How to Use Instagram: A Beginner's Guide

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How to Use Instagram A Beginner's Guide

• Over the past few years, Instagram has seen
  exponential growth from one million users at
  its inception to over one billion in 2022.
• If you're interested in getting an Instagram
  account, or just created one but aren't sure how
  to use it, you're in luck. Here, we're going to
  cover all the basics, so you can learn why
  Instagram is the top social media platform for
  engagement today.
• It's hard to remember a time before Instagram. At
  one time, "Do it for the 'gram" was a common
  saying, which meant, essentially, "Do something
  so we can take a picture and post it to
  Instagram."
• Since then, Instagram has placed a larger and
  heavier emphasis on video. So you no longer hear
  the phrase Do it for the gram. I bet, though,
  that a second version of the phrase will soon
  follow. (Maybe Do it for reel?)
• If you're not part of the one billion users on
  Instagram, you might want to reconsider. The app
  is a great chance to engage with top brands and
  stay a part of friends' lives. When I want to see
  how my college friends are doing, I don't check
  Facebook, I check Instagram. Plus, you can follow
  your favorite celebrities or political figures
  to see candid photos of their everyday lives.
• Additionally, it's a phenomenal platform for
  investigating what other brands are doing for
  instance, Nike uses the Instagram Stories'
  feature to promote inspirational athlete stories
  you won't find anywhere else.
• If you're ready to sign up for Instagram, follow
  these steps below
• Go to the Instagram site on your desktop, or
  download the Instagram app from the App Store
  (iPhone) or Google Play Store (Android).
• If you're on desktop, click "Log in with
  Facebook", or fill in the form with your mobile
  number or email,
• name, username, and password. Then click "Sign
  up".
• On Android, click "Sign Up With Email or Phone
  Number".
• On iPhone, select "Sign Up".
• Enter your email address or phone number, then
  click "Next". Alternatively, you can sign up with
  your Facebook account.
• Once you've filled out your username and
  password, you will be instructed to fill out your
  profile info. Then, tap "Done".
• If you register with Facebook, you'll need to log
  into your Facebook account if you're currently
  logged out.
• How Do Instagram Notifications Work?
• When your account is created, you'll want to
  adjust your notifications so you only receive the
  information you want. For instance, you can
  choose to receive notifications when you get
  likes from everyone but, alternatively, you
  might decide to only receive notifications when
  you get a like from someone you follow. Or, you
  might turn off notifications for likes
  altogether.
• You can adjust notifications to "Off", "From
  People I Follow", or "From Everyone", for the
  following categories Comments, Comment Likes,
  Likes and Comments on Photos of You,

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• Follower Requests, Accepted Follow Requests,
  Friends on Instagram, Instagram Direct, Photos
  of You, Reminders, First Posts and Stories,
  Product Announcements, View Counts, Support
  Requests, Live Videos, Mentions in Bio, IGTV
  Video Updates, and Video Chats.
• If you're overwhelmed by that list, I get it I
  am, too. If you're unsure what notifications you
  want to receive, you might start with your
  notifications on "From Everyone", and if certain
  notifications begin to annoy you, you can turn
  them off later.
• Instagram for Business Templates Guide
• Open up the Instagram app on your phone.
• First up, open up the Instagram app on your
  mobile device. You can also access Instagram on
  desktop if you prefer. Then, head to your profile
  by clicking the image of your profile picture on
  the bottom right.
• Access Settings.
• After you arrive at your profile, click the
  hamburger menu on the top right-hand corner. A
  popup menu will appear. Tap Settings.
• Tap Notifications.
• On the next screen, click "Notifications."
• There, youll be able to change the notification
  settings depending on category. These categories
  include
• Posts, Stories, and Comments
• Following and Followers
• Direct Messages and Calls
• Live and Video
• Fundraisers
• From Instagram
• Email and SMS
• Shopping
• You also have the ability to pause all
  notifications by toggling the Pause All option up
  top.

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• Now, you do it on a per-post basis.
• If you want to share a post to other platforms,
  you navigate to the actual post you want to
  cross- publish on Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter,
  and then manually share it that way.
• Heres how
• Open up the Instagram app.
• Navigate to your profile.
• Tap on the post youd like to cross-post.
• Click the three dots on the top right-hand corner
  of the post.
• On the pop-up menu, click Share.
• Note Dont click Share to, which will give you
  an option to AirDrop or share the post to your
  contacts.
• Toggle the accounts youd like to share the post
  to. If youre not already signed in, youll need
  to do so right within the Instagram app.
• Once youve connected your accounts for one post,
  you can then toggle the sharing options for any
  new posts without needing to sign in again.
• If you connect Instagram to Facebook, you can
  share your Stories across both accounts. We talk
  more about how to do that below.
• How to Connect Instagram to Facebook
• Since Instagram and Facebook are owned by the
  same company, Meta, you can connect the two
  accounts for a more seamless experience.
  Connecting your Instagram and Facebook accounts
  allows you to
• Share Stories across both Instagram and Facebook
• Login with Facebook into Instagram
• Sync your profile name and picture across both
  profiles
• Use Facebook Pay on both platforms
• Access your shopping activity on both accounts

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• 7. Follow the prompts to log in into Facebook.
• Done! Your two accounts are now connected. Here's
  how it'll look like once you're finished In the
  next section, I'll show you when a linked account
  comes in handy.
• Upload, Edit, and Post an Image
• Now, for the most important part of Instagram
  how to upload and post an image.
• Instagram is an entirely visual platform. Unlike
  Facebook, which relies on both text and pictures,
  or Twitter, which relies on text alone,
  Instagram's sole purpose is to enable users to
  share images or videos with their audience.
• On Facebook, you might choose to post 100 photos
  on an album. On Instagram, you need to be
  choosier about which photos you post. There are a
  few reasons for this first, you don't want to
  post more than once a day (typically). And you
  don't want to post too many similar photos.
• For instance, it would be odd for you to post
  fifty photos from the same beach vacation on your
  Instagram profile. Instead, you might choose
  five or six, and place them all within the same
  post.
• (These are called carousel posts, and they allow
  you to share multiple photos in one post only.
  Carousel posts are awesome for posting similar
  pictures in one package while keeping your
  overall profile aesthetic diverse.)
• Curious about creating an aesthetic? To learn
  more about Instagram account themes and get
  inspiration, take a look at these Instagram
  themes. Additionally, if you want to embark on a
  deep-dive, you can take HubSpot's Instagram
  Marketing Course.
• Now that we've covered that, let's explore how to
  upload, edit, and post an image.
• Click the "" icon at the top-right hand corner.
• When you tap the icon, youll be prompted to
  choose the type of post you want to share. Since
  we want to publish a post directly on our profile
  feed, tap Post.
• Choose your media file.
• Here, you have three options. You can look
  through your Photos library on your phone, you
  can take a new picture from right within
  Instagram, or you can take a new video. For our
  purposes, I looked through my Photos library and
  found a picture of Boston I wanted to use. Then,
  I clicked "Next" in the top right.
• Add filters if desired.
• There are two categories you can use to edit your
  image "Filter" and "Edit". Instagram
  automatically shows you filters first. You can
  scroll through the carousel and click any of the
  filters to apply it to your image.
• Additionally, if you want to use a filter but you
  want to tone it down, double tap the filter and
  move the cursor to the left to lessen the
  intensity of the filter.
• Edit your image if desired.

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Next, click "Edit". Here, you can adjust
contrast, brightness, structure, warmth, and
more. When you're happy with your edited image,
or if you don't want to edit it at all, click
"Next" in the top right. 5. Write a caption and
toggle sharing settings. Now, you can add a
caption, tag people (you can only tag someone if
they also have an Instagram account), and add a
location. Additionally, click the button beside
Facebook or another linked social media account
to share your image on that platform, as well.
When you're ready to publish, click "Share" in
the top right. If you dont want to use your app
to post on Instagram, you can also do so from
your computer. Learn how to post to Instagram
from a Mac or PC here. Upload an Image or Video
to Your Stories Instagram Stories is a feature
that allows you to post videos or images that
disappear after 24- hours. Instagram's Stories
feature is similar to Snapchat in terms of
content users often post more casual and
candid videos and images, offering glimpses into
their every day lives. For instance, on your
normal feed, you might post a heavily-edited
picture of yourself and friends at a baseball
game. But you might post a more candid video to
your Story of the stadium singing "Sweet
Caroline".