly] because I can move around the images I input so I can plan when and how I will post my favorite pictures.”
Planoly syncs up to the users Instagram account and allows a user to ‘post’ her upcoming pictures on the app, to test out how it would look amongst the dozens of other pictures already posted.
Planoly also has a feature of photo scheduling, where a date and time can be set for a certain picture, and Planoly will post the photo to Instagram with no user interference.
“I use Planoly to schedule my posts,” Jennifer Lake, a Chicago-based fashion blogger, said. “I’ve found it to be the best tool to develop a flow for my feed that works. The visual layout helps me organize my content in a cohesive way.”
The concept of having a ‘good feed’ has really evolved alongside the development of social media platforms. What began as just taking spontaneously fun photos and instantly posting them has turned into something so much more. Westport lifestyle blogger Jenna Crandall has a livelihood that thrives off the generation of a “feed.”
“I need to keep my Instagram feed looking cohesive and interesting,” Crandall said. “Coloring needs to match and side by side pictures should play off of each other. [Planoly] also helps with calendar planning.”
Planoly’s founder, Brandy Pham, has always lived a life heavily influenced by Instagram. Before Planoly was created, Pham had a jewelry business that thrived because of her constant posts and updates on instagram - according to the Planoly website.
When Pham had her first son in 2013, she was struggling to maintain an active and professional Instagram, to come up with captions and content in advance and to create alarms on her phone to post each picture.
These problems led her into developing Planoly, so the app could handle all of these minuscule details for her.