Part I: User Guide to Instagram
by Emily Sarale and Maria Kjellstrand
If you already have an account and want advanced Instagram tips, click here for Part II.
What is Instagram?
Instagram is a photo-sharing, social media app that allows users to upload photos to their account and share them with followers on Instagram or across other social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, or Tumblr. Users can also comment and like other users’ photos and follow other accounts to view those accounts’ photos in their newsfeed.
This guide will teach you how to:
Part I:
- Sign up and create an account
- Follow Accounts
- Upload, edit, tag, and caption a photo
Part II:
- Hashtags
- Current trends
- Tips for journalists
- FAQs
Step 1. Sign up and create an account
- Download the Instagram application from the App Store
- Open application once the download is complete
- You can create you account by logging in with Facebook* or signing up with a phone or email
*Logging in with Facebook will notify your friends you have joined Instagram and will help you gain followers.
Next, you must create a username and password for your profile.
Step 2. Follow Accounts
- To search for an Instagram user, use the search function at the bottom left of the screen.
- Type the account you are searching for into the search bar and select it from the results
- Tap the “follow” button to follow that account
- Any photo uploaded by that account will now appear in your home feed, which you can access by tapping the home button on the bottom left corner of your screen.
Step 3. Upload/take, edit, tag, and caption a photo
Upload/Take
- To upload/take a picture choose the camera icon on the bottom
- You can then proceed to choose a picture from the library, take one in the app, or even record a video
- Once you have content, click “next” at the top right corner
Edit
- At this point, you will be offered a variety of filters for your content. If you do not like these options, you can use other editing features to edit your content. Choose “edit” on the bottom right hand corner.
- When you are finished choose “next” on the top right have corner.
Tag
- To tag someone in your picture, choose “Tag People” located below the picture and caption.
- Tap on the picture to search people. Once you have found the person you want, choose them from the menu. *You can tag multiple people.
- When you are done tagging people, choose “done” in the top right hand corner.
- Similarly with tagging locations. Choose “Add Location” to search locations. If your location feature is on, some location options near you should be available.
- Once you have found your location, choose it from the menu.
Caption
- To create a caption, tap the caption box
- Add some text, emojis, and/or hashtags
Review
- Review your post and choose “share” on the top right hand corner to publish your post
