Instagram for Dummies

Go from Instagram newbie to star! 

Instagram is the fastest-growing social network in the world, soaring from 500 million to 1 billion active users in just two years. Users flock to the site thanks to its simplicity and use of the most popular social media features—image and video sharing, community, and personal insight.

Instagram For Dummies is here if you're ready to get acquainted with the platform or want to find ways to do more with your Instagram account. Written by an team led by top Instagram trainer Jenn Herman, this book gives you tips for creating great Instagram images, personalizing your posts, connecting with the Instagram community, and working with Stories and IGTV. 

• Access Instagram on a computer or mobile device
• Set up your profile
• Connect with others
• Share your stories
• Shoot better Instagram images

From handling core functions to connecting with the Instagram community, this book shares the secrets you need to shine on social media like no other!  

Jenn Herman, a social media consultant and world-renowned Instagram expert, pens a top-rated social media blog, Jenn's Trends. Corey Walker offers social media strategy, content, ad management, and analytics focused on Instagram and Facebook. Eric Butow provides website design, online marketing, and technical documentation services to businesses.

Introduction 1

About This Book 1

Foolish Assumptions 2

Icons Used in This Book 2

Beyond the Book 3

Where to Go from Here 3

Part 1: Getting Started with Instagram 5

Chapter 1: Instagramming Like a Pro 7

Figuring Out What You Need to Get Started 7

Discovering How to Add Posts to Your Instagram Account 8

Connecting with Others on Instagram 9

Exploring the Excitement of Instagram Stories 10

Creating Videos with IGTV 10

Chapter 2: Installing Instagram Everywhere 11

Installing Instagram Wherever You Want to Use It 11

Installing the app on your iPhone 12

Installing Instagram on your iPad 12

Installing the app on Android 15

Installing on a Windows PC 15

Installing on your Mac (sort of) 17

Exploring Instagram on the Web 19

Starting to Gram Instantly 21

Chapter 3: Setting Up Your Profile 25

Personal Profile Practices 25

Choosing a username and name 27

Deciding on a profile photo 30

Writing a Dazzling Bio 32

Deciding what information to include 32

Formatting your bio 34

Considering layouts for your bio 35

Adding a web address to your bio 35

Taking Advantage of a Business Profile Upgrade 37

Setting Your Account Privacy Settings 39

Chapter 4: Navigating Instagram 41

Scrolling through the Feed 41

Making Sense of the Instagram Algorithm 44

Exploring the World of Instagram 47

Finding and viewing the Explore page 47

Searching for what makes you happy 47

Checking Your Notifications 53

Chapter 5: Why Isn’t This Working? 57

Installation Issues 57

Dealing with compatibility issues 58

Checking your space 58

Unfreezing an installation on your iPhone or iPad 63

Finding a missing app on your iPhone or iPad 63

Resolving issues on an Android device 63

Log-In Difficulties 64

Checking your username 64

Fixing password issues 64

Dealing with a disabled account 67

Finding Relief for Common Problems 67

Instagram won’t share 67

Getting Instagram to notify you 69

Nothing Is Working Now What? 70

Reporting a problem on your iPhone or iPad 70

Reporting a problem on your Android smartphone or tablet 71

Getting Rid of Error Messages 71

Can’t add a comment 71

Can’t delete comments 72

Can’t refresh feed 72

Can’t follow anyone else 73

Part 2: Getting Creative with Instagram Content 75

Chapter 6: Taking and Posting Great Photos 77

Taking Your Best Shot 77

Improving Your Best Shot 79

Applying a filter 81

Tweaking with the editing tools 83

Saving your changes (or not) 89

Enriching Your Photo 89

Describing your photo 90

It’s good to have options 91

Posting Your Photos: Ta Da! 94

Uploading Photos from Your Camera Roll 96

Uploading Multiple Photos to One Post 98

Selecting multiple photos 98

Applying filters and adding photos 101

Editing photos individually 102

Adding information and sharing your photos 102

Chapter 7: Recording and Posting Great Videos 103

Recording Videos 103

Filming with a smartphone or tablet 104

Recording multiple video clips 108

Deleting video clips 108

Checking out your video 108

Improving Your Video 109

Applying a filter 110

Changing the cover frame 110

Adding details 111

Posting your video 113

Uploading a Stored Video 114

Uploading Multiple Videos from an iPhone or iPad 116

Chapter 8: Personalizing Your Post 119

Determining How Long Your Captions Should Be 119

Formatting Your Caption 122

Including Calls to Action in Your Caption 123

Tagging People in Your Posts 124

Adding Locations to Your Posts 126

Taking Advantage of Hashtags 128

Knowing where to place hashtags in your post 128

Identifying how many hashtags is ideal 130

Finding the right hashtags for you 130

Saving hashtags for repeated use 132

Creating a new hashtag 134

Part 3: Connecting with a Community on Instagram 137

Chapter 9: Finding People to Follow 139

Where Are My Peeps? 139

Syncing your contact list 140

Finding New Friends 141

Exploring the Explore function 142

Searching the Search feature 143

Letting Instagram suggest users to you 145

Deciding Whom to Follow Back 147

Viewing and following your followers 147

Reciprocating a follow or not 148

Finding Your Tribe 149

Finding or creating a community you vibe with 150

Deciding whether Instagram pods are beneficial 152

Chapter 10: Interacting with Other Instagrammers 155

Interacting with the Posts in Your Feed 155

Replying to Comments on Your Own Posts 158

Responding to comments from the Notifications tab 158

Responding to comments from the post itself 160

Deciding to delete a comment 160

Keeping Instagram Healthy by Reporting the Bad Eggs 163

Reporting a commenter 164

Reporting from an iOS device 164

Reporting from an Android device 164

Blocking a commenter 165

Chapter 11: Direct Messaging with Others 167

Starting a New Direct Message 168

Sharing Photos and Videos via Direct Message 173

Sharing GIFs 181

Using Voice Messages 184

Creating a New Group Message 186

Replying to a Direct Message 188

Using Live Chat in Direct Messages 188

Navigating Your Inbox 191

Getting Rid of Unwanted Messages 194

Part 4: Telling Tales with Instagram Stories 197

Chapter 12: Exploring Instagram Stories 199

Finding Stories to Watch 199

Interacting with Stories You Watch 204

Forwarding through the things you don’t like 204

Going back to the things you want to see again 204

Pausing a story to see more 205

Reacting to a story 205

Understanding Story Limitations 207

Upload criteria limitations 208

Playing-time limitations 208

Accessing the Story Camera 210

Editing your settings 212

Changing the camera from regular to selfie mode 215

Chapter 13: Creating Instagram Stories 217

Planning a Story from Start to Finish 217

Deciding What to Share 218

Sharing your less-than-perfect stuff 218

Showcasing your personality and lifestyle 219

Adding a Story Photo 221

Adding a Story Video 227

Filming with the stories camera 227

Experimenting with all the camera options 228

Uploading a video from your camera roll 234

Adding a Text Post 236

Saving Your Story 238

Saving before publishing 238

Saving after publishing (within the 24-hour active window) 238

Automatically saving all your stories 238

Accessing your archives 241

Chapter 14: Adding Style to Your Stories 245

Jazzing Up Your Story Post Using Stickers 245

Location, mention, and hashtag stickers for search and notifications 246

GIFs, sliders, emojis, and more 251

Questions, polls, quizzes, chats, and more 253

Countdown and Music stickers to intrigue your followers 256

Picture in picture for the fun of it 256

Deleting stickers that don’t work 258

Personalizing Stories with Doodles 259

Saying More with Text 262

Changing your font option 262

Removing your text boxes 263

Chapter 15: Sneaky Story Sharing 265

Sharing Another Story to Your Own Story 265

Sharing Some Stories to Select People 267

Sharing via a direct message 267

Sharing to your Close Friends list 268

Sharing Regular Instagram Posts to Your Stories 272

Changing Your Story into a Regular Instagram Post 274

Chapter 16: Using Instagram Highlights to Keep Your Content Alive 277

Getting Acquainted with Highlights 277

Creating a New Highlight Gallery 279

Adding a highlight from your profile 279

Adding a highlight from an active story 279

Naming and customizing your highlight 282

Setting a cover image for your highlight 282

Creating a custom cover image 282

Adding Content to a Highlight 285

Sharing a current story 285

Finding an archived story 285

Deleting a story from a highlight 287

Coming Up with Fun Ideas for Highlights 289

Chapter 17: Going Live on Instagram 291

Getting Started with Live Videos 291

Knowing When to Go Live 294

Developing a Game Plan 294

Interacting with Live Guests 295

Inviting a Guest onto the Live Broadcast 296

Saving Live Broadcasts and Sharing Them 298

Part 5: Becoming a Pro at IGTV 299

Chapter 18: Understanding IGTV 301

Finding IGTV within Instagram 301

Finding IGTV within the IGTV App 303

Understanding How IGTV Videos are Formatted 305

Tapping Into Whose Videos You’re Seeing 305

Chapter 19: Creating an IGTV Presence 307

Setting Up an IGTV Channel 307

Using your mobile device to set up IGTV 308

Using your computer to set up IGTV 309

Uploading Videos to IGTV 309

Using your mobile device to upload 309

Using your computer to upload 311

Creating Quality Content for IGTV 314

Making your videos shine 314

Using the video description to your advantage 314

Responding to Comments on Your Videos 315

Part 6: The Part of Tens 317

Chapter 20: Ten Things Not to Do on Instagram 319

Using the Same Name as Your Username 319

Picking an Irrelevant Username 320

Using a Bad Profile Photo 320

Not Including a Bio 321

Ignoring Instagram Stories 321

Not Using Captions 322

Hashjacking 322

Tagging People Who Are Not in the Photo 322

Following Everyone Who Follows You 323

Using Automated Tools to Follow or Like Others 324

Chapter 21: Ten Types of Great Instagram Photos 325

The Human Element 325

Adorable Animals 326

Bold Colors 328

White Space 329

Make It Blue 329

Flat Lays 332

Long Angles 333

Lifestyle 333

Rule of Thirds 336

Organic Environments 336

Index 339

The New copy of this book will include any supplemental materials advertised. Please check the title of the book to determine if it should include any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

The Used, Rental and eBook copies of this book are not guaranteed to include any supplemental materials. Typically, only the book itself is included. This is true even if the title states it includes any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.