Some Do's and Don'ts When Using Instagram

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.