Instagram Story Etiquette – The Ethics And The Honour – 1 Minute Moment #100

Etiquette is the science of living. It embraces everything. It is ethics. It is honor.

Can those words from the Queen of etiquette, Emily Post translate to social media?

Why yes, of course they can.

I’ve put my Emily Post hat on to compile this list of Instagram story etiquette tips. Follow these and you are less likely to annoy your followers. And without that constant itch of irritation, they may just pay attention to what you have to say.

Like all etiquette guides (and this one is particularly tongue in cheek) it’s not a comprehensive one. Some will agree that these are irksome habits others will think I’m being overly strict.

Let me know what you think, and if there’s one I’m missing tell me about it.

On to the list…

1. Too much talking into camera

You can add 15-second video snippets to Instagram stories. These help stitch together different elements to tell a story. However, in general, people won’t’ hang around to watch you talking into the camera snap after snap.

What to do instead:

Plan your story, think of how you can tell it visually as well as talking. If you have to post one video after another, change up the angle for each one, it will keep people interested.

2. Speeding up at the end of a snap

Follow etiquette rule 1 and you’ve 15 seconds, only 15 seconds to share your magical moment. But time is ticking by. What if you run out? So you speed up when you see the timer running down.

It’s a rookie mistake and one I know I’ve made. People will see exactly what you are doing and worse, you’ll be speaking so fast they won’t know what you’re saying.

What to do instead:

Try a few takes. You don’t have to post your first attempt. if you can’t fit your message into 15 seconds refine it down until it sounds natural and well paced.

3. Staring at yourself

We’re used to looking people in the eye so it’s no surprise that we look ourselves in the eye when we record our Instagram snaps. The problem is that we’re not looking our audience in the eye. We’re looking at ourselves instead. Viewers will see you staring at the middle of the screen.

What to do instead:

Make eye contact with the camera on your phone not yourself.

4. Doing your hair

OMG I am a top offender here. Suddenly I’m on screen and my hair is a mess so I try and fix it. It’s too late!

What to do instead:

It’s shocking that I need to remind myself but… take a look at yourself on camera before you record and preen.

5. Being boring

We feel the pressure to post frequently to our stories but we don’t always have something to say. If you can’t think of anything clever to say don’t snap.

What to do instead:

Plan your stories. You don’t have to post every day and when you do post, think of the key moments of the day that will make it interesting. Don’t tell us what you are going to do, show us you doing it.

6. Too many snaps

The curse of the multiple dots. When we land on a blog post article and see that length of the scroll bar we often click away. When we see a video online and see it’s over 3 minutes long we rarely click play. The same goes for Instagram stories.

The more elements you add to your story the smaller the dots get at the top of the screen. If those dots get tiny then people are likely to swipe before watching.

People won’t always swipe. If you have a great story you can keep people watching but keep it to a minimum. If you get a reputation for being dotty you’ll lose viewers.

What to do instead:

Limit yourself. Only add the snaps that are really worthwhile during the day.

7. Too much tiny text

I’m getting old and I’m too vain to wear glasses all the time. So that tiny text you’re adding to your story? I can’t read it. I do try, I squint and squint but in the end, it hurts my head.

What to do instead:

If your audience is focally challenged like me, avoid using the small text. Find a way to tell your story without text or at least with less text.

8. Always with the swipe up

Yay! You’ve got 10,000 followers so you can include a ‘Swipe up’ to link to your website or blog. I’m happy for you and just a little bit envious.

But don’t abuse it. Don’t be asking me to swipe up on every snap and when you do let me know what to expect or I might not wait for it to load.

What to do instead:

Entertain with your snaps before you ask for a swipe up.

9. Too many irrelevant face filters and stickers

I LOVE face filters. What better way is there to cover up my wrinkles? However, it’s not cool to use them too much, particularly not in consecutive snaps. The same goes for stickers. Too many and you are hiding your brand and distracting your audience from the message.

What to do instead:

Use filters and effects as part of your storytelling. Let them give you inspiration for the tales you are trying to tell.

10. Constant polls

Polls are a fun way to get engagement on your stories but don’t make it hard work for your audience. One a day is sufficient.

What to do instead:

Save your cool poll ideas, write them down in a notebook and push them out one a day. You’ll get more engagement and won’t be asking your audience to do too much work.

11. No landscape please we’re on Instagram

Instagram stories are viewed in the vertical format. If you use landscape images and videos your audience will have to turn their phone around to watch. It’s disorientating, makes us feel dizzy and most viewers will swipe on to the next story.

What to do instead:

Well, it’s easy, never ever shoot landscape.

12. Not with your mouth full

Did your Mother not teach you manners?

13. Don’t Instastory and drive

Seriously, it’s a distraction and you could crash, hurt yourself or worse an innocent bystander

And that’s my list. I’m taking my Emily Post hat off for now, it was getting a bit itchy. Do let me know what bad habits I’ve missed and any you think I’ve got wrong I’l be happy to pass the hat on.