I’ve talked about this plenty, but Instagram is by far my favorite place to hang out from a social media perspective. I love that it’s more intimate than the other networks. I love that there’s less spam (and fewer company posts). And, I’m a big wannabee photog, so it lets me scratch that itch regularly.

But the one thing about Instagram that is still lacking is a mechanism to find new people to follow. And, from a brand perspective, there’s really no way to figure out who to follow (or engage) by geographic areas (or industry, interest, etc.). That’s a problem–but I’m sure Instagram is working on it now that the big blue monster is involved 😉

In the meantime, I thought I’d take a crack at my own list–this one focused on local Minneapolis/St. Paul IGers. I thought I’d start by listing out my favorite local IGers (Melissa Berggren, Lee Odden, Eric Wheeler, Karl Pearson-Cater, Dane Messel and Mary Woestehoff) and then ask THEM to list their favorite local IGers.

Keep in mind, this isn’t meant to be a “best IGer list”–it’s simply a geo-specific list of my favorite (and their favorite) Instagrammers. Minneapolis/St. Paul folks: I hope this gives you a few new local follows. Who would you add?

Melissa Berggren, @marketingmama, 527 followers, 618 photos, (what she posts: day in the life, family, food)

Eric Wheeler, @eric_wheeler, 836 followers, 813 photos

Jason Sandquist, @jasonsandquist, 324 followers, 278 photos (side note: Fellow beer geek)

Kelly Doudna, @kellydna, 123 followers, 841 photos

@4mamabear, 74 followers, 284 photos

Mary Woestehoff, @whitepeachphoto (796 followers, 2,061 photos)

Dane Messel, @daneray, 244 followers, 544 photos (what he posts: nature, cityscape, day in the life)

Eric Wheeler, @Eric_Wheeler, 846 followers, 817 photos (what he posts: Cityscapes, day in the life)

Karl Pearson-Cater, @BigBoxCar, 449 followers, 834 photos (What he posts: Beer, #mugshotmondays, family, city life, concerts)

Erik Hess, 522 followers, 763 photos

Lori, @lorika13, 504 photos, 1,213 photos

Chuck Olsen, @chuckumentary, 761 followers, 965 photos

Jen Clough, 239 followers, 660 photos

Brian Perry, 93 followers, 156 photos

Matt Wilson, 186 followers, 388 photos (side note: Also one of my local faves)

Tyler MN, 219 followers, 588 photos (beer geek note via Karl: Tyler runs the beer department at Zipp’s Liquors in South Minneapolis)

Sean Tillmann, 4,295 followers, 727 photos

Mary Woestehoff, @whitepeachphoto, 800 followers, 2,070 photos (what she posts: day in the life, family)

Laura Ivanova, @lauraivanova, 455 followers, 302 photos

Kate Botwinski, @katebot, 298 followers, 274 photos

Kate Selner, @kate_selner, 355 followers, 873 photos (side note: Foodie alert!)

@mkfiasco, 282 followers; 726 photos

Lee Odden, @LeeOdden, 1,978 followers, 705 photos (what he posts: travel, cityscapes, day in the life)

Tina Schieffer-Berg, @travelingpants, 812 followers, 405 photos

Greg Swan, @gregswan, 716 followers, 1,053 photos (Side note: If you don’t like Batman, don’t follow Greg)

Lisa Grimm, @lulugrimm, 464 followers, 118 photos

Rob Burmaster, @rburmaster, 582 followers, 411 photos (side note: Maybe my favorite local IGer–and he lives in my hood!)

Shawn Augustine, @Shawniebawnie, 101 followers, 687 photos

@cathybauer0105, 1,236 followers, 612 photos