Disclaimer: There is no Instagram police out there in the world (yet), so feel free to rebel and break any of these rules as you wish. You do you.
In the words of the lovely and beautifully written song “#SELFIE” by The Chainsmokers, “Can you guys help me pick a filter? I don’t know if I should go with XX Pro or Valencia. I wanna look tan.” As basic as that sounds, lets just take a moment right now to admit the fact that we all do this.
Step 1: Find the perfect picture. Step 2: Find the perfect filter. Step 3: Figure out a clever caption. Step 4: Add hashtags. Step 5: Post and wait for the likes to come pouring in.
Easy right? But there are many rules to Instagram, and lots of room to break these rules. They don’t tell you about these guidelines when you sign up, nor does anyone really say them out loud, but you know they exist. You know why nobody ever uses those borders anymore that Instagram lets you put? Because it’s a rule. An unspoken rule that everyone knows about, but doesn’t say out loud. Now that there are new apps to edit and add color to pictures, Instagram borders have faded completely and are never seen.
Here are some more rules if you’re an Instagram noobie.
1. Quality over Quantity: Remind yourself now and then that, as much as you hate to admit it, you are not Beyoncé. I’m sorry, yes, I know, it’s a very hard thing to come to terms with. Beyoncé may be able to post 15 pictures in one day of her self, but she’s Beyoncé. You’re not. Stick to just one awesome picture per day. And I know sometimes in one picture your face looks A+, and in another your body looks bomb, so maybe two posts if you really really have to. But more than that might be pushing it.
2. Selfie Control: Selfies have been taking over the world in the last couple of years. I love selfies and I have a full camera roll of 1,500 pictures on my phone to prove it. Posting selfies on Instagram now and then is totally fine, but when you start posting a couple every day, it might look bad or make you look conceited. Keep it at a minimum, and you’re good to go. Just have some selfie control.
3. #hashtags: Not even sure where to begin on this. Rule of thumb: If your hashtags are longer than your caption, you might just have too many. Don’t even get me started on the paragraphs full of hashtags. Not really sure how a picture of the sunset relates to #love #friends #college #cute #instagood #like4like etc. #stophashtags2014
4. Filters: “Which filter makes my sandwich look the yummiest?” Picking a filter is probably the hardest part, so I understand. But your triple-filtered, extra-contrasted picture of your face just looks way too edited. Sometimes simple is good. Nowadays, there are new ways to edit your pictures. Personally, I definitely recommend using Afterlight or VSCOcam.
5. Collages: Collages have recently started to fade. Not sure why, but a lot of people have tried to stay away from collages recently. Whatever their reason is, collages are still a thing, and people still use them to put a bunch of picture together into one. There is however, a limit. I have definitely seen people try to squeeze 30+ pictures from last night into one small little square. A couple of pictures in a collage is fine, but no one is going to take the time and strain their eyes to try and look at every single picture if you have a hundred. Trust me, I understand that you look fabulous in all 30, but please, for the sake of my eyes, keep it down to like five.
*PSA: Enough with the Starbucks Instagrams. We know what your Starbucks looks like. It’s been done. It’s not different. “Ooh maybe it looks nicer if use the Kelvin filter.” No. Please don’t. It doesn’t. Who uses Kelvin anyway?