Instagram - What are people doing on Instagram?

Feel Like a Boss on Instagram

Instagram is one of the many multi-businesses owned by Meta, formerly known as Facebook.

Instagram is a multi-platform, social media tool used for both personal and business alike to share ideas, videos, posts, and information.

The primary aim of Instagram is to capture and entice their audience.

So where to begin?

First, to create an account on Instagram. You will need to type in some personal information about yourself.

Instagram is best viewed as their app (or application), which you can download through the Apple Store or Google Play. We can also view Instagram on their desktop web browser, but you need to log in with your username or email address and password.

The Username

Much like Facebook, Instagram has the usage of usernames. This helps identify a company, an organisation, or a person through their brand identity.

As previously mentioned on above in this blog post about Facebook , Brand identity is an essential part of the world of social media.

Since many businesses today rely on an online presence, brand identity is very important. What is your business about? What or whom are you representing? Brainstorm whatever words come to mind.

My suggestion is to keep your username as simple as possible. This may not always be easy or practical, as Instagram has billions of usernames, and your perfect username may be taken, but fear not.

Getting Creative with Usernames

While it is difficult to avoid special characters, numbers, or dots in your username, try to avoid them. Ideally, the perfect username would only be one word. However, this isn’t always as practical as it seems.

My suggestion is to have up to 4 words for your username. No more, as then it may get confusing for your audience. Remember your username will look something like this: @username.

Don’t add your real name or any other personal information to your username (unless you are a celebrity) but remember that if you are a private person, it’s best not to do this… The Internet is a fickle thing, and there will always be privacy and security concerns online. You don’t want to be scammed by fraudsters or other people.

If you already work for a company or organisation, the most common username would be the company or business name. For example, the official Instagram username (for the app) is @instagram.

Personal Instagram accounts are usually private, and in order to be a ‘follower’ of that person is to send a request. Once a request has been accepted, you will ‌see the account’s content.

Verified Accounts

You may have noticed both on Facebook and Instagram that some accounts are verified. A blue tick shows verified accounts. This means that the person, organisation or company has submitted information to verify that the account on social media platforms (including Facebook and WhatsApp) is verified and is theirs.

This is to prevent other accounts created by fraudsters that may try to pose as an organisation, person or company, and may incite scams or impersonation.

Instagram features - what is what?

Reels are short videos, up to 90 seconds, where you can entertain your audience. It will highlight your reels underneath your profile section on Instagram. You can tag your products or services or have a call-to-action button so your customers will know how to contact you.

Reels are just a quick way to engage with other online users, and if you are fortunate enough, many creators have their promotion ads, or paid partnerships featured in reels.

Stories are very similar to reels, and you can share the same or similar information, but they usually only last 24 hours. Keep in mind that Instagram has limited stories to 15 seconds.

Posts are usually words, text or images that you can post both on Instagram and Facebook plus other social media platforms, such as Tumblr.

Instagram Video posts can be between 3 seconds and 10 minutes (60 minutes for selected accounts). If your video post is longer than 60 seconds, then a preview will be played on the feed and users can choose to watch the rest of the video on your profile.

You can also go LIVE (like Facebook) on Instagram. This will also help you create not only original content, but it will help you in engaging with your audience on a worldwide stage. So, what can you share with others? Many creators offer Q & As, talks, music, or feature their products or services. Many people also ask for donations (which can be a third-party link) to help produce more content for their Instagram channel. Again, it depends on your industry and what you wish to share on Instagram.

If you are posting regularly, you can “tag” yourself or your company on your posts. A tag usually looks like this @username, which is your username. This helps to protect your own copyrighted work and to prevent other people from using copyrighted work without permission.

Your Content

Instagram is very easy to use, with sharing posts, images, and other diverse content. However, keep in mind that Instagram, like Facebook, has strict guidelines on what you can post and can’t.

My suggestion is to post your own original content that you or your business, or organisation, has created. For one, this is to protect you from copyright infringements, and it will also help you build your own unique brand identity.

Like as I previously mentioned in my article above on Facebook, use royalty free images, or make your own graphic design templates. There’s plenty of graphic design software that is free or offers free trials for you to try.

Both Instagram and Facebook have filters which can change the dynamics of your work. This is a handy tool to be familiar with, as it can either enhance the quality of your work, or it can make your work difficult to read. My suggestion is to experiment with them (but don’t post) anything until you are happy with your content – and, your audience can understand it.

What is the Public Domain?

The Public Domain is when a work loses copyright protection and hence is on public domain, meaning that it is freely available for anyone to use.

One of the primary goals of copyright legislation is to encourage people to create creative works. As a result, the public domain ensures that copyright holders only have certain rights for a limited time. This balance between copyright law and the public domain encourages authors to create while also allowing others to use the work without permission once the copyright has expired.

Countries are free to enact longer copyright periods in their own legislation.

If in doubt, I suggest coming up with a disclaimer, to cover yourself legally. You can say something like all content found on Instagram (or another social media platform, Facebook or YouTube) is found on the public domain and is hereby in usage of the guidelines of fair-use and local laws.

In short….

Instagram has helped change the face of how to make business and maintain business. You can also set up a shop or have a booking system added to your profile, depending on if you use Instagram for personal or professional use.

Remember, that you don’t need to be insta-perfect to be on Instagram. Not everything you see on this platform is real, but it is a ‘truly simple’ way to connect with others, grow an audience and to have fun!