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December 13, 2011 by: Shell

How to Use Instagram: Part Two

A few months ago, I wrote a tutorial on how to use instagram. The basics on getting started with instagram: what it is, how to take pics, how to share them, and how to find friends on instagram. If you missed that and need a basic instagram tutorial, be sure to check that out.

In this follow up, I wanted to point out a few more instagram features for those of you still figuring out how to use instagram.

When you open instagram to your Feed, you may notice some numbers in a “talk” bubble above your News button.

getting started with instagram

This will tell you from left to right: how many new messages you have, how many new likes you have, and how many new people are following you on instagram. Click on your News button to see more.

how to use instagram

You can click on the pictures or the usernames to find out more info. The news stream will also tell you when a friend has joined instagram, as long as you have other social networks like twitter connected to your instagram account. If you still need to do that, you can check out my first instagram tutorial.

Another item you can see in your news stream is when someone tags you either in a photo or in a comment on another photo. To tag someone, you type the @ symbol, followed by their instagram username. If someone asks a question or makes a comment on a photo and you want them to be sure they will see your response, you need to tag them. Otherwise, they might not see your comment unless they revisit your photo and happen upon it. So, if it is something you want to be sure they do see, be sure to tag them!

instagram tutorial

I made sure to tag a friend who was just dying to know if that was a Tim McGraw impersonator that I was hanging out with this weekend. This way, the answer showed up in her News feed.

One last tip on how to use instagram: if you follow a lot of people, you may miss pictures from people that you really want to see. For me, I want to be sure not to miss a single photo that my brother or my sister-in-law post. You can easily find a user on instagram.

how do you use instagram

Click on your profile and select "Find Friends"

instagram tutorial

Select "Search names and usernames"

instagram how to use

Then type in their username

Then you can be sure to see all their pics. This is also how you can search for someone to follow on instagram by their username. Search for me, shellthings, if we don’t already follow each other!

Do you have any more questions about how to use instagram?

What I’ve Learned as a Mom
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Comments

  1. Sela Toki says

    December 13, 2011 at 8:15 am

    I must live under a rock because this is the first time I’ve ever heard of that, Instagram.
    So many things to keep up with. LOL. I’ll get there eventually. Just don’t know when.

    • brooke says

      April 11, 2012 at 4:47 pm

      i want to know how to write on the constaltion things how do you do it its bugging me i want to figure it out i must live under a rock too

  2. Kmama says

    December 13, 2011 at 8:29 am

    This is a great tutorial. I wish I had read something similar when I first started out using Instagram.

  3. Barbara says

    December 13, 2011 at 8:45 am

    Who knew! Seriously, I just always used this to take pictures and maybe post on FB.

  4. Vinobaby says

    December 13, 2011 at 9:10 am

    I just noticed how many neat pics you had up on twitter. Now I know it’s because not only do you have adorable kids, but you are an instagram expert! I am SO hoping to get an updated phone when my contract is up so I can play with all these neat grown-up toys. Very cool.

  5. Natalie says

    December 13, 2011 at 9:14 am

    I’m not on there but if I was I would follow you πŸ™‚

  6. Kristen says

    December 13, 2011 at 9:36 am

    I have a droid, I don’t believe Instagram is available yet but I know they were working on it. Can’t wait. I love seeing everyone use it on Twitter.

  7. Kim says

    December 13, 2011 at 9:55 am

    I have a Droid. πŸ™

  8. Making It Work Mom says

    December 13, 2011 at 10:52 am

    I love instagram. And I have also found that it is a great distraction for my children. They love scrolling through all the pictures. Like right now my 5 year old thinks that we are supposed to put a picture of our Elf on instagram everyday because she sees all the pictures of everyone else’s.

    Thanks for the great tutorial.

  9. Galit Breen says

    December 13, 2011 at 10:56 am

    EXCELLENT tips, friend- thank you!

    I have instagram downloaded and ready- but haven’t tried it yet! {Did I really just admit that?!}

    xo

    • Shell says

      December 14, 2011 at 9:20 am

      Start now! #bossy

  10. Kimberly says

    December 13, 2011 at 11:00 am

    Oh Lawd…I had no idea. I tried downloading the app a while ago but it never worked for some reason. Perhaps it was the person trying to work it. Meh.

  11. Melissa at Tall Blonde says

    December 13, 2011 at 11:27 am

    I love instagram! One of my favorite apps and now I’m following you!

  12. Momof12 says

    December 13, 2011 at 1:08 pm

    Never even heard of instagram! What does that say about me?
    Sandy

  13. Carolyn says

    December 13, 2011 at 1:18 pm

    Is it only for iPhones? I have a Droid.

    • Shell says

      December 13, 2011 at 1:19 pm

      Right now it is, though there is supposed to be a droid version soon.

    • Norma says

      June 5, 2012 at 10:43 pm

      they have it for iphones, ipods, and androids

  14. Jessie Powell says

    December 13, 2011 at 2:31 pm

    Thanks! This looks like a really good program. I can’t wait for the droid version!!

  15. Andrea says

    December 13, 2011 at 2:34 pm

    I can’t wait for it to come out for my phone. I covet the instagram program/app. :>

  16. Tonya says

    December 13, 2011 at 2:36 pm

    I am a big Instagram fan. Nice tutorial.

  17. SassyModernMom says

    December 13, 2011 at 3:01 pm

    i have a blackberry, no instagram for me πŸ™

  18. JDaniel4's Mom says

    December 13, 2011 at 3:19 pm

    I so need to get a smart phone!

  19. Emmy says

    December 13, 2011 at 4:15 pm

    Oh I didn’t realize that about searching for friends. Speaking of I need to go look at it again- I go through spurts with it

  20. Jessica says

    December 14, 2011 at 1:34 am

    I’m already following you on Instagram and I love using it to see pictures. I miss a lot of them on Twitter so it’s really nice to have Instagram to see them instead.

    • Shell says

      December 14, 2011 at 9:21 am

      So easy to miss things on twitter!

  21. Robin says

    December 14, 2011 at 6:02 am

    Haha – where was this a few months ago when I was trying to figure what the heck I was doing. LOL. I think a lot of people will find this helpful!

  22. Glamamom says

    December 14, 2011 at 9:15 am

    Thanks Babe. I use Instagram but just snap the photo, choose the filter, and leave it πŸ™‚

  23. Robin | Farewell, Stranger says

    December 14, 2011 at 10:59 am

    Excellent tips. Thanks for the one about tagging people in comment replies especially.

    Now following you!

  24. Janmary, N Ireland says

    December 15, 2011 at 5:35 pm

    Now following you – I’m Janmary (hint, hint!)

  25. Michal | Bump to Bean says

    December 16, 2011 at 9:26 am

    Thanks for all the tips. Sometimes I just do the bare minimum when learning a new app and don’t get as much out of it…This tutorial really helped get to the important stuff without having to dig around. Wish I had found you sooner. Would have saved me some time in figuring it out!

  26. Mark says

    January 26, 2012 at 5:56 pm

    Just read your Instagram tutorials yesterday, after having the app for 4 months and not getting what it’s all about. Now, I’m hooked! I can’t stop playing with it. Thanks for your help.

  27. Erams says

    March 3, 2012 at 7:42 pm

    Thnk u for the tutorial. It was very helpful. I was hoping u can help me some more. I noticed people have several pics in one shot, how do u do it? I also notice people leave pics of shoes and other items in their comments. I would like to learn how to do it. Can u help me? Thanks

  28. Neeki says

    April 4, 2012 at 10:32 pm

    Instagram: DivaCouture follow please ;-*

  29. Heather says

    April 8, 2012 at 4:07 am

    I am contemplating whether or not to join the instagram world so I have lots of questions! A few that instantly come to mind would be : 1. Does every picture I edit / use the filters on the app get downloaded for the instagram community to see? 2. Can I set my account to private so that only a
    select few can view my photos? 3. How do I request someone to allow me to view their photos? 4. I am just a mother of 2 who dabbles (quite seriously) in photography. I thought this would be a great way to view other photos and see how creative I can be with my new iPhone. Am I under the right impression or is this for the “younger” generation? I certainly hope instagram is easier than some of the newer social networks out there with their own special language that I still don’t understand! Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions! Take care of you …

  30. brittany says

    April 28, 2012 at 4:52 pm

    I have instagram for Android and I can not figure out how to delete comments I tries sliding my finger across comments and tapping i just can’t figure it out please help!

  31. MimiG says

    June 24, 2012 at 1:02 pm

    Thanks for this info. I’m new to instagram and find it really difficult to understand. I’m good with the filtering part but how do I save a picture? What if I don’t want to blast it into the ether and just want to save it? Can I take a bunch of pictures and mess with the filters later or do you have to take and create a picture one at a time? Instagram’s website should have a how to/tutorial. I’m glad you took the time to create this, but I still have a bunch of basic questions.

  32. Robert Williams says

    August 18, 2012 at 11:45 pm

    How do you promote someone’s picture

  33. Lauren says

    August 26, 2012 at 11:12 pm

    If someone is following you and you don’t know who he/she is how do you find out what there name is?

  34. Stacy Summers says

    August 31, 2012 at 5:21 am

    Cool tips! thank you for sharing) I’ve learned a lot!

  35. Pworklocn says

    September 25, 2012 at 9:22 pm

    MAN IM MAD AS HELL MY INSTAGRAM STILL IS NOT LETTING ME @ PPL LIKE I HAVE TO MANUALLY TYPE EVERYBODY SCREEN NAME IN IF I WANNA @ SOMEBODY WHAT THE FUCC DO I GOTTA DO TO FIX THIS SHIT I DELETED THE APP AND GOT IT BACC AND IT STILL WON’T LET ME @ PPL

  36. Gloria Lin says

    September 29, 2012 at 7:47 am

    I don’t know why i can’t tag new friends on instagram, I added them recently but can’t tag them in photos ):

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  38. Jaide says

    March 3, 2013 at 7:45 am

    How do you do this on a laptop? I can figure out how to search for people via Android but my laptop wont let me. ;_;

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  42. _ohYesssJenny_ says

    April 20, 2013 at 10:25 pm

    Hi! Thanks for all this info! I’m new to Instagram so I’m still trying to get use to it (& u know, figure out what I can or can’t do, that I’m so use to doing on Facebook ). My teenage son set my account up & right after took a pic of us and posted it (just to sort of give me a quick “how to”). My question is: before my son posted the pic of us he wrote S/O _ohYesssJenny_ (& I was assuming he did that to tag me in the pic, so it would show up on my page as well, & it did!?) however since then I’ve tried doing the same thing to share w/ him or my daughter but the pic doesn’t appear on their walls, only mine?! What am I doing wrong? Is it even possible to tag/share my pic to someone else’s wall (I mean it must be cuz my son did it) . Sorry I would just ask him but he’s not around right now AND Sorry Made this question so long & drawn out ! Thanks again for you time & help!!

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    How to Use Instagram

Welcome to Things I Can't Say: Tips and Tales from an Introverted Mom. I'm Shell. Boy mom, beach girl, bookworm, ball games, baker, brand ambassador, Thinking yoga, food, and travel should start with "b," too. Finding the easiest way to do some things while overthinking so many others. Read More…

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