Great you say, another post on photos and Instagram, aren’t there tons already?!  Yes! So in order to avoid being tedious, here are a few for those how are new to Instagram – where have you been the last decade people?  Instagram is probably one of the few social media platforms which still hasn’t reached its peak yet, so it’s still growing.  Facebook on the other hand seems to be declining (sorry but honesty sucks) – enter the battle of the comments.

Anyway for those that want to at least survive the trendy social media wave (which now seems to have Instagram right in the middle of it) before it too will eventually decline.  This is a basic guide to give you some familiarity with the app; but obviously there will be more to explore once you get into it.  Here are some tips for you:

-Instagram squared:  Photos will be automatically cropped, so make sure when you post you know what’s being cut out of your picture before you post.  You can also add video clips, but no filtering for that.

-Hashtag galore:  Hashtagging allows you to make keyword that describe your photo without putting a long explanation, it also brings in viewers who are looking for particular hashtags (i.e. #baking).

-Unique Hashtag:  You can create your own hashtag, at least for a while, by making it a long mofo, and so that way when you click on the hashtag in the future it shows up only your photos with that label (i.e. #Jackandjillupabigasshill)

-Easy on the filters:  there is a certain integrity with using filters as little as possible, usually adding contrast is enough to make your photo stand out more, but if you decide to filter try not to filter every single photo – I think that’s a bit tacky, then again it’s your account so up to you.

-Public or private: Public allows every random person to see your photos vs. private (well that’s obvious – only those you invite).  This depends on what you want, if your selling something or have no shame….er….reason to be private go for public.  Keep in mind people can capture screen and use your photos at any time.

-Followers:  A lot of random people will follow you (and most will in turn want you to follow them) and then they unfollow you to keep their “fan” numbers high.  You can avoid this by getting a free app that tracks who unfollows you and you can unfollow them back accordingly.  You’ll have to deal with some app ads though.

– My Story:  Stories are basically a series of few second photos that vanish after a day.  So you can put 1 or 20 photos in a story and they play like a slide show.  You’ll get likes and comments and then they get archived after 24 hours.  Nice feature, but I don’t think it’s the main deal here, useful if you are selling stuff and want to advertise offers.

– Multi-account: you can have more than one account and transition between them on the same app, you’ll need a unique email for each one though.  One can be personal and one can be public/business.

-Behind the scenes:  Much like Facebook and WhatsApp, there is a private messaging or group messaging feature to share photos, videos, gossip and day to day chat.

-Potpourri of Ads:  there will be the occasional ads, can’t avoid them.

-Searching:  You can search for people, or general accounts (celebrities, companies) and you’ll also have a search category “For You” which is based on your other likes and searches – big brother where art thou.