Upcoming photo walk leverages Instagram social media features to share Scenic City scenes with the world

At its core, Instagram is a social network, not just a photo gallery, no matter how many of its 300 million monthly users choose to employ it solely as a storehouse of selfies and artfully composed cat pictures.

One local group is trying to show that it can be more.

On July 26, Chattanooga-based Instagram account Like A Local will serve as a regional host for Global Meet, a worldwide initiative designed to leverage the site’s social features and showcase the Scenic City looking and acting its best.

“I was excited for Like a Local to be on the list of representatives [for the Global Meet] because it gives people in other places a chance to see what’s happening in Chattanooga,” says Rachael Crowe, who founded and is the sole content provider for Like A Local.

Since Instagram launched in 2010, the site’s founders have promoted so-called Instameets as a way to bring users together to the same location in order to “connect, explore and celebrate their creativity.” Crowe has hosted two local Instameets so far this year – in March and May – which attracted dozens of participants, primarily through digital word-of-mouth.

The July 26 event is the inaugural Global Meet, which will feature snapshots taken during photo walks happening simultaneously in 17 cities around the world. Chattanooga is the smallest community, by far, on the list of participating cities, which includes metropolitan locations such as Chicago, Rome, Toronto, Los Angeles and New York City.

Chattanooga became involved in the Global Meet after Crowe voiced her support for the worldwide event online. With the exception of Miami, Chattanooga will serve as the sole hub for Southeastern participation in the event. Crowe says she expects between 75 and 100 participants, judging by the chatter surrounding the event’s online posting. If those numbers hold up, she says, the turnout will be substantially larger than the 50-odd shooters who took part in the local-only Instameets earlier this year.

“Even though we’re small, we’re pretty centrally located to other cities, and I think it made sense to have part of the Global Meet here,” she says. “We actually have groups coming from Nashville and Birmingham and Atlanta who have confirmed that they’ll be here.”

The Chattanooga photo walk will last for three hours and bring shooters together to cover a roughly mile-long loop starting in Renaissance Park and Coolidge Park as well as a brief sojourn onto the Walnut Street Bridge.

“I think Chattanooga is a very photogenic city,” Crowe says. ‘That’s part of why the Instameets work so well. There are so many places that offer opportunities to take good photos.”

After the event, participants will post their photos along with specially chosen hashtags – #globalmeet, #instameetChatt and #livelocallyTN – to help participants remain in touch and to automatically enter their photos in a Global Meet contest.

Like Instagram, the Instameet is for shooters of all levels, Crowe says, not just the pros.

“We have everyone from 14-year-old kids to senior citizens come out,” she says. “It’s a really great way for them to get involved in the community.”

Contact Casey Phillips at cphillips@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6205. Follow him on Twitter at @PhillipsCTFP.