U4D: Instagram Part 4

Seems to be constant thing with me these, days slipping by and time running out for me. Today we are going to look at hashtags and hubs.

Hashtags and Hubs

You can use Instagram perfectly fine without using hashtags, but many people use them in the hopes they can gain wider exposure or get the attention of some brands, places or hubs.

Hashtags

So, what are they, basically anything that has one of these is front of it, # is considered a hashtag. When you are tagging, or hash-tagging  your images, you will leave a heap of words with one of those in front of it.

Hashtags can be how others find you. So if you use one like #landscape, then if people are searching that hashtag they will find your work. Remember in Part 2 we talked about how to get followers, well, you are just allowing yourself to be found by people as well.

When working out what to use think about what the image is about, #landscape, #longexposure, etc. Did you do something particular that you can tag as well. Where was the image taken? You can add all of those.

Products is another type of hashtag you can use. Let the companies know you are using their products.

You can only have 30 per post, there are, apparently ways around it, but perhaps for now stick to the thirty. I never do more.

Hubs

On Instagram there are things called hubs. They are places where you can potentially be featured. They are all over Instagram and if you search through hashtags that people put on their photos you will find them. You will also find them when you are searching for photos.

Some popular hubs for Australia are, #ig_australia #aussiephotos #wow_australia2017 #ig_aussiepix

If you put any of those tags in your photos, well, if you are in Australia then you might get featured. Then there are ones for cities as well. You can find them for particular types of photography, for example, long exposure photography has many different hubs. Their profiles also tell you what you need to do.

Generally you need to follow them as well. They have moderators who go through all the photos that have been tagged with their hashtag and pick some to feature.  I am a moderator on two sites, ig_discover_australia and formatthitech. The first one I just do the weekends, so I go through all the photos that have been tagged and pick between 3 and 5 photos each day that I think are great to feature. On Formatthitech I do two a day.

Being featured can really improve your profile. and if you get featured by a site that has hundred’s of thousands of followers, you can get a lot of new followers yourself. Plus, it always feels good when you do get featured, it is a type of confirmation that people like your work. The other side of it is if you don’t ever get featured it can be heartbreaking. I don’t get featured much, not compared to other people, apparently my work is never good enough. I have almost stopped using the hub hashtags, but it is up to you what you want to do.

Working it out for yourself

Take a look at what other people are doing and see what hashtags they are using, see if you can use some of them.

Photos

I have the photos to show you that I have had up on Instagram this week. They were all taken with the Canon 5D Mark IV which as returned to Canon Australia today.

 

 

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16 Comments

  1. I think the hubs would be a better idea if most of them didn’t come across as being biased.
    It actually seems as though you do need to be popular enough to be acknowledged by many of them which is somewhat disappointing as they should be inclusive and not exclusive.
    In any event, good shots. I especially like how the lighting works in the shot of Flinders Street Station.

    1. How do you mean biased? I look after a couple and try to share a range of photos, and of course not the same people all the time. Though there are some that just seem to feature themselves and their friends quite a bit and I’ve stopped following and tagging those.
      I don’t think popularity has anything to do with it. I have quite a few followers and I rarely get featured, I think it has more to do with your work standing out. I know when I’m looking for photos I’m looking for something special, something that really stands out from the rest. It is really hard when you have hundreds of photos to choose from and you can only choose three. YOu know that some people will be disappointed. thank you so much.

    2. I think that it should have more to do with work standing out, but I do think it’s a fair bit based around popularity and people just featuring themselves and their friends.

      I think your attitude toward it (looking for something special and standing out from the rest) is the attitude that more people should follow. I just don’t think that enough are.

      Oh well. You can only keep trying.

    3. I agree, there are some that do that a lot, a way to promote their own work. I just avoid them now.

      I would hope there are, you want to look like you want to show as many people as possibly and to show good work.

      YOu are right, you can only keep trying.

  2. Thank you for this information. It is very helpful. I find Instagram a bit confusing, and it was interesting to learn about the hubs. I can’t understand why your photos aren’t featured, I think they are just amazing!

    1. You’re welcome Deborah, glad you found it useful. The hubs can be good. I think my work is a little too different, that’s the feeling I get sometimes. Thanks

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