Instagram is not only one of the fastest growing platforms in
the social networking world, it's also one of the biggest there is. If you love
looking at beautiful pictures, then you'll love Instagram -- or you already are
one of its 300 million active users. It's another way of expressing your
thoughts and feelings thru pictures. But with great power comes great
responsibility since any social media platform is only as engaging as its
users. Even though you can freely post just about anything you want, and that
there are no definitive rules about using Instagram, there are still some
things you need to consider if you want to gain followers.
Check out below our collection of do's and don'ts that will help
you become an effective -- and less annoying IGer (Instagrammer, that is).
DO: Use
same usernames for your Twitter and Instagram accounts
Most of the time, those
people who follow you on Instagram would likely want to follow you on Twitter
as well. With having different usernames, they have to search for and browse
through all your online identities, they might give up doing so. It's good to
keep your username simple by using the same handle on each account.
DON'T:
Asking people to follow you
It's like giving out
solicitations to people whom you don't really know. It's plain and simple --
don't look like cheap and beg for people to follow you.
DON'T:
Like every photo you see
People who follow you see
your stamp of approval as meaningful; however, liking every photo you see may
diminish that value of that stamp. Remember, no one likes an Instagroupie. So,
make your "Likes" count.
DON'T:
Spam your followers
While consistency is
good, the quickest way to get unfollowed is to bomb your followers with too
many posts. Each user has their own limit as to how many pics is considered too
much -- well, flooding their feeds with six selfie pictures you took this
morning before going to work may be a good example of that. Posting one photo a
day is a good rule of thumb. Keep this in mind and be sure to do this,
otherwise you'll lose followers big time.
DO: Take
interesting and meaningful photos
Photos can be interesting
depending on the person looking at it. For some, they'll take time to look at
your snapshots of nature or something that really interests you, while some
while just never give it more than a 2-second look. But if a post gets quite a
number of likes, then you can safely say that it's made of quality and sense
because a number of people actually liked it. You got the point?
DON'T:
Give into gimmicks
Phone manufacturers and
app makers as well are constantly looking for new gimmicks to peddle the
customers. Video, hyperlapse, slo-mo, and photo montages are all great, but see
to it that you're using them wisely and for more reason than just the novelty
of it all.
DON'T:
Abuse Hashtags
Ideally, there are three
main reasons in using a hashtag: One, so other people can find your photos;
Two, so you can easily find your photos later; and Three, to be ironic. Just
remember to use them sparingly as it can be time-consuming and senseless.
Imagine you posting photos with almost 50 generic hashtags like #food #dinner
#hungry #foodporn #foodgasm and the list goes on. Don't you ever get tired of
typing all of it? But if you're the one reading the post, you'll definitely get
bored reading it.
