Seven tips for mastering Instagram and its new Stories and Live modes

The social media app has made significant changes this year, with the addition of several new modes that aim to compete with rival apps like Snapchat. Here’s how to make the most of them

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Instagram has made various changes to its app in the past few months, including a Snapchat-ripoff feature called “Instagram Stories” that lets you share full screen photos or videos in portrait orientation for 24 hours. Users can also customise the image or video by drawing or typing on it.

Published: 4:30pm, 28 Dec 2016Updated: 5:21pm, 28 Dec 2016

Instagram, at first glance, seems like a pretty simple social network: snap, post, repeat. But while the service started as a way to share artful pictures from your smartphone, it’s evolved into a far more complex network for sharing photos and videos with friends – or an adoring public. The company has recentlyreleased a bunch of new updates. To help you keep up with those changes, here are some tips to help you master your own Instagram account.

Mastering your sharing options

It pays to learn the many – and multiplying – modes of Instagram. By default, your account is public, meaning that anyone who knows your username can follow you and see your pictures. If you don’t want everyone to see what you’ve posted, you have a couple of options. For one, you can make your account private, so only followers whom you approve see your pictures. That option is in the settings menu; just turn on “Private Account”.

Users can easily change who they share photos to in settings.

If you want to be even more selective, use “Instagram Direct”. It lets you share a photo with a smaller group of your followers (up to 15), and you can also set new Direct photos or videos to disappear (like Snapchat, if you don’t want them lingering forever).

There is also another mode called “Instagram Stories”, which only last for a day and are shared with all your followers. These let you string together several shots, edit them with text and pictures, and construct a narrative about your day.

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