Lifestyle Tip | #InstaFame

Everyone wants to be famous in some sort of way whether we admit it or not. Especially here in South Africa, where it is probably the most difficult place in the world to be if you are trying to get your name out there. I actually take my hat off to those teenagers who try. I mean, seriously, there are teens that are starting their own baking business, starting bands, starting their own fashion line, auditioning for SA's Got Talent or even SA Idols if they have the guts. This surely makes me feel like I'm proudly South African to see how many of these teens go through extream lengths without giving up in order to become well known.

Now with social media taking over our eventful lives, more teenagers and young adults, or even children these days, tend towards social media as a means of becoming famous. Nowadays, these selfie obsessed humans are constantly trying to gain more and more followers on Instagram. Why? Well, this is the closest thing to fame as they will get.

So, I have decided to go on a mission to find out how to become as we say 'instafamous'. Just to clear the air, I am not a professional at becoming famous or an Instagram expert so I have decided to gain information from people who are on this world of Instagram and deal with the daily pressure of gaining and loosing followers.

InstaTips:

1. Firstly, to become known on Instagram, you have to know what kind of instgrammer you are. There are two types of instsgrammers: a) The ones who follow back each and every one who follows them, leaving them with a decent +-2500 followers. Advantages are that people will see you follow back and will follow you, so you will therefore gain more and more followers. Disadvantages are that since you follow many people, your instaFeed would be cluttered with unnecessary low quality selfies that you have to put up with and too much feed is always a bad idea, scrolling down with no end.
And b) You could be an instagrammer who only follows who you want to follow. So, you don't have to necessarily follow everyone that follows you, only the people who you want. Advantages are that your feed is full of the things you want to see, so you can interact more with those instagrammers who you actually care about. Disadvantages are that it is easy to loose followers since you might come across as being 'selfish with your following'. It is more difficult to gain followers and requires much more hard work.

2. Make sure your pictures have a good quality, because let's get real guys, who likes pictures that looks like it was taken with a Blackberry 8520? Always choose a great filter unless you want one of those #nofilter pictures, but make sure the natural light in that picture is instaAmazing.

3. Everyone uses the classic white border for non-square photos. So, use it cleverly. Many instgrammers are attracted to profiles that have the same border effect for ever photo since it makes the profile look more cleaner and organized. But at the end of the day, it's up to you.

4. Show off your other talents on Instagram because everyone finds it interesting when your more than just a person with a strong selfie game. If you can draw, post a few of your drawings. You can dance? Post a few videos of you doing your thaang. You can make awesome cupcakes? Show everybody what you are capable of doing. This will make you gain followers since there are people in this cyber world who have the same interests as you.

5. I honestly don't think that putting your profile on private or public will affect the amount of followers you have or will gain/lose. But, my sources tell me different. Some say that you gain more followers by putting your account on private because the only way for people to see your photos is to follow you. But, logically, average instagrammers won't know if your photos are good enough for a follow, and some might not even bother to follow you. Others say that it's better leaving your profile on public so people can see how amazing your photos are and want to follow you. But, if your account is on public they can just easily just get into your account without wasting their following numbers. So, my advice is, leave in on public until you get a decent amount of followers, say about more than 500. And then put your account on private, so if people come across your profile and see your amount of followers they would think you are worth following and just might press your follow button.

6. Especially for people who have their account on private, it is a must have to have an attention grabbing Bio. Since before they follow you, this is the only thing they see, you need it to he clever, reflecting your personality without being to obvious. Remember don't sound desperate for followers,so no ' follow me, I follow back' nonsense like that, leave that to those 11 year olds who just joined the instaWorld. Don't reveal too much about yourself, not everyone would want to know how much times you cut your toenails. As I said, let it reflect your personality. If you're one of those sarsastic types, make it a bit cheeky. If you're that straight forward kind of person, tell it like it is. So, basically, your bio shouldn't be about you, it should just showoff a bit of your attitude.

7. According to my statistics, it is proven that the more you like and comment on other's pictures, the more people will like and comment on your pictures as well as more people will follow you. So always take the time to like everyone's picture and comment on it as well.
The most popular comments are:
-Gorgeous❤
-Omg stoppp!!❤❤
-BEAUTIFUL!!❤
-Ughhh I'm so jealous of how pretty you are!!!
-Your face is on point
-Your face is bae❤
-Bae ❤
-Boo Thanng❤❤ (i have no idea what that means though, someone please tell me)

And when you start commenting on people's photos, more people will comment on your photos by complimenting you. It is always important to appreciate those comments and comment back so people can think you are down to earth. The most popular compliment comebacks are:
-No, but you're the gorgeous one ❤
-oh stop it, you❤
- I get it from you❤
- You are so cute omg I love you❤❤
-Thanks babe, BTW I miss you❤❤
-no, you are bae!!
-says the girl that looks like a model!!!

The more comments you get, the more non-followers would be interested in you, since you sound interesting with all the comments. This is why commenting on others photos, will lead to you getting more comments on your photos.

8. Let's be honest, hashtags are so 2013 right now. So keep your #instalike #instafollow #f4f in the past.

9. Always keep your profile updated, since the reason that your followers follow you is because of your pictures, and you may start losing followers if you only post once a month. But don't overdo it and post 5 pictures every 2 minutes. Nobody wants anyone flooding their feed.

10. When you meet new people or when in a crowd of people, always 'unintentionally' bring up instagram. Chances are they will follow you.

This post was inspired by my friend, Sameerah. Follow her on Instagram @SameerahMiyagi since she's in a mental competition with her brother to see who has the most followers. While you are at it, follow me too @tharaah . Sameerah has been on Instagram for about a year and she is becoming mega famous because she is following this steps as we speak. Need proof? Go check out her profile and see for yourself. When I asked how it was being famous on Instagram she says that when people come up to her at work and know who she is she says she knows its because of instagram. Come on guys, if Sameerah can do it, so can you!

To be honest, if you really asked for my advice on Instagram, I'd say deactivate your account and go play outside, it's such a beautiful day.

Oh yes, and you should totally invest in a selfie stick.

InstaLove from @tharaah ❤