Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Joins Instagram, Posts Pics

Iran’s Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei joined Instagram last week and so far has posted four photos. Iran’s supreme leader since 1989 chose to share shots that likely show scenes of Ramadan.

It comes as a surprise to some that a person who has been slow to get onboard with social media trends — not to mention Iran’s stance toward its citizens’ use of the social media — has joined Instagram. His Twitter account has 4,337 followers so far, and links to his Instagram account. Also posted on his Twitter account are links to YouTube videos and stories about his visits with other world and religious leaders.

It’s no surprise that his Twitter account has received some flack from those who say it’s hypocritical for a public figure in a country that has imposed strict Internet control over its citizens to be involved in social networking. This is the same regime that continues to block social networking sites and restrict Internet access for its citizens. Three years ago, before a mass protest, the Internet was down due to government actions.

It was reported in April that Iran had plans to shut down the Internet country-wide in August in favor of a “clean Internet,” that will filter news and information to its citizens. Agence France Presse reported shortly after that initial story ran that Iranian government officials said the clean Internet reports were “baseless.” (Mashable.com)

Instagram Hits Sports Illustrated’s Hallowed Pages

Sports Illustrated readers are used to seeing beautiful, iconic images in the storied legacy magazine — they’re just not used to seeing those shots come in Instagram form.

That all changes this week with the publication’s July 23, 2012, issue, which hits newsstands Wednesday.

Sports Illustrated commissioned a series of shots from contributing photographer Brad Mangin, which will appear in a six-page feature in the magazine’s Leading Off section (those are the first and second pages, above). Leading Off traditionally features notable photos from around the sports world, but this is the first time in Sports Illustrated history the magazine has printed images that were processed using Instagram.

Mangin spent the past few months shooting with his iPhone 4S at spring training and major league ballparks in the West, then posting the resulting photos to his own Instagram feed (@bmangin) as well as Sports Illustrated‘s (@SportsIllustrated). Terry McDonell, editor of the Time Inc. Sports Group, says that putting some of those images in the physical magazine was a decision born out of social networking’s impact on media and journalism.

“This week’s Leading Off reflects the ‘socialization’ of photojournalism,” McDonell told Mashable in an email. “Great pictures, with intimate access to the MLB, shared with Instagram.”

Instagram is becoming a more prominent tool in the sports world at large, too. Major League Baseball recently launched an Instagram hub of sorts, and teams and athletes from other leagues are increasingly using the network as well. Amy Cole, who comprises the billion-dollar-startup-that-could’s business operations department, told Mashable in an email that Instagram is “excited” to see teams and leagues adopting the service with more frequency.

Source: Mashable - Exclusive