An Introduction

to Instagram
Learn what the Instagram social media platform is for, and how people using
the platform interact with each other.

What is Instagram?
Instagram is a social media platform, where users can upload and share photos
and videos from their mobile device. You can access Instagram by downloading
the app to your mobile device.

Only download apps to your mobile device from

either the official App Store for Apple devices,
or the Google Play Store for Android devices.

The Instagram app

Let’s take a tour of the most important features, starting
with the Home screen. This displays a continuous feed
of photos and videos posted by other Instagram users
that you follow, that you can view by scrolling up and
down the page. You will also see some ads. Use Instagram on your
At the top of the Home screen are three important icons: phone or tablet to share photos
and videos
• The + icon lets you add a new photo or video
• The heart icon lets you see notifications and review
your activity
• The paper plane icon lets you send direct messages
to other Instagram users.

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An Introduction to Instagram
At the bottom of the Home screen are icons that allow you to access:
• The Home screen
• The Search function
• Reels (videos from other Instagram users you follow)
• Shop (items for purchase based on who you follow and your search history)
• Your Profile.
You can swipe right from the Home screen to access the camera on your device
and create Posts, Reels and Stories. You can even stream live video to your
followers. Swiping left from the Home screen lets you send direct messages
to other users.

Understanding followers
Instagram lets you follow, or link to, other users, and see their posts.
You can interact with posts by:
• Liking them
• Commenting on the photos or video in them
• Sharing posts with others who you follow.
Following are the users you’ve linked to, while followers are the users
who have linked to you.

Your profile
Tap the Profile icon to see the photos and videos you
have posted, the number of followers you have, and the
number of users you follow.
Add a new photo or video by tapping the + icon, and
access your settings by tapping the Menu icon, which
looks like three horizontal lines.
You can customise your profile by adding a profile
picture and creating a Bio description.
Your profile shows information
about you

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An Introduction to Instagram
Likes, comments, and shares
Each photo or video in your feed has three small icons
below it:
• Like: Double-tap a photo or video to show your
appreciation
• Comment: Tap to add a comment using the on-
screen keyboard
• Share: Tap to share the photo or video with another Double-tap a photo or video
Instagram user. to show others that you like it

Instagram Stories
Instagram Stories are short videos or photos that only display for 24 hours.
You can see suggested stories in the top of the Home screen. View a story by
tapping on the icon.
Tapping your Instagram Story icon (on the far left of the Home screen) lets
you film a short video, post some pictures, or even re-share the stories of
other users to your own Story feed.
Remember, Instagram Stories only display for 24 hours, then they are
removed automatically.

The Search feature

You can use the Search feature to look for users and content based on your
interests. Tap the Search icon to show a list of genres, or types, of content
that you can tap to select. Or type a specific search term into the Search box
at the top of screen.

Searching by hashtag
Hashtags (#) identify Instagram content by category or topic. You can add
hashtags when you upload photos. For instance, when you post a picture of
a cake, you might add hashtags such as: #baking #food #cake.
Hashtags help to search for content by topic. For example, you can search for
the hashtag #vintagecars to view photos of old cars.

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An Introduction to Instagram
How to create an Instagram account
Instagram is owned by Facebook, so you can use your Facebook account details
to sign in. If you don’t have a Facebook account, you can use the Instagram app
to safely create a free account.

Only download apps from the official app creator.

You should check who created the app, and
the app’s star rating.

1. Download the app. Search your mobile device’s app store for
the official Instagram app, and tap it to install.
2. Sign-up. When the Instagram app is installed, tap its icon to
open it. The sign-in screen appears.
If you use an Apple iPhone or iPad, tap Create New Account.
If you use an Android phone or tablet, tap the Sign-up with
email or Phone Number icon to start the sign-up process.

3. Choose a username and password. Follow the steps to

create your Instagram username. It’s important to know that
the username is how you’ll be identified on Instagram. So, it’s
a good idea to not use your full name or date of birth.
If your username is already in use by someone else, Instagram
will suggest an alternative.

4. Add profile information. Instagram will now ask for some

information about yourself:
• A link to your website (if you have one)
• A nickname
• A Bio line describing something interesting about you.

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You can add a profile picture by tapping the + icon in the top-left corner
of the screen. Select a photo that is already saved to your mobile device or
take a new one using the camera.
If you have signed up using Facebook, your Facebook profile picture will be
displayed. You can change the picture by tapping Edit Profile.

5. Choose people to follow. Instagram suggests other Instagram users you

can follow based on:
• Your Friends list from a linked Facebook account
• Your Contacts list on your mobile device.
For help creating an Instagram account, or using Instagram in general, type
https://help.instagram.com/ into your web browser’s address bar, to visit
the Instagram Help Centre.

You should choose a password that is easy for you

to remember and difficult for others to guess. Strong
passwords have a combination of upper and lower-case
letters and include one or more numbers or symbols.

Controlling your Instagram privacy settings

You can protect your privacy and personal details while using Instagram. Keep in
mind, however, that because Facebook owns Instagram, Facebook has access to your
information and owns the rights to the photos you post on Instagram. This is contained
in the terms and conditions that you need to agree to when you sign-up to Instagram.
Let’s look at some privacy settings in the Instagram app:
1. From your Profile page, tap the Menu icon in the top-right of the screen.
It looks like three horizontal lines.
2. Tap Settings.
3. Tap Privacy.
You’ll see some options that let you control what other users can see on your
Instagram account.

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An Introduction to Instagram
Private vs public accounts
The Private account option is switched off by default, which means your account
is Public and all Instagram users can see your photos and videos.
When the Private account option is switched on, your Instagram account can only
be followed and viewed by users you have approved.
Tap the switch to turn it On. A pop up will ask you to confirm this, so tap
Switch to Private.

Accepting or denying follow requests

While your account is set to Private, every time someone
requests to follow you, you’ll receive a notification asking
if you want to accept or deny their request.
When your Instagram account is set to Public, anyone
who decides to follow you can do so. You will still get a
notification that a new user is now following your account.
Public accounts still let you prevent other users from
following your account. You can choose to either
Remove the account from your Followers list, or Block You can control who follows
users so they can’t see your posts in the future. you by setting your account
to Private

The Close Friends group

Close Friends are a small, intimate group of your followers, chosen by you. You
can share some photos or video just to this group, while other follows won’t see
them. This is useful for sharing family photos or other more personal content.

Controlling interactions with your photos and videos

Other privacy settings let you control who can:
• Comment on your content
• Tag you in their own content
• Mention your Instagram username in their own posts.
You can, for example, adjust your Privacy Settings to allow only People You Follow
to comment on your own photos and videos.

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How to Create a Close Friends group
The Close Friends option is accessed from your Instagram Profile page:
1. Tap on the Menu icon (it looks like three horizontal lines)
2. Tap Close Friends
3. Scroll through your list of Followers and tap on those users who you’d like
to add to your Close Friends group.

How to block and report other users

You can control the content you’re exposed to by Blocking another user account,
or Reporting their content or behaviour to Instagram if it’s particularly offensive.
Follow these steps to safely block or report another Instagram account:
1. Navigate to the profile of the user you wish to block or report
2. Tap the Menu icon in the top-right corner
3. Tap Block to block content or comments from that account. Once you
block another Instagram account, that user won’t be able to locate or
search for your account again
4. Tap Report to report abusive or offensive behaviour to Instagram.

Manually approve photo tags

Instagram users can Tag you in their posts. This means
they identify you by adding your Instagram username
as part of their post. Other users can then link to your
Instagram from that content.
You can manually control the posts you’re tagged in from
the Instagram Profile page:
1. Tap the Menu icon in the top-right corner
2. Tap Settings
Use a tag to identify people
3. Tap Privacy in a post

4. Tap Tags

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5. Tap Manually Approve Tags
6. Tap the switch next to Manually approve Tags to turn it On.
A pop up explains how the Manually approve Tags feature works.
Once you’ve read it, tap Turn On.

Posting a photo on Instagram

Now that your Profile is set up and ready to go, it’s time to learn how
to post content of your own.

Step 1: Adding a new photo

From the Home screen, tap the + symbol at the top of
the screen. You will then see a grid view of photos you’ve
taken with your mobile device. You can scroll the grid to
see less recent photos.
To select a photo on an Apple device, tap it and then tap
Next in the top right corner.
On an Android device, tap the arrow in the top-right corner.
If this is the first time you’ve created an Instagram post,
Instagram lets you post images
you’ll be asked to grant permission for Instagram to
saved on your mobile device
access your device’s camera roll. This is
a requirement to use Instagram on your device.

Step 2: Applying filters

Instagram includes filters for your photos, which can be a fun way to personalise them.
The filter options appear under the photo and you can browse through them by swiping
to the left. Once you’ve found the filter you want to use, tap on it.
If you don’t want to apply a filter to your photo, select Normal from the list.

Step 3: Editing your photos

The Edit option lets you adjust the photo by cropping and straightening, adding
highlights, adjusting the shadow, sharpening the image, and more.
Experiment with filters and the editing features, to find options that work best for you.
To finish editing and applying filters on an Apple device, tap Next.

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An Introduction to Instagram
On an Android devices, tap the arrow in the top right of the screen.
The changes you make to a photo that you upload to Instagram won’t be applied
to the original photo on your mobile device. So, you can play with filters and
editing without worrying about losing your original photo.

Step 4: Adding a caption and hashtag

To add a caption, tap in the Write a caption... field
at the top of the screen. The on-screen keyboard will
appear and you can add text that describes the photo.
Add a hashtag to your caption, to identify the content
you upload by category or topic and make it easier for
others to find. Any word following a # symbol is treated
as a hashtag by the Instagram app.
Add a location to your photo by selecting from the
suggested location options, or by tapping Add location Adding hashtags helps make
and then typing in the location where the photo was taken. your post easy to find

Step 5: Tagging other Instagram users

You can add the names of other users who appear in your photos.
This is called Tagging. To tag someone:
• Tap Tag People
• Tap an area of the photo, such as a face
• Type in an Instagram username
• Move the tag around on the photo to better represent who the tag is for.
You can also tag people in the photo caption.
• Tap the caption. The on-screen keyboard appears
• Type the @ symbol followed by an Instagram username
• Make sure there isn’t a space between the @ symbol and the username.
You can use other sharing options to post your photo, caption and photo location
to your Facebook, Twitter, or Tumblr accounts, if you’ve already linked them to
your Instagram account.
You can tap Advanced settings to turn off commenting for photos that you post.
This will stop other users from writing comments under that photo.

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Step 6: Share your photo with your followers
To share your photo, tap Share in the top-right corner of the screen if you’re
using an Apple device. On an Android device, tap the tick in the top right.
If your Instagram account is not set to private, all users can see your photo,
if they know your username.
If you have set your account to private, only your followers will be able to see
the photo.

Posting a story on Instagram

An Instagram Story is a short video or photo that is uploaded to your feed
and visible for 24 hours only. Many users post stories to highlight what they
are up to, right now, but of course you can post whatever you like.

Step 1: Adding a new story

On the Home screen, you can see Instagram Stories
from other users. To watch the story of someone you
follow, simply tap on the circle with their username
under it.
To add a story of your own, tap on the circle that says
Your story.

An Instagram Story is visible

Step 2: Taking a new photo or video to other users for only
Instagram stories allow you to post photos or a 60 24 hours
second video, straight from your mobile device’s
camera. When adding a new story, the screen shows a
live view of what the camera can see.
• To take a new photo, tap the circle in the centre of the screen
• To take a video, hold down the circle in the centre of the screen.
You will see a thin line move around the circle as you hold it down. This line
shows you how much longer you have left to film. An Instagram video can be
up to 60 seconds long.

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Step 3: Reviewing your photo or video
The screen shows the photo or video you just took. If you’re not quite happy
with it, tap the x symbol to delete it, and try again.

Step 4: Personalising your photo or video

You can personalise Instagram Stories by adding text, emojis and stickers. These
optional features can be a way to add some fun to your Instagram Story.
• Stickers let you add a location, mention other users or include a hashtag
• Hashtags categorise your content and make it easier for other users to
locate and view your posts.

Step 5: Posting your Instagram Story

You’re now ready to post – or publish – your story for
your followers to see. There are three posting options:
• Your Story lets your post your story for everyone to
view for 24 hours
• Close Friends allows you to post your story so only
your nominated close friends can see it
• Sent to allows you to send your story to one or more
users of your choosing.
Tap the option you’d like to use, and your story will
You can share an Instagram
be posted. Story in different ways

Step 6: Checking your story

After you’ve posted a story, you can see who has viewed it. From the Home
screen, tap the circle labelled Your story, and then look in the bottom-left
corner of the screen.
To add another story, tap and hold the Your story icon from the Home screen
and then tap on Add to your story.

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