INSTAGRAM: Engagement

Interacting on Instagram goes beyond a double tap to like a post and leaving a comment, there are options such as tagging, messages, stories, and reels.

Tagging Someone on Instagram

You can tag other Instagram users on Instagram in two ways, directly on the image or in the comment. If you’ve been following along in my series, it is very similar to Facebook.

When posting an image you’ll select an image, put a filter on it or edit if you’d like, and then comes the fun—adding descriptions, tagging people, adding a location, etc. To tag someone in a comment you’ll use ‘@’ to start and then begin typing their Instagram handle. What is a handle? It is a fancy way to say username!

What is a Hashtag?

While you are sharing an image, in the description you can add a hashtag. Many social platforms use hashtags, but they are very important on Instagram. A hashtag begins with the ‘#’ symbol, using no space, and it is a way to identify digital content on a specific topic. Hashtags will be clickable when used correctly and you can explore other content with the same hashtag. This is a great way to connect and follow other users who share similar interests.

Explore on Instagram

I won’t go into too much detail about privacy, but as I mentioned last week, you can have private and public profiles. If you click the magnifying glass at the bottom of your screen when using Instagram, you’ll be able to explore public posts and profiles. You can search users, hashtags, and more to find content to follow. Remember, Instagram is visual and users will work hard to create interesting posts and “stay on brand” with their profile.

Stories and Reels

While images are what started on Instagram, not videos are ruling supreme. In the past few years Instagram has introduced Stories (these are similar to Facebook Stories and can be shared across platforms) to capture people’s attention with videos at the top of their feed. Stories you can interact with, but responses will be private and through a message. Stories disappear after 24 hours unless you add them to your highlights.

Reels are the newest feature on Instagram, and I honestly haven’t spent much time utilizing this tool yet. Reels are Instagram’s way of competing with Tic Tok—quick videos with music or following video trends. At the bottom of your Instagram screen you’ll see an icon clapperboard to take you to reels.

Reels will not necessarily be from the people you follow, as Instagram created reels for “a new way to create and discover short, entertaining videos on Instagram.” Reels allow you to find popular videos the Instagram algorithm thinks you will connect with and like. You can like (heart) a reel, share it, or comment on it.

Instagram messaging

The last item I want to talk to you about is Instagram Direct, which is Instagram’s messaging feature. Similar to Facebook, you’ll find your messages by clicking the speech bubble with a zig-zag line through it in the upper right corner.

In your inbox, you’ll see messages from people you have connected with—including interactions if someone has responded to a Story you posted or you sent a message to someone regarding their Story. If someone tags you in a Story, it will also send you a message, so you know to check it out.

Instagram does also filter out people are not following in the “Requests” folder you’ll see at the top of your inbox.

Instagram is such a fun social media channel to be on if you are a more visual person. While there is news and politics, it is a lot of art, great photographs, and now funny videos to keep things light and fun. If you understand Facebook, Instagram is a breeze to figure out, with a lot less privacy issues and settings.

Next week I plan on talking about how social media can help a business, focusing on these main social channels. I don’t want to leave out other channels like Twitter and the now popular Tic Tok, so if you want to learn more about those, please leave me a comment!