How to Use Instagram
Even if you don’t use Instagram yet, you’ve likely heard about how popular the photo-sharing app is and how much people enjoy sharing their photos and videos, connecting with others in their neighborhood or around the world, and following what their friends are doing (and posting) on a day-to-day basis.
Instagram is becoming an increasingly popular and powerful social network. Instagram is growing much more quickly than Facebook, as new users like you join every day to connect not only with their friends but with a global community of users who share photos and videos from their everyday lives on the platform.
When you first download Instagram, it’s apparent that the app has a lot of features, and it’s not always obvious to a new user how to navigate Instagram or how to get started.
How to sign up for Instagram
To sign up for Instagram, you need to download the mobile app on an iOS or Android phone or tablet. While you can view Instagram online, you’ll need to create your account using the Instagram app.
Once you’ve downloaded the app, tap the Instagram icon to open it. Tap “Register with Email” to sign up with your email address, or choose “Register with Facebook” to sign up using your Facebook account. If you register with an email address, the app will prompt you to create a username and password and fill out your profile information. (Once you’ve finished that, tap “Done.”) If you choose to register with Facebook, the app will prompt you to sign in with your Facebook account if you’re currently logged out.
If you want to edit your profile information, like your name, username, or email address, you can go to your profile by tapping the person icon in the toolbar at the bottom of the screen. Tap “Edit Your Profile” and type your new name, username, website, or bio and tap “Done” on the iPhone, “Save” on Android.
The following tips can help you make the best out of your own Instagram experience so you can grow your followers and increase engagement.
1) Post Interesting, Colorful Photos and Videos
Instagram is all about providing value to your followers, especially if you want more engagement. In this case, your goal should be to post photos and videos that evoke some kind of emotion – happiness, humor, motivation, nostalgia, love or anything else. High-quality photos with a lot of colors tend to get the most action on Instagram.
2) Don't Overdo It With the Filter Effects
Instagram provides you with a bunch of filters you can apply to your photos to automatically enhance the look and style, but that trend seems to have already hit its peak. People want photos and videos that are colorful, but relatively natural-looking. Although filter effects may be tempting, try to limit your use of them to keep the color and contrast normal in most of your photos.
3) Feel Free to Use Hashtags, But Use Them Sparingly
Using hashtags is a great way to increase you reach on Instagram, encourage more engagement and even attract new followers. Unfortunately, some people take it way too far. Their captions are often bloated with hashtags – many of which aren't even relevant to the topic of their photo. If you do decide to use hashtags, make sure to keep it to a minimum, and only use keywords that are relevant.
4) Use the Explore Tab (Popular Page) to Find Great New Content
The Explore tab on Instagram is where some of the most popular photos and videos get featured. The photos that are shown here are tailored to you according to the photos and videos that have been liked or commented on by people you follow. You can find new users to follow or engage with by checking out this tab regularly by tapping the magnifying glass icon in the bottom menu.
5) Post Often to Keep Followers Interested
If you want to keep followers engaged, you need to post new content on a regular basis. That doesn't mean you need to be posting 10 photos a day. In fact, posting once a day – or at least once every other day – should be frequent enough to keep your current followers interested. If you go long periods of time without posting, don't be surprised if you lose a few followers.
6) Use Instagram Direct to Contact Specific Users
Although it's a good idea to post frequently to keep your followers engaged, sometimes it's not always necessary to publicly post something to all your followers. Instead. you can target one or more specific users by privately direct messaging them a photo or video. Instagram Direct is a great way to connect with specific groups of users without needing to broadcast your content to everyone all at once.