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Instagram is the mobile photo-sharing and video-sharing application that allows users to upload and share content with their followers on the application and on linked applications such as Facebook or Twitter. If you do not think it’s worthwhile having yet another social media account, have a look at our blog post: Overcome the barriers and get your business on Instagram! Or Click Here if you are already on Instagram and would like to know how to set up and use a second account!
Since its launch in 2010, Instagram has quickly become the favorite social media platform of celebrities, bloggers, companies and everyday users alike, allowing users to create original and creative content and reach out to their viewers. So lets have a look at the simple steps of creating an Instagram profile for the first time.
The Instagram app is available for download for phones running iOS, Android, Windows, orBlackberry operating systems.
Launching Instagram
Tap on the Instagram application and register using your email address or your Facebook account (Instagram is owned by Facebook)
Follow the onscreen instructions to set up your account. You can even find your friends using your Facebook or Twitter accounts.
Getting Started:
Following people allows you to see their posts in your newsfeed, and similar to Twitter, you can follow anyone including people you don’t know personally if you choose. Click “Next” when you are finished.
- You will be able to add friends at any time from within your account, even after you create your account.
- You can choose to follow suggested Instagram users by clicking the “Follow” button next to their name. Click “Done” to complete the process and continue directly to your account.
How to navigate Instagram:
Your profile shows your bio and the photos and videos you’ve posted to Instagram. From your profile, you can also edit your profile information and adjust your Account Settings. You can navigate to your profile by tapping the person icon in the toolbar at the bottom of the screen, and make changes by tapping the “Edit Your Profile” button or access more information and choices by tapping the gear icon to access Options. You can write a bio of up to 150 characters on your profile, or add or change a profile photo to import from your phone’s library, Facebook, or Twitter. Also from your profile, you can access your Photo Map, which enables you to showcase where you’ve taken the photos you’ve shared.
The camera enables you to take photos with the Instagram camera or share photos from your phone’s photo library. You can access the camera by tapping the center icon in the toolbar at the bottom of the screen, and from there can take a photo or video or choose a photo from your photo library.
You can use the Search & Explore function to find people to follow, search for specific users, and explore hashtags. Access Search & Explore by tapping the magnifying glass icon in the toolbar at the bottom of the screen, and toggling between the “Photos” and “People” views to explore posts and users, or type in the “Search” box and choose between “Users” and “Hashtags.”
The Home tab shows the feed of photos posted by you and by the other Instagram users whom you follow. You can like and comment on the photos and videos in your Feed. Access your feed by tapping the Home button in the toolbar at the bottom of the screen.
The Activity tab displays likes and comments on your posts, and shows you the photos and videos that your friends are liking and commenting on. You can access the Activity tab by tapping the speech bubble icon in the toolbar at the bottom of the screen, and toggling between the “Following” and “You” views.
Exploring photos and videos on Instagram
You can use the Activity tab in a couple of different ways, one of which is to see the recent activity of people whom you follow. Tap the speech bubble icon to access Activity, and then tap “Following” to see activity from the people you follow. Tap “You” to see the most recent activity for you, including users who have followed you, @mentions for you, and likes and comments for your photos and videos. (Instagram notes that the “Following” tab won’t work for users who follow more than 1,000 people.)
Search & Explore shows photos, videos, and users whom you might like. Instagram selects posts and people to show you in Search & Explore by which ones have been liked by the people whom you follow, or which have been liked by large numbers of other Instagram users. You’ll receive a notification if one of your posts appears in Search & Explore. Only photos and videos that are shared publicly will appear in Search & Explore, and posts that were shared privately or shared through Instagram Direct will not appear in Search & Explore.
You can like a photo or a video by double tapping it or tapping on the heart icon below the post. You can also comment on photos and videos, and in the iOS version of Instagram’s app, you can press and a hold a username to reply to someone else’s comment.
Posting a photo with Instagram
When you share posts on Instagram, you have two options: taking a photo with Instagram’s camera, or uploading one from your phone’s photo library. You can tap the camera icon at the bottom of the screen to take a photo, or to select one from your phone. From the camera, you can switch the photo grid on and off, switch between the front-facing and back-facing camera, or choose whether or not to use the flash. You can tap the shutter button to take a photo, or hit the video icon to record video.
Once you’ve chosen a photo, you can add effects from the editing tools at the top of the screen or select a filter from the choices at the bottom of the screen. Then you can write a caption for the photo, tag people in the photo, add it to your Photo Map, or share it to Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, or Flickr. When you write the caption to your photo, you can use #hashtags and @mentions. Mentions let you bring a post to the attention of another user — who will get a notification when you mention him or her in a post — and hashtags will help other Instagram users to find your posts, or help you to tag or categorize your posts for yourself.
To tag people in a photo, tap “Tag People” and tap on someone in the photo. Start entering their name or username, and select the correct users from the dropdown menu that appears. If the person that you want to tag doesn’t appear in that menu, tap “Search for a person” to find him or her. If your photos are public, then anyone can see the photo, and the person tagged in the photo will get a notification. If your photos are private, then only people who are following you will be able to see the photo. The person whom you tag in the photo will get a notification if they’re following you. (You can see and manage the photos that other people tag you in from your profile.)
When you post your photo, it will appear both on your profile and in your feed. If you’ve set your profile to private, only the people whom you’ve approved to follow you will be able to see it.
Recording or posting a video with Instagram
To take a video with Instagram, tap the camera icon and tap the video icon to switch from photo mode to video mode. Press and hold the video icon to start recording, and lift your finger off the button to stop recording. Tap “Next” to add a filter and then share your video, exactly as you would with a photo that you’ve taken with Instagram or selected from your phone’s photo library. (But it’s worth noting that video recording is currently only available in the iOS and Android versions of Instagram, and isn’t yet an option for Windows Phone users.)
To share a video that you’ve previously recorded with your phone, tap the camera icon and then tap the video icon to switch from photo mode to video mode. Tap the box in the bottom right to view your phone’s video album. Choose the video that you want to upload, and if you’re on an iPhone, press “Next.” Then, choose which 15 seconds of the video you want to share by placing your finger on the strip at the bottom, and sliding to select where the clip begins playing. Then, drag the blue slider above the video strip to choose where the clip ends. Tap “Add” on the iPhone or the arrow on Android.
From there, you can select a filter at the bottom of the screen, and then tap “Next” to continue to the share screen. While you can’t tag people in a video, you can mention them with the @symbol in the caption. (To mention someone, type @ followed by their username.) When you mention someone, he or she will receive a notification. As with the photos you share, your video will appear on your profile and in your feed. If your visibility is set to private, only users whom you’ve approved to follow you will be able to see the videos you share.
Instagram Direct:
With Instagram’s new update, you can also choose if you want to share your photo with all your followers or just a few. Click on the “Direct” tab, and select the followers you would like to share them with. The picture will not show up in your public feed, and just the users you selected will be able to see your photo.
Using Photo Maps
From your profile, you can access your Photo Map. With an Instagram Photo Map, you can showcase where you’ve taken the photos you’ve shared. With Photo Maps, you can also explore where others have taken photos on a map. When you navigate to your Photo Map for the first time, you’ll be prompted to review any photos that you’ve previously uploaded with geolocation turned on. During the review process, you’ll see photos grouped together by location and can deselect any that you don’t want to appear on your Photo Map. Tap “Done” to create your map.
After you’ve set up your map, you can add more photos to your Photo Map. When you upload a photo, you can turn on the “Add to your Photo Map” setting. When that setting is turned on, Instagram will attach an approximate latitude and longitude to the photo. The photo will then appear on your Photo Map at that location.
After turning on the option to add a photo to your Photo Map, you can add a specific location by tapping the option to “Name This Location.” You’ll be able to choose from a list of nearby locations so that when others see your photo, they’ll be able to see exactly where you took it. If you don’t see your specific location in the list, you can create a custom name for the location and link it to the latitude and longitude of the photo. The custom locations that you add aren’t available for others to use, and instead are just saved for your use. If you added a location to a photo when you posted it, that location will be visible with the photo when you or someone else views it on the web. You can view your Photo Map or someone else’s by tapping the location icon from the profile.
Have more than one account!
In February 2016 Instagram at last introduced multi account facilities. To find out how to set up and use a second account click here!
