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How to Use Instagram: A Beginner's Guide

Over the past few years, Instagram has seen exponential growth — from one million users at its inception to over one billion in 2022.

If you're interested in getting an Instagram account, or just created one but aren't sure how to use it, you're in luck. Here, we're going to cover all the basics, so you can learn why Instagram is the top social media platform for engagement today.

What is Instagram?

Instagram is a social media platform that emphasizes photo and video sharing via its mobile app. You can take, edit, and publish visual content for both followers and non-followers, as long as your account is public. Users can interact with your content via likes, comments, shares, and saves.

It's hard to remember a time before Instagram. At one time, "Do it for the 'gram" was a common saying, which meant, essentially, "Do something so we can take a picture and post it to Instagram."

Since then, Instagram has placed a larger and heavier emphasis on video. So you no longer hear the phrase “Do it for the ‘gram.” I bet, though, that a second version of the phrase will soon follow. (Maybe “Do it for reel?”)

If you're not part of the one billion users on Instagram, you might want to reconsider. The app is a great chance to engage with top brands and stay a part of friends' lives. When I want to see how my college friends are doing, I don't check Facebook, I check Instagram. Plus, you can follow your favorite celebrities or political figures to see candid photos of their everyday lives.

Additionally, it's a phenomenal platform for investigating what other brands are doing — for instance, Nike uses the Instagram Stories' feature to promote inspirational athlete stories you won't find anywhere else.

How to Sign Up for Instagram

To sign up for Instagram, all you need to do is download the Instagram app on your phone and click the 'Sign up' button. You can choose to sign up through Facebook or use your email or phone number. After you choose a username and password, you’re ready to build your profile.

If you're ready to sign up for Instagram, follow these steps below:

Go to the Instagram site on your desktop, or download the Instagram app from the App Store (iPhone) or Google Play Store (Android).
If you're on desktop, click "Log in with Facebook", or fill in the form with your mobile number or email, name, username, and password. Then click "Sign up".
On Android, click "Sign Up With Email or Phone Number".
On iPhone, select "Sign Up".
Enter your email address or phone number, then click "Next". Alternatively, you can sign up with your Facebook account.
Once you've filled out your username and password, you will be instructed to fill out your profile info. Then, tap "Done".
If you register with Facebook, you'll need to log into your Facebook account if you're currently logged out.

How Do Instagram Notifications Work?

When your account is created, you'll want to adjust your notifications so you only receive the information you want. For instance, you can choose to receive notifications when you get likes from everyone — but, alternatively, you might decide to only receive notifications when you get a like from someone you follow. Or, you might turn off notifications for likes altogether.

You can adjust notifications to "Off", "From People I Follow", or "From Everyone", for the following categories — Comments, Comment Likes, Likes and Comments on Photos of You, Follower Requests, Accepted Follow Requests, Friends on Instagram, Instagram Direct, Photos of You, Reminders, First Posts and Stories, Product Announcements, View Counts, Support Requests, Live Videos, Mentions in Bio, IGTV Video Updates, and Video Chats.

If you're overwhelmed by that list, I get it — I am, too. If you're unsure what notifications you want to receive, you might start with your notifications on "From Everyone", and if certain notifications begin to annoy you, you can turn them off later.

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To customize which notifications you receive, follow these steps:

1. Open up the Instagram app on your phone.

First up, open up the Instagram app on your mobile device. You can also access Instagram on desktop if you prefer. Then, head to your profile by clicking the image of your profile picture on the bottom right.

2. Access “Settings.”

After you arrive at your profile, click the hamburger menu on the top right-hand corner.

A popup menu will appear. Tap “Settings.”

3. Tap “Notifications.”

On the next screen, click "Notifications."

There, you’ll be able to change the notification settings depending on category. These categories include:

Posts, Stories, and Comments
Following and Followers
Direct Messages and Calls
Live and Video
Fundraisers
From Instagram
Email and SMS
Shopping

You also have the ability to pause all notifications by toggling the Pause All option up top.

4. Check off the notifications you want to receive.

Access each category individually and choose the notifications you want to receive. Here are the options, for example, for “Posts, Stories, and Comments”:

The options will vary depending on category.

And that's it! Next, let's explore how to connect your other social media accounts to your Instagram, so when you post an image to Instagram, you can share it with your other online audiences, as well.

Can you connect to Instagram to other social accounts?

Yes, you can connect Instagram to Twitter, Tumblr, and Facebook, but it’s no longer done through Settings, as it used to be.

Now, you do it on a per-post basis.

If you want to share a post to other platforms, you navigate to the actual post you want to cross-publish on Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter, and then manually share it that way.

Here’s how:

1. Open up the Instagram app.

2. Navigate to your profile.

3. Tap on the post you’d like to cross-post.

4. Click the three dots on the top right-hand corner of the post.

5. On the pop-up menu, click “Share.”

Note: Don’t click “Share to,” which will give you an option to AirDrop or share the post to your contacts.

6. Toggle the accounts you’d like to share the post to. If you’re not already signed in, you’ll need to do so right within the Instagram app.

Once you’ve connected your accounts for one post, you can then toggle the sharing options for any new posts without needing to sign in again.

If you connect Instagram to Facebook, you can share your Stories across both accounts. We talk more about how to do that below.

How to Connect Instagram to Facebook

Since Instagram and Facebook are owned by the same company, Meta, you can connect the two accounts for a more seamless experience. Connecting your Instagram and Facebook accounts allows you to:

Share Stories across both Instagram and Facebook
Login with Facebook into Instagram
Sync your profile name and picture across both profiles
Use Facebook Pay on both platforms
Access your shopping activity on both accounts

If you’re a frequent Facebook user, then connecting your account to your new Instagram profile is highly recommended. Here’s how:

1. Open up your Instagram app.

2. Click on your profile picture on the bottom right-hand corner.

3. Click the hamburger menu on the top right-hand corner.

4. Tap “Settings.”

5. Under the Meta logo, tap “Accounts Center.”

6. Tap “Set up Accounts Center.”

7. Follow the prompts to log in into Facebook.

Done! Your two accounts are now connected. Here's how it'll look like once you're finished:

In the next section, I'll show you when a linked account comes in handy.

Upload, Edit, and Post an Image

Now, for the most important part of Instagram — how to upload and post an image.

Instagram is an entirely visual platform. Unlike Facebook, which relies on both text and pictures, or Twitter, which relies on text alone, Instagram's sole purpose is to enable users to share images or videos with their audience.

On Facebook, you might choose to post 100 photos on an album. On Instagram, you need to be choosier about which photos you post. There are a few reasons for this — first, you don't want to post more than once a day (typically). And you don't want to post too many similar photos.

For instance, it would be odd for you to post fifty photos from the same beach vacation on your Instagram profile. Instead, you might choose five or six, and place them all within the same post.

(These are called carousel posts, and they allow you to share multiple photos in one post only. Carousel posts are awesome for posting similar pictures in one package while keeping your overall profile aesthetic diverse.)

Curious about creating an aesthetic? To learn more about Instagram account themes and get inspiration, take a look at these Instagram themes. Additionally, if you want to embark on a deep-dive, you can take HubSpot's Instagram Marketing Course.

Now that we've covered that, let's explore how to upload, edit, and post an image.

1. Click the "+" icon at the top-right hand corner.

When you tap the “+” icon, you’ll be prompted to choose the type of post you want to share. Since we want to publish a post directly on our profile feed, tap “Post.”

2. Choose your media file.

Here, you have three options. You can look through your Photos library on your phone, you can take a new picture from right within Instagram, or you can take a new video. For our purposes, I looked through my Photos library and found a picture of Boston I wanted to use. Then, I clicked "Next" in the top right.

3. Add filters if desired.

There are two categories you can use to edit your image — "Filter" and "Edit". Instagram automatically shows you filters first. You can scroll through the carousel and click any of the filters to apply it to your image.

Additionally, if you want to use a filter but you want to tone it down, double tap the filter and move the cursor to the left to lessen the intensity of the filter.

4. Edit your image if desired.

Next, click "Edit". Here, you can adjust contrast, brightness, structure, warmth, and more. When you're happy with your edited image, or if you don't want to edit it at all, click "Next" in the top right.

5. Write a caption and toggle sharing settings.

Now, you can add a caption, tag people (you can only tag someone if they also have an Instagram account), and add a location. Additionally, click the button beside Facebook or another linked social media account to share your image on that platform, as well. When you're ready to publish, click "Share" in the top right.

If you don’t want to use your app to post on Instagram, you can also do so from your computer. Learn how to post to Instagram from a Mac or PC here.

Upload an Image or Video to Your Stories

Instagram Stories is a feature that allows you to post videos or images that disappear after 24-hours. Instagram's Stories feature is similar to Snapchat in terms of content — users often post more casual and candid videos and images, offering glimpses into their every day lives.

For instance, on your normal feed, you might post a heavily-edited picture of yourself and friends at a baseball game. But you might post a more candid video to your Story of the stadium singing "Sweet Caroline".

To learn how to upload an image or video to your Stories, follow these steps:

1.

Tap your profile picture in the upper left-hand corner.

Alternatively, swipe right on your feed or tap the “+” button in the top navigation bar.

2. Capture or add your media.

Once you're within the Stories feature, you can take a picture or video right from within the app. Alternatively, if you have an image saved to your phone that you'd like to use, you can choose it from your media library.

3. Add stickers or filters.

On the left-hand side, you have a few different editing features.

The “Create” button lets you add a location, hashtag, time, date, and other fun images or emojis to your picture.

The “Boomerang” option allows you to create a looping video. And the "Aa" icon is your text button. Once you click "Aa", you have the option to change your font.

If you click the smiley face icon, you'll see the following screen. Simply click on one of the icons to add them to your image. If you don't like it, drag it to the bottom, and a trash can will appear so you can delete it.

For instance, I clicked the smiley face icon to add a poll to my image. You can also swipe to the left or right to add filters to your photo or video.

4. Publish your Story.

Once you're happy with your content, you can either click the white arrow icon in the bottom right, which allows you to share your Story with everyone who follows you, or select “Close Friends” first, so that only your close friends see it.

Then you’re done! Your Story is immediately live.

How to Follow on Instagram

It's incredibly easy to find and follow users. Using Instagram's search feature, you can find celebrities, brands, and friends. Additionally, you can search "Tags" or "Places". "Tags" is particularly useful if you know what type of content you want to find, but you're not sure who posts about it.

For instance, you might search "#familyrecipes" under tags — your results will include any images with that hashtag. As you peruse, you might find someone who posts content you really like, and you can choose to follow them so their content appears on your feed.

To follow someone, follow these three easy steps.

1. Click on the search icon at the bottom of your screen.

It looks like a magnifying glass and will be right next to the “Home” button.

2. Next, type in a person, topic, or brand.

For this example, I searched "architecture.”

Instagram allows you to either search all posts that contain the word “architecture,” or “See all results” and see tags and places.

3. Tap the account you’re interested in following.

Once you're on someone else's account, you'll see a blue "Follow" button at the top. For public profiles, you can click and immediately begin following that account. However, if the profile is private, you may need to wait for them to accept you first.

And that's it! You're on your way to becoming a pro. To take your account to the next level, plan out your next posts using an array of content ideas and templates.

Using Instagram is Key for Growing Your Personal Brand

If you want to grow both professionally and personally, then using Instagram is more important than ever. You can start by observing first, then begin posting as you learn your way around the user interface. With over one billion users, Instagram is an extremely worthwhile social media platform to join — and it’s only set to keep growing as time goes on.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in November 2018 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

Topics: Instagram Marketing

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What Is Instagram and How to Use It: a Beginner's Guide

Instagram is a free social media platform for sharing photos and videos with your followers.
It's become an especially popular way to connect with brands, celebrities, and friends.
Instagram has an array of features, from short-form videos to live streaming and private messaging.

One could argue that Instagram is a social media network like no other. The popular user base platform is built almost entirely around sharing images and videos. This visual twist is why Instagram is the cultural powerhouse it is today — "Instagramming" is officially a verb now.

With over a billion registered accounts, from small businesses to large institutions, news organizations to cultural hubs, celebrities, photographers, musicians, and not to mention the cottage industry of influencers — it's hard to remember a time when Instagram didn't exist.

So, if you've found yourself out of the Instagram loop, then read on. We'll give you a crash course on how the app works, how to get started, and eventually, how to get 'gramming like a pro.

To help you get started, let's walk through some of the basics:

How to download Instagram

First things first: You'll need to download Instagram to use the app. It's available for free on iOS, Android, and Windows devices. While there isn't an app fully optimized for iPads, you can still enjoy the full IG experience on your iPad by changing your App Store settings to find the app.

How to create an Instagram account

Upon opening the app for the first time, you'll be prompted to create a new account, or log in with your Facebook account.

If you choose to make a new account, the process is straightforward: you'll be asked for your phone number or email address, full name, desired username, and password.

Once you create an account, it's worth noting that you can create — and switch between — multiple Instagram accounts without logging out, a very useful feature if you wish to run separate accounts for personal and professional use.

Even though Instagram is designed primarily for smartphones, the desktop experience — once very limited — has steadily improved over the years.

Today, you can get on Instagram from your computer and use a web browser to edit your profile, view your feed, like and comment on posts, and send and receive direct messages. You can even post photos and videos from the desktop app, thanks to a relatively recent update.

Setting up your profile

After you create your Instagram account, you're going to want to set up your profile. Your profile page is a hub for all your photos and videos where you can keep track of who you're following and who's following you. It's also where you can access your settings.

From your profile page, you can edit your profile, access settings, or scroll down to see your posts. Devon Delfino

Profile pages are often the first thing people visit, so it's best to keep your username, profile picture, and bio up to date. Your profile picture is the icon that appears with your username all over the platform, while your bio is a space to offer a brief description of yourself or your brand. You can also add a link to your website, if applicable.

By clicking Edit Profile, you can make changes to your profile page at any time:

How to change your Instagram profile picture
How to change your Instagram bio
How to change your Instagram username

If you're running an Instagram account for your business, you can also add your location.

Customizing notifications

Keeping up with your friends and followers on Instagram means making sure you're getting the right notifications, at the right time. The platform gives you the power to choose what push notifications it sends to your device.

For example, perhaps you want to receive a notification when you get a new follower, or when someone comments on your post. Or maybe you're feeling inundated with pings and you would like to turn your notifications off completely.

You can adjust your notifications by going into your profile, tapping the three lines in the top-right corner of the screen and selecting the three lines icon in the same location , and then tap Settings followed by Notifications.

You can adjust your notifications from this screen. Devon Delfino

Now that you have the app downloaded, and your profile set up, it's time to start sharing.

How to use Instagram

At its core, Instagram is a social media platform, and a highly visual one at that. Every time you open the app, you'll be met with a main feed of recent posts from the accounts you follow.

At the bottom is a menu bar, which is accessible anywhere you are in the app.

Here's what each button does, from left to right:

Home: Your main feed where you can scroll through photos and videos posted by your friends.

Search and explore: The magnifying glass icon takes you to the Explore page, where you can search and browse content from accounts you don't follow but may be interested in.

Reels: This tab includes short videos (up to 90 seconds long) from users you may or may not be following. You can scroll to the next video by swiping your finger from the bottom of the screen to the top.

Shop: Here, you'll find a collection of Instagram posts that includes items you can buy through the app.

Profile: This icon navigates to your profile page that shows your bio and posts. It's also where you can access your settings.

Use these buttons to navigate between your feed, search and Explore, Reels, Shop, and your profile. Devon Delfino

Like other social media networks, Instagram is what you make it. For most people, checking Instagram is equal parts voyeurism and self-expression. For the entrepreneurial set, like business owners, brands, and influencers, Instagram is an indispensable marketing tool with unmatched reach.

But going back to basics, Instagram works off a simple premise: You follow accounts that interest you. In turn, people follow you. People can "like" and comment on your posts, and you can do the same to their posts. Whether you maintain a low profile or amass a following, how active you are is entirely up to you.

Uploading, editing, and posting photos

To share a photo or video on Instagram, tap the large plus button (located toward the top-right corner of the screen). From there, you can select photos or videos from your phone's camera roll to post.

Quick tip: Instagram allows you to to select up to 10 photos and videos to post at once — these kinds of posts are called carousels.

For every post, you can choose to apply a filter, which, depending on who you ask, is either essential to the Instagram experience or unnecessary, given that many other photo editing apps come with their own filters.

Filters make it easy to edit shots with different visual pre-set overlays. For example, some filters, like Mayfair, give everything a pink hue; others, like Willow, turn everything black-and-white.

You can adjust how intense (or not) the filter is as well using a slider when you select the filter and then tap it one more time.

You can select from in-app filters to alter your photos. Devon Delfino

Once your post is to your liking and ready to go, there are a few more options you can do before you hit the share button:

Add a caption: Captions are always a good idea. You can use words, emojis, or hashtags. Just like in comments, you can also mention friends by typing @ in front of their username. Keep in mind you can edit captions at any time — or delete posts.

Tag people: Instagram allows you to "tag" someone in your photos. When you tag someone, they'll get a notification in their activity feed. (This is separate from mentioning them in your caption.)

Add location: Location tags lets others know where your photo was taken. Clicking on a location tag brings you to its corresponding location feed, where you can peruse other public posts.

Also post to other social accounts: Instagram also gives you the ability to publish a post to other social accounts at the same time. By linking accounts, you can cross-post to Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr.

There are a lot of options in Instagram's posting screen. Devon Delfino

Exploring and finding people to follow

The best way to find people to follow is by tapping the magnifying glass icon at the bottom of the app. This will open the Explore page, where you'll find a feed of suggested posts based on what Instagram thinks you're interested in.

The Explore page can also be organized by topic — another great way for discovering content.

You can do this by selecting the suggested topics toward the top of the screen. Additionally, the page is where you can search for users by name, through the search bar at the top of the screen.

You can scroll down for more posts, or use the search function at the top to find specific accounts or posts. Devon Delfino

When it comes to interacting with others, Instagram works less like Facebook and more like Twitter. In most cases, you don't have to send a friend request or wait for the other person to accept it.

When you follow other people, Instagram will make sure you see their posts in your feed. For the most part, people can see who you're following and who's following you, at all times.

However, if you have a private account your followers are restricted and unable to view who currently follows you.

Sending and receiving direct messages

Instagram has a direct messaging system that lets you chat privately with anyone who follows you.

If you send a message to someone who doesn't follow you, that message will be sorted into its own "message requests" folder. To start the conversation, the person on the receiving end must accept the message.

Direct messages are also available in the app and on the desktop website.

To access your message menu, tap the paper airplane icon in your home feed. From there, you'll be shown all the people you've had conversations with in the past. You can also tap the pen and paper icon in the top right-hand corner to start a new conversation, or the camera icon to start a video chat.

Your message history will appear on this screen. Devon Delfino

Once you're in a conversation, you can send all sorts of messages. These include basic text messages, animated GIFs, and more. You can also share Instagram posts. And you can "like" messages, or delete messages if you no longer wish to see them.

The only users that you'll have to ask to follow are those who have made their account private.

When you tap Follow on a private profile, you'll have to wait for that user to accept you before you can officially follow them and send them a message.

You can also connect your phone contacts to Instagram, which can be another great way to find friends on the app.

Instagram features

As you might expect, Instagram rolls out new features regularly. From new content to an ever-expanding set of creative tools, Instagram offers plenty of opportunities for self-expression and creativity.

Here are the latest and greatest Instagram features worth knowing:

Instagram Stories

Many people use Instagram exclusively for creating and viewing Stories, which are customizable posts that only last 24 hours. These posts, which could be a mix of photos and short-form videos, are presented in a slideshow format and accessible through the top of the home feed.

And when we say customizable, we mean customizable. Unlike regular posts, which include only simple filters, Stories boast all kinds of creative elements, including:

Animated stickers and cartoons
Polls and quizzes
Dynamic song lyrics
Links to donation funds and charities

There are several ways to add a Story, but the easiest is to tap your profile icon at the top-left hand corner of your home feed. From there, you can either take a photo or video live, or choose one from your phone's gallery. You'll then have the opportunity to draw, add text or any of those other creative elements we mentioned above.

While Stories are designed to disappear after one day, they're automatically saved to your private Archive (which we'll explain in just a bit) after expiring. You can also publish Stories permanently on your profile for visitors to watch at any time.

Instagram Live

Instagram Live is a feature that lets you livestream, or broadcast live video, from your device to anyone who wants to watch.

Viewers can send you messages and hearts while you stream, making this a great way to talk to all your followers at once, or broadcast an event.

To go live on Instagram, you'll need to open Instagram and, from your feed, swipe right and select Live from the options at the bottom of the screen. From there you can do things like add a title, select your audience, and schedule the live video, if desired.

You can go live for up to four hours at a time — after that, the livestream will end and you'll need to start again.

While you're streaming, viewer comments are visible by default, but can be disabled with just a few taps.

Whenever anyone you follow starts starts a livestream, you'll get a notification. If you're following a lot of people, this might mean a constant flood of notifications that you don't need.

Luckily, turning off Instagram Live notifications only takes a moment.

Reels

Built as a rival to TikTok, Reels is Instagram's dedicated video platform, letting users upload videos up to 90 seconds long in length. Once you record a video, you can edit it and add music, text, and special effects. Other users can like or comment on your Reels videos, so they can be a fun way to attract new followers.

To watch someones else's Reels, you need to tap the icon, located in the center of the bottom menu on the app. (It looks like a mashup of a play button and a clapperboard. ) Here, you can watch videos that others have uploaded, create Reels of your own.

Instagram Shopping

Given Instagram's popularity, it's no surprise that brands are doing everything they can to turn Instagram users into customers. According to Instagram, nearly half of people shop on Instagram weekly.

Instagram tips and tricks

Instagram is simple to use, but can take a while to master. Here are some of our favorite tricks that aren't so obvious to beginners.

Schedule posts in advance

Instagram has become a massive part of nearly every company's online presence, and if there's one thing that social media brand managers love, it's scheduling a post in advance.

Instagram does have a native post scheduler — but that's reserved for those with professional accounts. Still, there are dozens of third-party programs, like Buffer, that can handle the scheduling for you.

Save Instagram videos to your phone

If you've found an amazing video on Instagram that you just need to save, you're in luck — there are several ways to save Instagram videos.

If you're trying to save one of your own videos, it'll just take a few taps to save the video directly to your camera roll. If you're trying to save someone else's video, however, you'll need to record your screen or use a third-party app.

Post different photo formats

When Instagram first launched in 2010, the edits were limited. You could only post square photos — anything else either wasn't allowed, or would be cut off.

Nowadays, the rules are a bit more lax. But if you want to post two common photo types — panorama shots and Live Photos — you may have to make some edits beforehand.

For a panorama photo, you can either zoom out so it fits in a single photo, otherwise you'll need to split up your shots beforehand using a third-party app. If you have an iPhone and want to post your live photos, you'll need to convert them into videos first.

Archive posts instead of deleting them

If you're unsure about deleting your post, Instagram offers an archive feature instead. This is great if you only want to hide a post temporarily.

To archive a post, open it, tap the three dots in the top-right, and then select Archive. The post will be hidden immediately.

Once you've archived a post, you can navigate to your private Archive with just a few taps.

Note: Every Story you post will be saved to your Archive automatically once they expire.

Privacy and security

It's also important to manage your privacy and security settings to your liking.

Manage who can see your posts

Like Facebook, Instagram allows you control who can see your posts. The easiest way to control your online presence is to set your account as "Private."

When you set your account as Private, the only people who will be able to see your posts and other activity are your followers. And before people can follow you, you'll have to approve them.

Another way you can do this is by setting up a Close Friends list. The Close Friends feature allows you to create Instagram Stories that can only be viewed by specific people. If you want to use Stories to send quick updates to your friends, this is the way to go.

Finally, if you run a Business account and you don't want users under a certain age following, you can set an age limit on your account — the minimum age you can set depends on where you live.

Change your personal account information

We've already mentioned that you can change your username whenever you like. But if you're unhappy with how you set up your account, you can edit other pieces of information too.

With just a few taps, you can change the email connected to your account.

If you want to make sure your account is secure, you can change your Instagram password at any time.

Download and back up your data

Like most social networks, Instagram has an obscure menu that lets you download every bit of content you've ever posted on the app. This includes your photos, videos, comments, messages, profile information, and more.

The only content you can't download are Stories you've posted and let expire without saving.

To download your Instagram data, head to the Settings menu in your app and then select Your activity followed by Download Data. Once there, fill out the form, and your data will be emailed to you within a few days.

If you don't want to download all your data, you can also simply view it in the app.

Protect yourself and others from harassment

Instagram has a long set of rules to ensure that all users have a safe and fun time in the app. But like all sites, it's not hard to find people who break those rules. Other users can comment on pictures and videos that you post to a public profile - but if you want to post something without leaving it open to comments, you can disable the comments on specific posts.

If you ever find a user harassing you or someone else, you can report them to Instagram.

There's no guarantee that Instagram will act on the report, but alerting them to it is better than doing nothing.

Whether you're an aspiring influencer, photography lover, or an everyday social media user, Instagram is a great place to be. It's easy to get started, so if this guide has piqued your interest, give it a try.

If for whatever reason you later decide it's not for you, you can delete your Instagram account at any time. No commitment needed.

Devon Delfino

Devon Delfino is a Brooklyn-based freelance journalist specializing in personal finance, culture, politics, and identity. Her work has been featured in publications such as The Los Angeles Times, Teen Vogue, Business Insider, and CNBC. Follow her on Twitter at @devondelfino.

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90,000 Russia is disconnected from the Internet gradually - DW - 10.03.2022

Photo: R. Goldmann/Picture Alliance

Digital technology Russia

Mikhail Bushuev

March 10, 2022

media, social networks, social networks, social networks, social networks, social networks, social networks, social networks. , services - Internet users in Russia are increasingly faced with blocking. What awaits Runet next and how to respond to users? Interview D.W.

https://p.dw.com/p/48Glr

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The Internet in Russia is shaking from the blocking of the last independent mass media and social networks by the Russian authorities, on the one hand, and the departure of Western IT companies, with another. Such a development of the situation only accelerates the isolation of the Russian segment of the Internet from the global network, Artem Kozlyuk, head of the public organization Roskomsvoboda, warned in an interview with DW.

DW: Against the background of the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russia is blocking more and more social networks, mass media and other Internet pages . Do you expect the Runet to be disconnected from the global network and the emergence of a full-fledged "sovereign Internet" in Russia ?

Artem Kozlyuk : Sovereign Internet comes gradually: this process began even before the well-known events. It won't come here and now. Relatively speaking, Putin does not have such a red button in his office that he would press and cut everything off abruptly. Nevertheless, for more than a year now, Russian lawmakers have been preparing the ground so that technologically Russia can isolate itself from the external network, from external content, first of all.

The Russian authorities, first of all, are interested in our citizens consuming information generated by the state media, and the Internet is no exception here, and now, already in such combat conditions, they began to test how to massively slow down, restrict access to various media both within Russia and to international companies and corporations.

Now we see that it is very difficult to access Twitter and Facebook in Russia. Somewhere it works, but it gets worse and worse, and randomly - it works for someone, it doesn’t work for someone, it can work through mobile operators, but not through stationary ones, and vice versa.

For understanding: it may not be possible to cut off the Internet at once, but nevertheless, neither I nor other technical specialists completely exclude that massive regional shutdowns may begin, for an hour, for several hours or even for a day, if, for example , protests began somewhere, or just tests of this or that equipment. Users may encounter the fact that the Internet will be completely unavailable either through mobile operators or through the explorer of home operators for a certain period of time. It's quite real.

Head of the public organization "Roskomsvoboda" Artem Kozlyuk Photo: K. Dolgolapteva

Russia, in contrast to Kazakhstan, Belarus, China, is too heavily penetrated by international traffic lines for a mass shutdown of the Internet, it is impossible to block them all at the same time. More precisely, even if it is more or less effective, say, by 90 percent, it will still happen, as, for example, in Kazakhstan, the morning inclusion of the Internet, so that at least some flow of information from government agencies, some kind of technical information that is simply necessary to support the operation of cloud services could pass. Well, and then, like a power outage on schedule, this may look like an Internet outage. This, it seems to me, is the worst option.

- Artem , when do you expect YouTube to shut down ? A few days ago your organization observed what it called test attempts to slow down this service.

- I said a long time ago, when there were still the first steps to build such a sovereign Runet, that it is unlikely that the Russian authorities will block such social services as YouTube and Instagram in the first place. They will be left, let's say, for dessert, and first of all they will come for Twitter and Facebook, well, and even earlier, the largest social network of business contacts, LinkedIn, was blocked since 2016.

There are several factors. The first one is that Facebook and Twitter have relatively few users - they can be millions of users, but still they are inferior in numbers to other social networks and instant messengers, the same Telegram, Vkontakte, Odnoklassniki, and so on. .

Why don't they come for YouTube and Instagram yet, although they will, of course, and this can happen immediately after this interview goes on air, and at any moment, but why in any case will this decision be one of the last? The content that is published there is much more in demand among Russian users than the content of Twitter and Facebook, there are many more Russian users, there are many more topics - education, travel, beauty.

There are different categories of bloggers, which in themselves have a multi-million audience. They earn on advertising, on the traffic that comes to them through these social networks. That is, it is also a matter of making money, and this also cannot be discounted, and probably the Russian authorities also take this into account. But, I repeat, this moment may come even tomorrow, if the political situation continues, and we will be in the same phase, if not worse than now. At the same time, there will be no official decision to block on such and such grounds, just users will constantly encounter problems with access to these social networks, even using blocking bypass tools.

- Not only large networks are being closed , the blocking has also affected quite small, sometimes regional media and small projects . Is it true that even not all blockings are considered by the RKN to be made public?

- Yes, they have become less transparent. Both we and other technical specialists who follow this segment have already noted more than once that with the introduction of TSPU, technical means of countering threats, such equipment that is deployed in the sovereign Runet system, the work of TSPU becomes opaque to society. And we can only speculate on what grounds we slowed down or blocked certain services.

The DW website is not directly accessible to many users in the Russian Federation, but articles can be read, for example, through the DW mobile application Photo: O. Linow/DW decisions to block sites are made. Let me remind you that in Russia, not only Roskomnadzor makes a decision on blocking, on all other decisions it simply fulfills the requirements of other departments.

- Today you issued a statement (the interview was recorded on March 9 - Ed.), in which you reacted to the mass exodus of foreign IT companies from Russia. And your statement says, to paraphrase a little, that their departure is actually only helping to censor ordinary Russian users. Explain why you think so.

- Leaving or not always even leaving - because many companies were not physically present here, but had tools for interacting with Russian consumers of various levels - but the problem is actually very important and very sensitive for the entire population of Russia. And we urge Western IT and Internet companies, when making such decisions, to pay attention to the fact that (addressing them directly. - Rev. ) you do not impose such sanctions selectively, but simply burn out our entire information space by attack, helping others to kindle this fire.

You are helping to cut off communications that are extremely important for Russian users, to cut off the channels of education, training, channels of financial protection - ordinary people. Therefore, I do not understand the meaning of such non-selective, total sanctions for all Internet users. In addition, this violates digital rights - the leading Western IT companies themselves have stated that they have always put and will put the user rights at the forefront. The very ones that are being discussed at high international venues, including the UN, are the right to access information, the right to a free Internet, the right to anonymity. It is clear that the situation is politically difficult, but this does not mean that Russian citizens are totally to blame for what happened.

- And how would you advise Western companies to act, because they do it either out of solidarity with Ukraine, or out of fear of sanctions from their own governments, which have imposed sanctions against the Russian leadership?

- Sanctions have not been introduced for all users from Russia. It is clear that each company must act in accordance with their jurisdiction. But here it turns out that the companies themselves take on such a sanctions task and pose a threat to the population, it turns out, they become political companies. I emphasize once again that we are not asking you to choose sides. We urge you to pay attention to the fact that users from Russia are plunging into even greater darkness, even greater confusion and an even greater information vacuum - including through the actions that a number of Western companies are taking.

There are examples of those companies that have stated that they will not impose total sanctions on Russians, realizing the importance of providing their services to the entire population of Russia, for example, this was stated just the other day by the largest Cloudflare service, which provides both cloud hosting services and DDoS protection services for many NGOs in Russia. You see, if such companies leave, then of course it will become even worse for all of us here from all sides.

- What would you advise Russian users to do in today's conditions in order to preserve freedom on the Internet as much as possible?

- At the moment, we need to diversify our content consumption channels and diversify the tools for accessing these channels. If you used to read news only on Facebook, now you are switching to reading news on Telegram, through mobile media applications. If these services are not available through app stores, there are alternative sites where you can download applications to your devices, but, again, it is important to make a note here that the main thing is not to run into fraud, because bypassing Google Play you can install any infection for yourself.

Next, install the Tor browser. This is not a panacea for all ills, but nevertheless, this is another channel to diversify your information consumption if mobile applications do not work for you or something is suddenly wrong with Telegram. Install it in advance so that you already have this tool. The Tor browser is not all Tor: the browser can be used as a proxy - relatively speaking, a kind of VPN (virtual private network. - Rev .) to access the regular web, but it can also be used to access the .onion zone, anonymous network, directly to Tor itself.

To bypass blocking: download the Psiphon software client Photo: DW

And in Tor itself, large social networks and various media have already opened and continue to open their offices. For example, Facebook has come to Tor for a long time, and its official platform is open there in the .onion zone. The same thing is being planned, as I understand it, by Twitter, big American media, for example, The New York Times. By the way, we also urge Russian media to open their offices there, and if you need help with this, we are ready to help you open your own domain there and thus diversify user traffic.

The next tool is a VPN. It is better to buy services that are free in this current situation can be dangerous. If you see such an abbreviation, this does not mean that you can definitely trust them. On the contrary, you must first check whether this service itself collects any data about you. Among the free ones, I will probably single out the Canadian service Psiphon, which, among other things, effectively showed its work during Belarusian and Kazakh shutdowns (large-scale Internet outages. - Red .). He is one of the few who continued to work. But the infrastructure is limited for everyone, Psiphon is not enough for everyone, so you need to buy a VPN and use free services - I also recommend our special Censor Tracker plugin for Chrome and Firefox browsers. It does not proxy all traffic, but the traffic that is blocked in Russia and it signals when you visit a resource that collects data about you and stores - now for a month, in the future - for six months.

- Let's go back to what you said about the knife switch, which cannot be turned off immediately. Does it mean that Russian citizens inside and outside the country should not yet be afraid of the "iron curtain" on the Internet, that is, specifically, the situation that they will not be able to communicate via the Internet with their relatives, friends and people who live on the other side of the border?

- You should be afraid. At the moment, I repeat, a lot is done by the Internet and IT companies themselves, which stop cooperation, cutting off transnational channels. You raised a very correct question - communication with those who are abroad, with their relatives, colleagues who are leaving now. How all this will happen is the big question. At least, even if the Internet works, you may not receive prompt information, prompt requests for help from your colleagues and friends. This is also important. That is, you can get it only in a day, and here every hour can be counted. Therefore, of course, you should be afraid and should tell your relatives who stayed in Russia if you are abroad about what means and ways to make contacts in the event of the disappearance of certain services - at their request or at the external desire of any state, including Russia .

See also:

Tatyana Lazareva about the Russians and the war in Ukraine

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How to replace YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and WhatsApp in Russia

Over the past few days in Russia, many applications have lost much of their functionality. So, you can’t post videos on TikTok and subscribe to foreign accounts, YouTube completely turned off monetization and canceled the YouTube Premium subscription, and Instagram is about to be blocked. It is clear that our habits have not gone away and many want to find good analogues. In fact, there are quite a lot of them in Russia. In the article we will discuss each and talk about the nuances of use.

We talk about how to replace popular applications on the iPhone.

Please note that many people do not enter such applications for the sake of entertainment. Instagram, TikTok and YouTube have long been a platform for making money. For many bloggers, this is bread. But now, when it comes to blocking, it is important to quickly redirect your efforts in the right direction and not lose followers. And you and I, ordinary users, know where to look for your favorite content makers.

A selection of the most needed products from AliExpress for iPhone, iPad and Mac.

Content

1 Alternative to Instagram
2 How to replace WhatsApp
3 Analogue of TikTok
4 Alternative to YouTube

Alternative to Instagram

9000

Yesterday, Roskomnadzor announced that on March 14 it will begin to restrict Instagram. Literally everyone who used it immediately rushed to drop links to Telegram channels. Telegram is, of course, good, but as a replacement for Instagram is unlikely to suit you. Firstly, there is no targeted advertising in Telegram, bloggers do not like it. Secondly, the Cart was originally planned as a messenger, and Durov is unlikely to change his idea.

As a replacement for Instagram , I offer you our domestic VK. Just do not rush to throw tomatoes at me, over the past few years he has changed a lot. I propose to take 2010 as a starting point, when Pavel Durov (now Mail.ru) removed the wall and made microblogs instead.

In fact, now VK offers a huge variety of ways to blog. Reels replacement clips, Stories replacement stories. Would you say that everything is implemented much worse? Ask yourself, when was the last time you opened Stories in VK? The trouble is that most modern content makers do not use VK. Friends, soon everything will change, it's a fact.

In fairness, in addition to VK and Telegram, there are foreign alternatives to Instagram :

Pinterest.
Tumblr.
VSCO.
Eye Em.

Unfortunately, many of them do not speak Russian and are poorly adapted for use in our country. Plus, many applications are not served as a platform for creating content, but as services for finding recipe ideas and other things. This is where some of the downsides come from. It is still difficult to say where our bloggers will eventually go, but time will tell.

Some sites will close access to use, so they will not be available. I propose to postpone this matter. It will take a couple of weeks after blocking Insta, and everything will become clear.

I'm sure that VK will easily replace Instagram for us.

How to replace WhatsApp

We repeat for the thousandth time - register in Telegram, subscribe to our channels and correspond there. I sincerely wonder who still uses WhatsApp in 2022, and most importantly, why they do it. In the comments on our post with the Telegram update, everyone usually writes that WhatsApp has not been used for a long time, but in real life I see a completely different picture.

Maybe now many people will think that Telegram is much cooler than WhatsApp?

Understand that the messenger from Pavel Durov was originally an order of magnitude more functional, and with the announcement of blocking Meta products (which includes both Instagram and WhatsApp) it looks even cooler. In Telega, you can listen to audio messages from any chat for a long time, send large-volume videos, and much more. For lovers of the beautiful, there are stickers in the Cart. They don't even compare to WhatsApp. In general, transfer chats from WhatsApp to Telegram faster and use it to the fullest.

In fact, the Cart can replace almost everything for you. As an analogue of WhatsApp, there are chats where you can chat without knowing the phone number. Replacement of Instagram - Telegram channels where all content is posted (don't forget to subscribe to ours), TikTok and YouTube will also be replaced by Telegram easily. In each channel, you can upload materials up to 2 GB, which is quite enough for small videos.

Subscribe to us in Yandex.Zen, where you will find a lot of relevant information from the world of Apple and beyond. Plus, two exclusive articles are published daily on Zen, which do not appear on the site. This is our thank you for subscribing.

TikTok analogue

Why don't you like TikTok? In my opinion, quite!

More recently, users have encountered another problem. Russia has banned posting videos on TikTok and subscribing to foreign bloggers. If you click on the add video button, a message pops up about the restriction of some functions in our region. If you try to subscribe to one of the foreigners, you will see an empty profile without publications.

Similar to TikTok a lot. Another thing is that most of them are foreign. If in the future block YouTube , we won't be able to watch YouTube Shorts and so on down the list. Of the domestic counterparts, in my opinion, there is only one option - Clips VK . In principle, it is in no way inferior to TikTok. Yes, the audience is smaller, but it's temporary. Now many will switch to VK, and then everything will be in order with coverage.

Alternative to YouTube

After YouTube completely disabled channel monetization in Russia , for me, this site just died. Almost all of my favorite bloggers have either stopped uploading videos altogether, or do so very rarely. The rest of the platforms are no better. Until there are alternative ways, it’s definitely not worth waiting for the daily release of new videos.

Talking about alternatives to YouTube.

Of the alternatives to YouTube , I suggest you the following:

RuTube.
Yandex.Zen.
Yandex.Video.
Video VK.

Each of them has both its advantages and disadvantages. VK - the service is very complex in its structure. Many do not know how to subscribe to a group or page, and this is not surprising. VKontakte is a rudiment, many people abandoned it a long time ago.

This is what videos look like in Yandex.Zen.

Yandex.Zen is an excellent platform with great chances of success. But there are also nuances. For example, I don’t really like the interface loaded with details. There are a lot of different recommendations here. But the articles are fine. Easy to read, fast and easy.