Instagram is undoubtedly the most famous social network, since it is possible to find photos of beautiful women but also of singers, actors, actresses, sportsmen and in generating all the VIPs most followed and loved by the general public. Instagram is a special social network, made only of photographs to be published via the app on the smartphone . The feature that made Instagram so popular is certainly represented by photographic filters in order to give any photograph an almost professional effect, to enhance colors or to blur them or to make them more vintage. However, it is not only thanks to the filters that Instagram has achieved success, but for its ability to especially attract the younger audience, the guys who love to publish selfies and follow the public affairs of their VIP darlings. If we have never used Instagram before or if we have never studied in depth and we have an account that is dead and empty, in this guide we will show you how to start using Instagram, showing you how to open an account and how to use its multiple functions, which they have not undermined the simplicity of this application.
Article Index
- Register an account on Instagram
- Upload a photo or video
- Check social activities and write comments
- Add friends, companies, acquaintances and VIP characters
- Send direct messages
- How to create Stories with special effects
- Use Instagram TV
- Use Instagram from the PC
How to use Instagram
Since we start from scratch, we will show you how to install the app and create a new Instagram account, how to start sharing your shots and how to start following the most influential people.Register an account on Instagram
Instagram has always been a platform to be used mainly by the phone; to subscribe and start publishing photos, it is therefore necessary to download the application for Android and for iPhone.
All Instagram accounts are public by default, but you can also choose to create a private profile to not share photos with everyone but only with those who follow us. Since Instagram is Facebook, once you open the app you can log in using your Facebook account, we will only have to install the blue social network app, log in with our account and subsequently open the Instagram app to continue with our Facebook profile. In this way we will immediately have access to the Instagram profiles of Facebook friends who use it and all fields of personal information will be filled in immediately.
If we do not have a Facebook account, we can register on Instagram using the registration via email and password or via telephone number.
Upload a photo or video
To upload a photo to Instagram we open the app, tap on the + icon then choose in the phone gallery which photo to upload to the social. By clicking on the Photo menu below we can take a photo on the fly, while using the Video menu we can record a video.Once you have chosen which shot or which video to use, we will find ourselves in the menu where to apply the filters and modify the content to make it perfect.
In this regard, we invite you to read the guide on how to make videos on Instagram with cinema filters .
After the changes, tap on the top right on Next, add a caption to the photo (complete with hashtags, essential to be found and index among the many photos), add if we want tags for friends or acquaintances who follow us on Instagram, add the place of the shot (optional), choose whether to publish the same post on other supported social networks (Facebook, Twitter or Tumblr) then tap on the top right of Share to share the shot or image on our Instagram profile.
Our photo can be viewed by everyone who follows our profile or who follows one of the hashtags inserted, who can leave their "Like" by pressing the heart-shaped button. Obviously we will be able to do the same to the photos and images shared by our contacts or our friends, so as to increase the influence of the shot and the profile (the more hearts we have left or received, the more our profile will be followed and displayed on Instagram).
Check social activities and write comments
To check our activity on the social network and the activity carried out by our followers on shared content, just tap on the bottom of the Notifications menu (in the shape of a heart, where we will find all the notifications) and on the Profile icon (where we will find photos and shared videos).To write a comment to a photo or read those left by other users, just tap the speech bubble icon under the click.
In addition to the simple text we can use one of the emojis present directly above the text field, so as to write more emotional messages.
Add friends, companies, acquaintances and VIP characters
To add friends to Instagram, all we have to do is tap down on the icon with the magnifying glass and start the search for the person, company or VIP character we intend to add. Once we find the right account, select it and press the Follow button to start following it (we will become its followers).
Obviously our friends, acquaintances or fans will be able to do the same on our profile: to be successful on Instagram we will have to share interesting photos and videos, so as to also bring unknown users to follow us and to like our photos. To quickly increase followers, we recommend you read our guide on How to increase subscribers on Instagram .
Send direct messages
Instagram has a chat system inside it, called Instagram Direct, with which we can write fast and confidential text messages (they will not end up on the Stories or shared on social networks). To write a private message, just tap on the paper airplane icon in the top right and choose, among the contacts and followers available, who to chat with.
This chat works similarly to WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger, thus allowing you to send voice messages, add photos and images, add stickers and GIFs and make a quick video call. Also in Direct chats we can put Likes through hearts to shared photos, so as to leave a sign of appreciation. We will be able to send direct messages starting from a photo freely shared on Instagram.
To send private messages to Instagram friends, you can also download the Threads app (for Android and iPhone), from Instagram. Threads is a messaging app that allows you to share photos and messages privately with a group of close friends.
How to create Stories with special effects
One of the funniest things on Instagram is the presence of a camera app with real-time effects, from which we can also start direct videos or add effects to our face. All the shots and filming made with this camera will be shared in the Stories section, that is a collection of multimedia content that only our friends or those who follow our profile will be able to see.
To open this special camera just open the app and tap on the camera icon on the top left (alternatively we can drag from the left edge to the center of the app). We will be able to take a normal shot, a simple photo shoot, use the Boomerang effect, use the fun effects with Superzoom, add background music, add strange faces and faces to our portraits and make a direct video without holding down the central button.
Once the shot or video has been taken, a new editing editor will open where we can add text and apply labels and filters; at the end we can send the photo or video within our history or to some selected friends (we can also group the closest friends in a special category, so as to always be accessible with just one tap in the editor).
Note : content added to Instagram Stories can be added to Facebook Stories, simply by tapping on the button under Your Story (on the Share screen) and choosing whether to share only the current content or all content from that moment on.
Use Instagram TV
Another function that we can exploit on the photographic social network is Instagram TV, that is, real videos of a few minutes designed to compete with YouTube.
The main feature of these videos is that they can only be shot vertically, to accommodate use on smartphones; with this service we will be able to shoot videos up to 10 minutes (one hour for companies and for the most popular social profiles). In order to shoot videos, we will need to download the dedicated IGTV app, available free for Android and iOS.
Videos shot and shared can be viewed both from the IGTV app and from the normal Instagram app ; in the latter case, simply tap on the top right of the television icon.
Use Instagram from the PC
Instagram was born mainly for smartphones and all its functions are designed for this use. However, we can access our profile and photos shared by our followers directly from the Instagram.com website via the web.
Obviously we will not have access to all the functions that we have shown you on the mobile apps, but we can use it to immediately see the photos, leave the Likes and check the activity of our followers or our friends.
In another guide we showed you the best sites to search for photos, videos and stories from Instagram on PC without registration, useful for obtaining material from the site without having to be registered.
Conclusions
Instagram is today the best social network for immediacy of use, for functionality and for fun, since we can easily find all our friends but also our favorite VIP characters (who are well willing to be "followed" to increase their prestige ). If you have not yet used Instagram, reading this quick guide we will immediately become skilled in using social media, which you will be passionate about after a few minutes.In another guide we have shown you the differences between Facebook and Instagram, while if we want to become great experts in the social photo, it is also worth reading our article on 10 tricks and useful options on Instagram .
