Instagram 101

I'm pretty excited about the Instagram craze that is going on in the teaching world right now!  Last Tuesday was the first #teachertalktuesday, and I really hope you post another picture this Tuesday of anything teachery!  (I think I just made up a word...)  What The Teacher Wants and myself decided to do a little post on "Instagram 101" for those of us that are just starting to use Instagram.  Just like any new type of social media, it can see overwhelming and confusing, so here are some tips that I have figured out along the way...

Ok, above is a picture of my profile page, and I added letters and arrows to take you on a little tour and show you some details:

A:  This is a little space where you can write a couple of sentences about yourself.  There is also a spot for you to post a link to your blog.  This is the only spot on Instagram that you can put a live link.  I have tried to post a picture of a product and put the link to my TpT Store, but it isn't click-able for people to travel to.  If someone really wants your product, they will have to click on your homepage, go to your blog, and find your TpT Store.  I am assuming this is something that will eventually be upgraded on Instagram, but for now, this is were you want to have the link to your blog or store.

B:  This is your home button.  It will send you to the news of all the people you follow.  Just like on facebook, you can scroll down and see pictures of people that you are following.  

C:  This is the explore button.  When you click on it, you can search people or hashtags (see below for a hashtag description).  

D:  Camera button.  Click on it to take a picture, or to the right you can access your photo album on your phone.

E:  Notification button.  This will send you to information on who liked your photo, left you a comment, or who started following you.  You can click on two buttons on the top.  One shows what people are interacting with YOU, and the other shows what activity is happening on other people's photos (click on it and you will see what I am talking about...)

F: This takes you your profile page, just like the one seen above.

G:  This is where you can edit your profile, change your name or password, and make it so your photos are private.  I keep mine to the public because this is the Instagram for my blog, my personal one is private.  I think you can have up to 5 different accounts to each phone.  

H:  This shows who is following you and who you are following.  This is a great way to find other teachers.  For instance, you can go to someone's page and see who they follow, and then you can follow them too!  It is ok to follow anyone.  You don't have to be friends with them in real life to follow them.  :)

I:  Settings button.

What is a Hashtag?!?!!?!

Ok, I know this whole hashtag thing is confusing.  Let me do my best to make it as simple as possible.  To make a hashtag you need the # sign, followed by words without spaces.  I think it started with Twitter, and now is used on Instagram too.  I will explain how it is used on Instagram.  

The hashtags are a way to organize pictures, to make the photos easy to search.  So if you post a picture of a doughnut, you can write hashtags that would describe a doughnut, such as:

#doughnut

#breakfast

#yummy

#pastry

People have also started using hashtags as a joke to be funny.  Here would be some examples of a hashtag for a doughnut that are sarcastic:

#nowineedtoworkout

#illstartthediettomorrow

Look below to see some hashtags I used to describe my octopus pointer (found at the Paper Source).

The hashtags show up blue, you can click on the link, and it takes you to all of the photos that were given that same hashtag.  Some of my favorite hashtags to browse:

#teacherlife

#bulletinboard

#teacherstyle

#kindergarten

The reason we decided to start Teacher Talk Tuesday, is to use the hashtag #teachertalktuesday so we could all find the teachers out there, and create a community of people sharing the same passion.  :)

How do you talk to someone on Instagram?

Have you seen people leaving comments and using the @ sign?  This is a way to talk to someone else on Instagram, and it will notify them when you left a comment directed at them.  Look at my example below...

You can see in the caption I wrote about the picture and then said @crayonsandwhimsy.  This was to shout out to my sweet new friend about a photo I took in her classroom.  You can @ someone in your caption or in a comment on anyone's photo! 

I'll be back next week to more about "Instagram 101!" 

Come find me @applesandabcs on Instagram! :)

Head over to What The Teacher Wants to see more tips!