<p>If you thought that the people you meet on social media cannot be your friends in real life, think again!<br /><br /></p>.<p>The users of Instagram, the popular photo-sharing website, get to meet and share their love for photography with each other thanks to Instameets, a phenomenon that takes place all over the world. The number of budding photographers who attended the &lsquo;Bangalore Instameet&rsquo;, that took place for the first time last year, too has only been growing. The best part is one doesn&rsquo;t need fancy cameras to be part of the meets. A&#8200;simple phone would do!&nbsp;<br /><br />Held once in one or two months, the Instameets are a colourful and enlightening affair with the Instagrammers meeting at one particular area, exploring its history and of course, clicking photographs to share their experience with their followers on Instagram.&nbsp;<br /><br />There is an introduction session first followed by a walk around the area during which they click photographs. Post this, they head to a cafe or restaurant to interact more with each other and of course discuss their love for photography. Operating the official account &ndash; @blrinstameet &mdash; are Ashok Nalvade, Meghana Ramachandra and Srujana. Ashok, who run a marketing agency, had been using Instagram for two years but came on board as an &lsquo;admin&rsquo; just recently. &ldquo;Our Instameets are different from those of the others because we combine them with lunch, breakfast or coffee. We don&rsquo;t have them just for the sake of it. Also, we want everyone to benefit from the meet rather than just click pictures and disappear,&rdquo;&#8200;he explains.&nbsp;<br /><br />&ldquo;So far, we have had eight Instameets in places like Lalbagh, Cubbon Park and Shivajinagar. Since a number of those who come are new, we tell them about that particular area and the City on the whole. For the last one that we held on MG&#8200;Road, around 70 people turned up,&rdquo; he adds.&nbsp;<br /><br />Meghana Ramachandra&#8200;(popular as @megyoda on Instagram) has nearly 40,000 followers and was even featured by the official account of Instagram as a suggested user! &ldquo;I attended an Instameet last November in Basavangudi and really enjoyed it. So I took up the initiative to make posters announcing the meets and choose the place and time,&rdquo; she explains. Meghana also turned the &lsquo;blrinstameet&rsquo; hashtag into an account and created the Facebook page and Twitter account. &ldquo;Earlier, we would only meet in once in two to three months but now, it is almost once a month,&rdquo; she adds. &nbsp;<br /><br />One can even suggest to them which area they want to go to. &ldquo;I often post online asking people for suggestions,&rdquo; informs Meghana. The meets are held over the weekend. &ldquo;They are mostly held in the mornings. Once in a while, we hold them in the evenings too so that those who are unable to come in the mornings can make it,&rdquo; says Ashok. &nbsp;<br /><br />Any photography enthusiast can join the group. The Bangalore Instameet is all set to celebrate its first anniversary in style in November. One can get the updates by following @blrinstameet on Instagram.&nbsp;<br /></p>
<p>If you thought that the people you meet on social media cannot be your friends in real life, think again!<br /><br /></p>.<p>The users of Instagram, the popular photo-sharing website, get to meet and share their love for photography with each other thanks to Instameets, a phenomenon that takes place all over the world. The number of budding photographers who attended the &lsquo;Bangalore Instameet&rsquo;, that took place for the first time last year, too has only been growing. The best part is one doesn&rsquo;t need fancy cameras to be part of the meets. A&#8200;simple phone would do!&nbsp;<br /><br />Held once in one or two months, the Instameets are a colourful and enlightening affair with the Instagrammers meeting at one particular area, exploring its history and of course, clicking photographs to share their experience with their followers on Instagram.&nbsp;<br /><br />There is an introduction session first followed by a walk around the area during which they click photographs. Post this, they head to a cafe or restaurant to interact more with each other and of course discuss their love for photography. Operating the official account &ndash; @blrinstameet &mdash; are Ashok Nalvade, Meghana Ramachandra and Srujana. Ashok, who run a marketing agency, had been using Instagram for two years but came on board as an &lsquo;admin&rsquo; just recently. &ldquo;Our Instameets are different from those of the others because we combine them with lunch, breakfast or coffee. We don&rsquo;t have them just for the sake of it. Also, we want everyone to benefit from the meet rather than just click pictures and disappear,&rdquo;&#8200;he explains.&nbsp;<br /><br />&ldquo;So far, we have had eight Instameets in places like Lalbagh, Cubbon Park and Shivajinagar. Since a number of those who come are new, we tell them about that particular area and the City on the whole. For the last one that we held on MG&#8200;Road, around 70 people turned up,&rdquo; he adds.&nbsp;<br /><br />Meghana Ramachandra&#8200;(popular as @megyoda on Instagram) has nearly 40,000 followers and was even featured by the official account of Instagram as a suggested user! &ldquo;I attended an Instameet last November in Basavangudi and really enjoyed it. So I took up the initiative to make posters announcing the meets and choose the place and time,&rdquo; she explains. Meghana also turned the &lsquo;blrinstameet&rsquo; hashtag into an account and created the Facebook page and Twitter account. &ldquo;Earlier, we would only meet in once in two to three months but now, it is almost once a month,&rdquo; she adds. &nbsp;<br /><br />One can even suggest to them which area they want to go to. &ldquo;I often post online asking people for suggestions,&rdquo; informs Meghana. The meets are held over the weekend. &ldquo;They are mostly held in the mornings. Once in a while, we hold them in the evenings too so that those who are unable to come in the mornings can make it,&rdquo; says Ashok. &nbsp;<br /><br />Any photography enthusiast can join the group. The Bangalore Instameet is all set to celebrate its first anniversary in style in November. One can get the updates by following @blrinstameet on Instagram.&nbsp;<br /></p>