Ali

If you've read the title and you're completely confused as to what IGTV is, it's okay it only launched a couple of days ago. IGTV is a new app created by Instagram for watching long-form, vertical video from Instagram creators. Yes you read that right, vertical video.

Instagram points out that IGTV is different in a few ways, firstly it's built for how you actually use your phone - this is touching on the whole vertical thing, so videos are full screen and vertical. Secondly, IGTV allows videos longer than one minute (this is currently what Instagram Stories only allows) and each video can be up to an hour long.

Although it is a separate app you can access IGTV from Instagram, it sits right up the top next to your messages.

So here are some of my thoughts after looking through the app for really only over a day.

Vertical video? I don't get it. As someone who has studied photography and touched on videography, it is strange to film in portrait mode. Landscape allows you to see so much more. I understand when you take quick little videos on your phone of your dogs or of a new place you visited, but do people really want to watch hour long videos in essentially portrait mode? I'm not a fan - maybe one day I will be.
What sort of content should be on here? I don't know yet and either does a lot of others by the looks of it.
Did we really need another social media app to look at? I don't know about you guys but it's hard enough trying to keep up with Twitter, normal Instagram, Instagram Stories, Facebook and YouTube! Sure, I don't need to look at them all but I like too and now I feel like this is another thing I have to check.
It looks a lot like Snapchat. You remember Snapchat right? I know some people still use it but really Instagram Stories took over it's dominance. But cast your minds back to the 'Discover' section of Snapchat, that is what it looks like to me.
Finally, Instagram we never asked for IGTV but we have been asking for our Instagram feed to go back to chronological order so how about you do that?

Essentially this is Instagram taking on YouTube and right now I don't see how it will win. I liked Instagram just being about photos and I feel like Instagram is trying to be everything at once. Who knows it may take off or it may flop. As of right now I'm thinking it won't make any difference to YouTube and unless they change the whole vertical thing I see myself being annoyed with it.

Anyway, I just wanted to get my thoughts out onto my blog as new social media apps really interest me and I also work in social media so there's that. In saying all this you bet I uploaded a video to IGTV hours after it launched. I really only added a video I already have on YouTube but adjusted it to be vertical as I wanted to see what it would look like. You can find me at @mcali187 #shamelessplug.

For me I think IGTV will be a place I upload small edited clips from my travels - whether that be overseas or not. I don't picture myself using it for sit down videos or talking videos, but who knows that might change.

So let me know below, what are your thoughts? Do you like it? Will you use it? What sort of content do you want to see creators making for IGTV? I'm interested to know.

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5:00 PM No comments

Let's start this off by saying I suffer from motion sickness, badly! I get sick on 15 minute ferry rides, long winding car trips, turbulent flights and definitely can't handle motion simulators or rides that spin. But I have noticed, thanks to the 10+ cruises I've done, I think I'm beginning to handle it better.

So, if you're thinking of going on a cruise and don't know if you'll suffer from motion sickness/sea sickness, here are a handful of tips that should help you avoid feeling sick at sea.

Tip #1
On my very first cruise I got very sick, and you might not know this but generally once you begin to get sea sickness and start being physically ill, it's hard to stop. I couldn't keep food day, tablets down, liquids down and it was pretty much at every bump or big movement of the ship, I was nauseous, it wasn't fun.

So off I went to the medical centre. (Guys important reminder, GET TRAVEL INSURANCE, this place is expensive and you don't want to be caught out). There were like 50 other people queued up all waiting for the one thing, a cure to us all being sick. In I went and the doctor gave me a jab of Phenergan - my lifesaver! Within 10 - 15 minutes I already felt better, he then gave me Phenergan tablets and told me to take them every 8 hours and it worked!

I now take Phenergan on every cruise I go on, and for Australian's you can purchase this at the chemist, no script needed and it's behind the counter.

Before all my cruises now I start taking Phenergan the day before, this is key with any sort of travel sickness medication you take, it just means it's already completely in your system before you board. I then take a tablet every 8 hours, I even have a system 7am, 3pm and 11pm - this is when I'd take a tablet.

The worst sea day, leaving Australia anyway, is always the first day, so if you were going to be sick it'd be then. I noticed both times I cruised the Caribbean I barely felt the ship move, so I haven't bothered to take anything after deciding the seas weren't that rough. Pretty much if I felt good and the seas weren't that rough, I wouldn't take anything, but as soon as I felt anything I'd grab a tablet straight away.

Keep in mind, if you do choose to take Phenergan, it can make you sleepy. Straight after I take one I try and do some sort of activity so I can push past that 15 - 20 minute period of sleepiness.

Tip #2
The bigger the ship, the less it rocks. So maybe if you're fearful of getting sea sickness on a cruise, try and go on a bigger cruise ship first? Also the most modern ships have great stabilisers that help the ship not to move as much.

Tip #3
Something to consider when booking rooms, the higher level up the ship, the more you sway. If you have a cabin on Deck 12, compared to someone on Deck 6, the person on Deck 12 will feel far more motion than the person down further. I always aim to stay somewhere in the middle.

Tip #4
If you can afford it, get a balcony room! When you start to feel sick there is nothing worse than being a stuffy room. A balcony allows you to open the door and let the fresh air in. It really helps if you feel sick and you can just sit out there and feel the wind in your face, which feels amazing when you aren't feeling well.

If you can't afford a balcony and you begin to feel sick, head for an open deck - just so you can get some fresh air.

Tip #5
Some people find ginger really works. I know people that take ginger travel calm tablets, some eat ginger cookies or some order ginger ale to settle their stomach. This doesn't help me, but it can help people who don't get sea sickness as badly as I do.

Tip #6
It didn't work for me, but a few other kids I knew tried the pressure bands that go on your wrist. None of them felt sick while wearing these, even though we went through rough seas. I definitely feel like these work better on kids, because I know adults that have tried them and they still felt sick (me for example). So still debatable if they actually work, but the kids I know to have worn them haven't been sick.

Tip #7
If you're American (not sure if it's sold in other countries?) grab some Dramamine. When I did my 2 cruises from America I used this instead of Phenergan and it worked really well. Granted, I don't think Caribbean cruises are anywhere near as rocky as cruises leaving Australia, but still I feel like they helped and tonnes of other people I know that cruise in America take this.

I also found this didn't leave me as drowsy as Phenergan, so there's that.

And there we go, these are my tips for helping to prevent sea sickness. Let me know in the comments below what you do if you suffer from sea sickness!

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