InstaMeet

I got to the designated place and was a bit nervous. There were others around as well. I wasn’t sure whether they were there for the same reasons or to meet others. I finally got up the guts to say "hi." Everyone started to do the same. I was going to be the bold one all day, I felt. Most were shy. I introduced myself to them and forgot most of their names.

The Instameet is a group of people who use a photo app called Instagram to take pictures. Some of the pictures are incredible, with their details and effects. They are far and away better than my pictures, but I like what I post. Most of the people are strangers at first, but they come to these Instameets. They are completely free, and it is literally “Meeting here, at this time,” and then many meet. For this one, it is a theme of taking pictures of subways and ‘underground’ as it is part of an international day of underground pictures. The company sends some swag, and the app gets a lot of profiles. The people who were organizing the meeting started letting us know what was happening where we were to go. If we had the best picture, there was more free swag, but I was more about meeting others. We split up into smaller groups as there were 50+ of us. We took an initial picture and then were let free to roam.

My group picked the furthest MTR (subway) line from where we were. The group was a great mix of students and workers from different backgrounds. Some girls from as far away as Guangzhou and Shenzhen were joining. I was acting silly for most of the day and being very outgoing. The pictures we took were really nice. Some turned out well, and some not so much on my part. The running around was fun. It was great to meet new people.

After we were done, we were to meet at West Kowloon Promenade. There were more people. I would say about 70-80 people. I was impressed by the friendliness and also the wide diversity of people taking part. I met more people and shared more stories. It was a great day, and I would definitely do it again.