“Internet-related expertise is remarkable at giving us the perception of connectedness.”

From the time we wake up and till the time we hit our beds at night, no matter what we do on our computers or mobile phones everything is directly or indirectly connected with social media.

Social Media helps its users in many ways such as in promoting brands, connecting with new people virtually. It also helps in eliminating the feeling of loneliness.

It is a great resource for learning new things and also acts as a best sharing platform. But the other side of the coin social media is becoming the biggest tech-addiction to everyone these days. And the count of this addiction is increasing day by day constantly. Now in this social media category of the most popular application which is known world-wide is Instagram.

Insta/IG which is formally known as Instagram is considered as the most popular and commonly used social media handle. Instagram is also owned by Facebook and it is an American social networking service for photo and video sharing. It offers wide range of services such as photo-video sharing, hashtags, tagging. Users can get in touch with other IG users by following them. They can text other users, view, comment, like and share the content of others users as well.
Instagram is all about sharing virtually. So the main purpose of this application is to share and find photos and videos. Every profile/account will have followers and following option which shows that how many people are following them and how many people they are following. We can follow other accounts by taping on the follow button. If the account is public we can see all the activity of the user and if the account is private we need to approve the permission from that user to follow and see their activity.

History
The Instagram handle was created by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger. Earlier it was only designed for iOS users and later on the feature is added to Android and desktops. It has gained so much popularity rapidly. According to the stats of October 2015, more than 40 billion photos have been uploaded in the Instagram by various users. Facebook has bought Instagram in the year of 2012 for $1 billion.

Over the years Instagram have been providing users with many changes and new features. It have been constantly updating with new features, terms and conditions. It has launched a standalone video source known as IGTV. The very recent update of Instagram is Reels which is launched in August 2020. It has also launched a suggested posts feature as well.

Features and tools of Instagram
Instagram provides various tools and features to its users, to engage them with numerous content available on the platform. Users can set their accounts to either private or public according to their preferences. The difference from private and public accounts is, the public accounts can be viewed, liked, and shared by everyone on the IG but only approved people are allowed to things in the private account. Users can share their Instagram account with other people. Instagram also offers way to the users to make money through it.
Hashtags
Hashtags is one of the features introduced by the Instagram in January 2011. This hashtag feature helps the user to search the relevant content they need. The trends in the Instagram are also created by these hashtags.
Hashtags are used in the caption while posting the pictures and videos in the platform.
Explore
Instagram released the feature called Explore in the year 2012, June. It’s a window inside the Instagram application which shows all the popular and suggested content. It also shows the post relevant to their recent searches, locations, and preferences.

IGTV
IGTV is a standalone video application launched by the Instagram in 2018. This feature allows user to post a video of maximum length of 10 minutes for normal users and also a length of 60 minutes for popular creators.
Reels
Reels are the latest feature of the Instagram which is released in the year of 2020. This is created with reference to the TikTok application. Reels support the users to create short length videos and upload them in the Instagram. They can also use wide range of filters readily available in the app to create their videos. Here we can watch, comment like and discover various videos. And also can create our own reels, share and interact with others for free. Instagram Reels a great way to watch and create fun videos.
Instagram Direct
In the year of 2013, Instagram launched Instagram Direct popularly known as DM is a feature that lets the users to text and chat privately with other users. Users, who follow each other mutually can text and chat directly. But if the user get a text from the unknown person then it is kept aside in pending status until the user accept or decline the request. Users can chat, share posts, accounts and videos, and attend video calls. There is also an option known as unsend in the Instagram Direct which allows people to delete the wrongly sent messages from the others device as well.
Instagram Stories
The Instagram stories feature was made available for the users in August 2016. This feature allows the users to add photos, videos and post to their stories with some extra layer and filters. Also it provides various in-built tools to show up the creativity. Stories usually expire in 24 hours but we can save them in the Highlights (permanent stories) which is a feature introduced in 2017. By creating a light the stories are visible for a longer period of time which will be displayed in our profile. We can also click new pictures with various filters available, can create boomerangs, start a live video, post some Q/A sessions in the stories to increase the reach and engage the users.
In the instagram stories you can use the pre-loaded camera filters, effects which add life to your videos and pictures. IG stories make more engaged and fun by using tools like Boomerang, Stickers, Emojis, Filters, Music. We can watch and broadcast live videos.
Advertising
Instagram is a great source for various online marketing. Businesses can sell their products through advertising, by promoting with the help of influences and many more. The sponsored content will be appeared in the Instagram handle as ads. These are displayed in the feeds and in stories.

Getting started with Instagram
If you are not a part of this billion instagram family, you should definitely think about it. This is a great source where we can learn, earn, interact and do many other chores.
• It is very simple to start the process. All you need to do us download the Instagram application or use the website and create an account by providing some details like Email ID, phone number and password.
• In the step two, your account gets created. Set up the account to public or private as per your security concerns.
• Start building your profile creatively making it to appear more effective.
• Connect with the people and the world. Share what you wished to show in your profile.

Algorithm used in Instagram:
What are the algorithms followed by Instagram in keeping the users engaged and interactive? The algorithm is designed in such a way which makes people to browse the app again and again.
• Instagram follows some Algorithms to help the users to find their niche. So the more you search for a particular content, you will get suggestions about that in your feed. It looks up to your interest and display the content based on that.
• When it comes to your personal feed, Engagement is the key. The more you engage and keep updating your profile the algorithm prioritizes the content.
• Relationships are also a key factor in Instagram algorithms. You will be displayed with the content in your feed based on the posts uploaded by the people you follow.
• These all factors affect the instagram algorithms for your feed preferences, stories, IGTV, reels and explore.

How Instagram helps in making money?
Instagram is not only an online software used for photo-video sharing. Apart from that there are many other benefits from Instagram. One of them which is very popular is making money through Instagram. Any one on this handle can earn money.
• First and foremost thing is to find your niche. Discover the work which interests you more. Work on that niche and get skilled. Now start selling it.
• Be it any product or service, Affiliate marketing, Network Marketing, Influencing. You can do all these practices to earn money from Instagram.
• You can start your own online business or promote other’s business to earn money through Instagram.
• You can showcase your skills and attract the employees towards your work and get paid from them.
• You can also start working as a freelancer.
• The entire thing you need to do is to start using it and make the things to happen.

Now here comes the other side of the coin i.e the disadvantage of social media. Moderate use of any social media handle say Instagram is fine. But spending excessive time on it may lead you to loneliness and depression. When used in the right way Instagram is a powerful tool to connect with new people.
Instagram helps to explore our social community where you can be yourself and can share every minute detail you wished for from your daily moments to the most memorable moments in your life. So hereby it is concluded that be conscious of how and why you are using Instagram. Its fine if you just check what’s going around the world.