Are you new in the ‘streets’ of Instagram? If your answer is yes, then you are in the right place. ‘Join Instagram, you will definitely have fun’, they said. Once you sign up and follow them, they leave you wondering what to do next. We have all been there at some point, even those ‘bigwigs’ who may at this point troll you with the term ‘newbie’. Here are some quick guides to what is going on around here.

Getting Started

Once you have signed up, you need to get things rolling. Otherwise, you might feel like a stranger. The first thing you should do is to edit your profile. A personalized profile looks better and attracts more Instagram followers more than the standard blank avatar. Next, you need to link your account to your Facebook account. This way, you will get suggestions on possible new followers.

Follow your Facebook friends in the suggestions link at the top of your profile page. They will follow back and you will be getting somewhere. Follow as many people as you can to put yourself out there. Avoid that private user setting. You are new to Instagram and it’s off-putting, especially for ‘newbies’. You can also invite friends to join Instagram and follow you via the linked accounts. For push notifications, I think you need them activated at this point.

Posting and boosting interactions

Posting pictures are the whole thing over here if you asked anyone. In your post, try using hashtags in the description to enable you to get more likes. You should also tag as many people as possible in your photo. This will give you good exposure to potential followers. For Instagram, your post should be interesting. Otherwise, they will be ignored. You then start feeling that your followers are snobs.

Exploration

You should try out all the features of Instagram. They are there for you. On the top left part of your timeline, there is a ‘your story’ icon that you can use to post a status or short videos that disappear in 24 hours. On the right, there lies an icon for direct messages. You can get in touch with your Instagram followers privately to share photos and texts.

The other nice thing is, if you swipe right, you will get options on how to live stream your activities that will be viewed by your followers. In the settings section, you can always select who sees your Instagram stories and live streams. On the explore section of the application, you can search for users, hashtags, and places to see posts and expand your follower base.

Conclusion

You will find that these are just but a scratch of the whole Instagram experience. Most of your Instagram followers use these same features most of the time. This is how to have the ‘fun’ you were looking for when you joined ‘the Gram’ as urban youth call it. Go on. Have fun.