3 Instagram Etiquette No-No’s

I have a cherished Emily Post Etiquette Book that I keep on the bookshelf in my bedroom and I found myself looking at it the other day wondering what a chapter on social media etiquette would look like from Emily Post.  I’m certain that she would find some of the tactics that people are using on Instagram to be etiquette no-nos.  Without a doubt, I know that she would not tolerate the idea of using bots or buying followers.  With that said, here are 3 No-No’s that I think Emily Post would agree are not appropriate to do on Instagram. 

1. Etiquette No-No to tagging accounts that aren’t in your post.

If you are not specifically writing about a certain person/account, doing a collaboration with them, sharing on a similar project with them, or do not have a photo of you and said certain person in your post, then why would you want to tag them in your post?  I realize why, and it’s because you might think that this a great way to get that person’s attention as well as the attention of their followers.  Ultimately this approach will backfire on you.  You might get some attention but it won’t be positive. When people go to your post and see that your post has nothing to do with the tagged person/account they will most likely be disappointed.  I am pretty sure that disappointment or any other negative response is not the outcome that you are looking for so don’t do that.

 

2. Etiquette No-No to hiding tags in Instagram stories.

Instagram allows you to tag up to twenty accounts on your IG Stories and send a notification to the tagged accounts so that they can click on your story and view it.  This is a great way to get the attention of the people/accounts that you are trying to reach out to.  But let’s say you are the tagged person/account and you go to the story and can not see your account that was supposed to be tagged in the story and quickly realize that the person/account who tagged you, camouflaged your tag so that their followers can’t see it.  (Example:  Your background is white and so when you are tagging up to 20 accounts you set the text of your tags white as well.)  I can understand if you feel that you are only trying not to clutter your story post with a bunch of text from the accounts that you tagged but it can be very confusing for a person to go to your story and not see their tag.

 

3. Etiquette No-No to playing the follow/unfollow game.

People are following a ton of accounts and then unfollowing them after a few days… why?  Also, why has this become a terrible trend that I’ve heard people actually recommending to do?  The follow/unfollow game is time-consuming, it does not allow an organic following, and it is downright rude.  I can see how a follow for a follow can work in gaining more followers but to follow someone only for the reason that they follow you back is not a very good idea.  How is that growing your account toward your ideal fan base/clients/following?  Following knowing that you are going to unfollow soon is a terrible thing to do.  This is honestly a sure-fire way to get a bad rep on social media.

There are probably a ton more of Instagram No-No’s so help me make Emily Post proud and let me know what you think I should add to the list by sending me a DM on Instagram with other ideas!

Keep in mind that you won’t always be able to please everyone and honestly, your goal is to attract and repel people so that the accounts that do follow you genuinely like following you.  You can foster engagement by connecting your personal life story through posts and captions.  This approach will attract the people who are truly interested in you and want to follow you, not because you secretly tagged them in an Instagram story, but because they found you personally interesting or could relate to you in some way.  When people see that you are simply showing up on social media and sharing what you have to offer to the world, they will most likely want to communicate with you and this will only help to open more doors along your journey.