After you sign up for Instagram and get your account setup, it’s time to start using the app.
In Instagram, along the bottom there are 5 different images that each do something different. I’ll start at the first option on the left and work from there for this post.
Instagram Picture Feed
Here, you can see pictures that people you are following have shared. You can scroll through the photos, like them by either pressing the “like” button or double tapping on the image, and you can leave comments.
Popular Pictures
The star button shows popular pictures on Instagram. These are going to be photos from celebrities and other high profile people that have 1,000s of likes/comments. Just like with the regular news feed, you can like and comment on the pictures in the popular feed.
Share Pictures
To share your photos with Instagram, you have two options. You can either upload an existing picture from your phone or take a new picture.
To upload a picture, press the button of the two squares in the left hand corner. You will then be directed to your camera roll where you can select the picture you want to share.
To take a new picture, line up your shot and press the camera button in the middle.
Once you have your picture selected, you can edit it with one of the options given with Instagram.
For editing with Instagram you can use one of the filters shown along the bottom, add a border using the square frame icon, or blur out some of the picture with the raindrop image.
Once you are happy with your picture and the editing, press the green checkmark. If you are not happy with the picture, you can press the red X to start over.
After pressing the green checkmark you will be able to add a caption to your picture and share it on various social networking sites including Twitter, Facebook, Email, and Tumblr.
To configure the social sharing options, press “configure” for the social networking site and follow the directions to link the accounts.
News Feed
The speech bubble with a heart in it is your news feed which will show the likes, comments, and new followers you have on Instagram.
About Section
The last image is the newspaper which is where you can edit your about information as was shown in the last post on how to setup Instagram. In this section, you can also find more friends to follow, see the pictures you have shared as well as the pictures you have liked from your followers.
Note: these screen shots are all from an iPhone.
Now you are all set to use Instagram. Come back on Monday to find out why you should be using Instagram.
About Jessica Torres
I love instagram, I did a shout out for who not using it. That they should try it. Have a fabulous day *+* And thank you for this post.
Thank you!
Awesome! Love Instagram!
it’s a great app!
I just started using Instagram once I finally found it available for my Android phone. I see that your options and buttons are a bit different than mine. I’ve seen a few people I’m following post little collages, yet I have no idea how they did it. I also had no idea what that little square at the top left was for. So, is the app different depending on which kind of phone you use?
I use an app on my iPhone called Photo Frame to make collages but there are others out there. Instagram is the same for Android and iPhone operating systems although I’m not sure if they look a little bit different or not.
I’m using it for Android as well and also have different options – I don’t get the two squares option, it just asks me “camera” or “from gallery” and for editing I have the border, rotate, and a “half-sunshine” icon… no raindrop though… and I have NO IDEA what the filters do – because they all look EXACTLY the same on my phone screen… #notfhelpful
this post has helped me some though! 
thanks for the great info Jess!
Same here, except the filters do all look different for me.
Just started using Instagram more and needed to dig in and learn about it. This post was very helpful. I had no clue there were people waiting for my approval lol I still have a lot to learn. Looking forward to reading more.
How do I activate my like button, none of my pictures have number of likes on them !
Hi,
I cant use my picture from my library, it says that this app does not have access to my photos or videos and that I can enable access in privacy settings. But I cant find that. I have Iphone. can you help me?