These days, Instagram is a social media favorite for many collegiettes. Thus, it’s important to make sure you’re doing it right! Here are some Instagram tips that will help you avoid a photo faux pas and have you racking up the likes on your next post:
Ask “Is this Insta-worthy?” In the age of smartphones – where accessing a camera is as simple as swiping and tapping an iPhone screen – we have a tendency to take pictures of absolutely everything. As a result, it can often become tricky to decipher which of your pictures are actually worth posting. When selecting a photo to post, it is important to keep in mind that the subject of the photo should be of interest to your followers. Instagram is the ideal place for candids with friends, photos of the quad on a beautiful day, and nature shots (#artsy). That blurry photo of Cookout you took as you coasted down University Parkway? Probably not Insta-worthy. If you keep your posts as high quality and unique as possible. You’ll be sure to elicit some seriously envy-inducing responses.
Pick the right filter. With an abundance of choices, it can be difficult to pick the filter that best suits your picture. While some are great at making colors more vibrant (and consequently giving you the perfect sunless tan), use caution with “Toaster” and “Kelvin,” which have the potential to make your pictures appear unnatural.
Use editing apps. There are so many free apps available that can help make a photo stand out from the rest. Sometimes the 20 filters offered on the Instagram app just don’t cut it. Afterlight and VSCOcam provide a great variety of additional filters. Whitagram allows you to by-pass the automatic square crop found on Instagram. By shrinking your rectangular picture and setting it onto a white background you are able to keep your original photo. Whiteagram is essential to avoid giving your friends “the crop” in pictures or to post a panorama shot.
It’s all about the caption. While caption-less photos are certainly acceptable (a picture is worth a thousand words), writing an attention-grabbing or witty caption can take your photo to the next level. An inside joke with friends, a relevant line from your favorite song, or the addition of some appropriate emojis can add a certain je ne sais quoi to your post. But beware; an abundance of hashtags can make you seem desperate, so use them sparingly- if at all.
Don’t take yourself too seriously. There’s nothing more uncool than people who care way too much about their social media presence. You want your profile on Instagram to reflect all of the amazing moments you have had, not all the time you spend maintaining a façade of online popularity. The app is for sharing photos with friends, so stop worrying about reaching a certain amount of likes or having the perfect “follower ratio.” And speaking of desperation, whatever you do, do not buy followers (I swear this is actually a thing)!