Social network hold a massive portion in our live. They help us to keep in touch with friends and families we rarely meet physically. Social network can also help us meeting other people with the same interest.

In the photography field we have Instagram as the most popular photo sharing service. If used properly, Instagram is a nice tool to build your personal brand as a pro photographer. The only minor about Instagram is that it doesn’t allow us to upload any high resolution photos and limited to mobile devices only (to upload).

Instagram is basically not the only photo-based social network. There are more similar services out there which allow you to share beautiful photos instantly. And today we going to talk about them.

Photo-based social network

What is photo-based social network? And why do we need them?

Social network is not just a tool to help us keep in touch with the people we care about. For some people, social network is also a great tool for building a personal brand in a certain field. There are a number of social networks designed for a specific interest such as SoundCloud for music enthusiasts, Goodreads for book addicts, Deviantart for artists and lots more.

What about photography? That’s we are going to talk about. If you dislike Instagram or simply need more spaces to showcase your shots, you may can consider the following social networks.

1. 500px

If you are looking for a space to put some of your high-resolution photos, 500px is probably the place you need. This site is well-known as a repository of premium photographs. Talented photographers around the globe have been on this site and you can keep in touch with them, share your comments, following each other or give your “heart” over their photos which impress you. Apart from from web, 500px also provide a mobile app for Android and iPhone devices.

500px has some additional features to assist you building your photography carrier. It has a market place to enable you sell your premium photographs. The site also regularly conducting a photo quest. All photographers from around the world can join the contest, without exception. You only allowed to upload your high-resolution photos via web.

2. Flickr

The old player. Many people might think that Flickr has died. But, no. Flickr is still one of the best photo sharing sites which also role as social network where you can interact with other photography lovers in the planet. Flickr also lets to you follow your favorite photographers and keep update to the latest shots of them. You can also give your comment and love for every photo which impress you. The best part about Flickr is that you are given a 1TB free storage (yes, terabyte), making it the best place to store your photos without having to pay anything.

Flickr is also available in mobile devices to enable you uploading photos directly from smartphone, whether it’s Android or iPhone. Apart from sharing photos you can also use Flickr to learn new technique by viewing EXIF data of every photo you like to.

3. Unsplash

Haven’t heard this one?. Unsplash is basically a free stock photos website to let anyone get high resolution photographs for free. But, it seems there is no bad to call it a social network platform as we can interact with other users by following each other and give some likes over the photos you like to. The folks at Unsplash love to share their beautiful shots. The only minor about Unsplash is that no mobile app is offered (at least until today).

By the way, if you are a Google Chrome user, you can view random images from Unsplash directly from Google Chrome tab using an extension called Unsplash Instant.

4. Pixabay

Same as Unsplash, Pixabay is basically a place where you can download high resolution photos for free. But, the site can also be categorized as a social network as we can communicate with other users whether it’s via comment or private message. Pixabay is also a great platform to build your personal brand as a pro photographer. Mobile app is also available if you want explore photos from your smartphone.

5. Instagram

Sure, we still have to mention this one. Instagram is the main subject when it comes to photo sharing platform. Photographers can also use this social network to showcase their works, though with a limited resolutions. Apart from your close friends, you can also follow accounts which regularly share good photos like National Geographic and take some learn from it. Just be sure to not flooding your feed with too many selfies :p