We all know that Instagram is a place where people are allowed to boast about their lives. You choose the best, most exciting moments of your life that was captured in photo and share them on your Instagram to make it look like everything in your life is perfect and beautiful.
We all know by now that this also isn't the reality. No one's life is as perfect and beautiful as they make it seem on Instagram, but we all use it this way anyways.
There's nothing wrong with showing off the best parts of your life though, but while you're doing it there are some super important unwritten rules that you must follow. This way you can maximize your followers, likes and not annoy your faithful followers in the process!
Rule #1
Don't: Post On A Friday Or Saturday Night
If you want the biggest audience possible for your photos, try to avoid posting on Friday and Saturday nights. If you're out having fun and want to post a cute pic of you and your friends partying, just remember that mostly everyone else is too, so wait until the next day to share your adventures when everyone is checking Instagram to see what their friends were up to last night.
Do: Post At Peak Hours
This might vary a bit on the type of photos you usually post, for example if you're a food blog you'd generally post around main meal times. But for general accounts you should post in the morning before school or work, after school or work and after dinner, but always before 10pm.
Rule #2
Don't: Post Low Quality Pictures
Sure, sometimes the blurry photo can be artsy and cute, but it's very rare to pull this off. Most of the time it just looks blurry and people hate seeing blurry pictures! Now that technology is such high quality, you don't have an excuse to be posting low quality pics.
Do: Flaunt Your Bod!
If you've been hitting up the gym consistently and it's finally starting to pay off, go ahead and flaunt it! No one is going to take offence if you post a cute pic of you showing some skin, seriously. Instagram is the place to brag about your life, so if it's going well, by all means share it with your followers!
Rule #3
Don't: Over-Edit Your Photos
There is a fine line between a nicely edited picture that brings out the contrast and saturation, and ones that are overly edited to the point where nothing looks real at all. It's also not cool to use those editing apps that photoshop your body and make you look skinnier, everyone knows how to spot those now so try to avoid them.
Do: Post More Photos With Faces In Them
Sure, pictures of the scenic hike you took this weekend are stunning, but try to avoid posting too many pics of just scenery and include more with faces! It's been shown that Instagrams with people in them get 38% more likes than those without.
Rule #4
Don't: Post Too Many Pictures Of Your S/O
Try to remember that posting 20 photos in a row of your boyfriend is a bit excessive for Instagram. It's great that you love him, but you have to remember that your followers don't. Just don't overload your followers with pictures that flaunt your relationship, no one really likes it.
Do: Post Food Porn Pictures
Everyone loves seeing pictures of food that looks mouth-wateringly good! Obviously try to avoid posting more than one of these in a row, but if you ate a seriously good burger, a gorgeous stack of pancakes, or a cheesy gourmet pizza, you bet your follows want to vicariously eat it with you. But no one wants to see pics of your food while you're eating healthy, unless it looks amazing.
Rule #5
Don't: Use More Than One Filter At A Time
You can clearly tell when someone uses multiple filters on their photos, because it's really hard to look at. Just don't do it! Also, avoid the Kelvin filter at all costs because it doesn't make anything look better, it will only make your picture look worse!
Do: Post Occasional #TBT Pictures
If you have a nice picture from a past trip, a funny pic with your friends from years ago, or vintage holiday pictures from when you were young, you can absolutely throw a #tbt pic in the mix from time to time. But don't use it as an excuse to post a random bikini pic or a cute photo of your friends from last Friday night. And try to avoid posting them every single Thursday.
Rule #6
Don't: Post Too Many Puppy/Baby Pics
Everyone loves cute dogs and babies, this is a fact. But if you're posting multiple photos of them on Instagram a week, there's a big problem. Your Instagram is not run by your dog/baby so if you have to post hundreds of photos of them, consider making a separate account so you don't loose your followers. One pic per week should be your absolute maximum.
Do: Be Funny And Show Your Personality
You want to show your followers your personality from time to time. So be funny, be weird, be emotional it's really up to you! You want your followers to enjoy seeing your pictures on their feed so give them something to laugh at or relate to.
Rule #7
Don't: Use Too Many Hashtags
If you have to create a separate comment just to include all your hashtags, there's definitely a problem. You don't need to hashtag every single thing you can think of about a picture. Maximum 4 hashtags is fine. You should also avoid using the #nofilter and #followforfollow at all costs.
Do: Like And Comment On Your Friend's Posts
If your friend posts an Instagram photo you should absolutely like it and throw a comment out there. If they mean anything to you at all, these are the rules. This also guarantees that they'll return the favour on your posts as well!
Rule #8
Don't: Post Inspirational Quotes
We kind of appreciate you trying to portray some wisdom on us, but writing an inspirational quote over your photo or below your selfie just doesn't make any sense. Unless you're actually a philosopher there's no point in taking quotes from inspirational people and adding them to your pictures.
Do: Keep Your Captions Short And Sweet
Whether it's a song lyric, a pun or a cute saying about how much you love your friend on their birthday, just make sure it's short and sweet. There's no reason to write 3+ lines worth of text on your photos if it doesn't need it.
Rule #9
Don't: Comment On A Photo Without Liking It
This is literal Instagram suicide, just don't do it. Ever! If you take the time to comment on someone's picture they know you saw it, so you have to like it. People will question why you didn't if you do that, even if it was an accident.
Do: Use Different Apps For Editing
Instagram has been slowly improving their editing tools, but they're still not as good as other ones out there. Other apps like VSCO Cam provide amazing editing tools that will make your Insta photos that much better!
Rule #10
Don't: Post A Bunch Of Photos In A Row
If you took a fire selfie, for sure post it on Instagram! But no one needs to see the 20 other pics you took trying to get that selfie. This applies for any photo you post on Instagram. If you must include more than one photo of the same thing, include the multiple photo feature so it doesn't spam everyone's feed.
Do: Choose Quality Over Quantity
Maybe you gave yourself a schedule and said you'd post at a certain time every day. But if you don't have a good photo, just hold off. It's always better to choose quality over quantity.
