Instagram, What’s Good(?), and Why I’m Ready to Post Bad Photos

/ Eve Messenger

Bad Photo

I’m one of those weird people who actually likes it when people show me their family photos. I’ll happily browse through them, even if the pictures are of people I’ve never met. I enjoy looking at all kinds of pictures, really, especially of books, exotic locales, and cute animals. “You’ll love Instagram,” people tell me, “especially #bookstagram!” So why did it take me so long to hop on the Instagram train?

Issue #1. I am a terrible photographer. Seriously, taking decent pictures is not in my skill set.

Issue #2. When I first set up my Instagram account, I logged on simultaneously from both my computer and my cell phone. Why or how I did this is a mystery. All I know is that afterward I was unable to log onto Instagram.

As of today, issue #2 has been resolved. Yay, now I’m ready to post badly photographed pictures and to follow all you wonderful booklovers on Instagram. If you have any Instagram advice you’d like to share, this rank newbie would sure love to hear it.

  1. Who do you like to follow on Instagram–any recommendations?
  2. What are good things I can post pictures of?
  3. Is there anything else should I know about Instagram?

Thanks!

Oh, and my Instagram handle is: @eve_messenger  🙂

 

43 thoughts on “Instagram, What’s Good(?), and Why I’m Ready to Post Bad Photos”

  1. Hey Eve, I love Instagram. If you’re just doing it for your friends and family post pictures of yourself and your family or whatever but if you want people to follow your posts pick a theme and start following others who like the same type of scenes. It’s great fun and I always find inspirational pictures. For me it tends to be about mountains and outdoor. Amazing photos on Instagram.

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  2. Hi Eve! Instagram is so fun! Your Instagram link is called a “handle”, and if I were to make any suggestions, I’d say pick good hashtags for your posts. That’s how you get people to see your pictures! (:

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  5. (If you’re taking photos of books) I think it’s great to keep a white background/solid colour, and choose one that shows most book covers well. I love Instagram (and bookstagram) and my acc is @booksareverywhere (: Some great ones I follow are @thebookcrunch, @mindofabookdragon (although I am a little biased here, they belong to my friends haha) and @readingoncloud9!

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  6. I love instagram too. It’s a bit quicker to post a photo than on here.. and it seems to reach more people but as Mackenzie said, make sure you use good hashtags and lots of them. Post whatever takes your fancy on the day and most of all, just enjoy. 🙂

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  7. Oh.. and one more thing if you’re interested…. A lot of people follow you on instagram to get you to follow them back, then as soon as you do, they delete you. I’m not really into getting the huge numbers but it irks me that they do it, just to get huge numbers. Seems pointless to me but I delete them if they delete me. I’m not on it just for numbers so I have an app on my phone that tells me who’s deleted me. It’s called Ins Track. I’d rather quality followers than quantity..

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    • Thanks for the follow warning. I learned from Twitter not to waste my time; I only follow people whose posts genuinely interest me. Oh, thanks for the Ins Track recommendation, too. I’ve wondered what people use to so quickly figure out who and how many people have followed/unfollowed them.

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  8. I enjoy Instagram very much primarily because there so many wondrous images to spark my imagination. I agree with fellow commenters – hashtags are important. I started posting pics of family, but now I mostly post motivational/inspirational/creatively inspiring photos. The most challenging aspect, that I’ve encountered, is that when I post a photo that I use on my blog, I can’t post the link like I can on FB or Twitter. I have to write “visit kellydeeny.com to read more” or “click the link in my bio”. Welcome to Instagram!!!

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  9. OMG yay! Welcome to Instagram! What’s your handle? I want to follow you! (Sorry if you already mentioned it and I didn’t see.) I’m @raeleigh1770 if you want to follow my incredibly random feed (dogs, books, coffee!). As everyone else has mentioned, hashtags, hashtags, hashtags! 😀

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  11. Welcome to Instagram! I recently added a bookish account, and I think I just clicked “like” on half a dozen of your comments while I scribbled handles furiously 🙂 I’m not a fancy trinketeer, and I still don’t have a pic of me wearing studious glasses peering over the edge of a good book, but I’ve been having fun, too 🙂 Yay for another bookstagrammer! Oh and I’m at @rebeccarvincent.

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  13. FINALLY. 😉 Yay! I’m so happy you’re giving Instagram a try!! As everyone has said, hashtags are really helpful if you want your photos to be seen. #bookstagram is the tag for the bookish community, but I also like adding other tags for books, reading, and genre. For writing, I use writing tags too. Same for stationery and washi tape too.

    I’m also finding interaction to be important too!

    As for favorite bookstagrammers:
    Sarah @newleafwriter
    Alexis @dropandgivemenerdy
    Jen @jenniferwindram
    Jen @myriadofinklings
    Amy @ladyofthelibrary
    Courtney @thelittlestbookelf
    Jessica @novelcravings
    Annette @booknerderie
    Eunice @nerdybooksblogtalk
    Aunjuli @geekgirlbookworm
    Mäeva @readinginhongkong
    Asma @oasisgirlmd
    Andi @eatdrinkreadrepeat
    Andrea @andreabrame
    Beth @beth.bonni
    Allison @bookloversnest
    Alisa @anovelowl
    Bex @outofthebex

    So many more, but I think this is a good start! I’ll look you up!

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  14. Jennifer, you are the best. The Camera+ app you told me about earlier turned out to be amaaazzzing, and now I’ve hit the jackpot with your recommended list of bookstagrammers. Thank you so much!! I’m going to look up all of them. See you on Instagram!

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  15. I am now following you!

    Can’t wait for your first post. 🙂 I’m sure it’ll be bad but delightful lol

    I’m not very good at taking pictures either. I try and am getting better but the lighting is always wrong. The Bookstagram veterans blow my mind with their impeccably decorated pictures. I could never do that 😦
    I started an Instagram account because I thought it would bring more traffic to my blog, but that isn’t happening hah! So now I’m just having fun taking pictures of all my books. It’s quite addicting.

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    • Yay, now I’m following you back too. 😀 I know, those #bookstagram pictures are works of art. Too bad instagram isn’t driving traffic your way, but your blog looks like it’s really thriving. You’ve come so far so quickly.

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  16. I started an Bookstagram two months and I’m glad I did. I’m not the best at photography either so don’t worry because no one judges. It’s just another fun platform I can use to connect with fellow book lovers. You can literally post pictures of anything you want. I sometimes post pictures of books with T-shirts/

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  18. Instagram *may* be my favourite social media of all. I like being able to see what others see and sharing my experiences visually. I love how you can connect it with Facebook and Twitter. AND yes, I probably take too many selfies and pictures of my food but whatever. 🙂 My handles are @ajjrichmond and @livelifedifferent (P.S. I’m following you now too!)

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