Instagram trends come and go quicker than any other. Once something starts it immediately gets oversaturated and overdone and gets replaced by the new and the fresh. Be it the posing, the type of images, themes, specific locations, colours or fashion accessories – with the audience of more than 1 billion monthly active users, Instagram is as fast paced as it gets and if you are interested in staying up to date with some of its latest trends then this guide is for you.
Below are some things that aren’t ‘hot’ on Instagram anymore.
POSING
No more stiff and obvious posing for the pictures. The more relaxed and natural your pose is the better. The more you look like you don’t care the more organic your content will seem. Yes, all pictures and locations are still carefully considered, but it’s the actual attitude of the shots that is changed now. Try moving more, don’t look directly into the camera, pick different angles to what you are used to and document, rather than create.
FILTERS AND HEAVY EDITING
Not so long ago, creating and selling your own presets and filters was all the hype on Instagram. It seemed like a good idea, until a second later everyone’s pictures started looking exactly the same. Gone was the individuality and creativity. Those days are majorly gone. The coolest filter right now is a no filter. If aesthetics of your feed are still important to you then you can achieve them by paying attention to the light that you shoot in and the colours in your images. Pick 3 (max 5) main colours that would run through all your photos and create content that would reflect your style and personality.
RETOUCHING
Similarly to heavily filtered photos, overly edited, too-perfect-to-be-real people are not interesting to anyone anymore. Forget Facetune and smoothing tool. Don’t change reality. Embrace and love yourself and let your confidence shine and inspire others. It’s cool to be real and different.
LARGER THAN LIFE CONTENT
There were times when the only type of images that would get ‘likes’ were the ones that looked straight out of a fantasy land. A girl surrounded by 20 pizza boxes and fairy lights watching a cliche movie on an enormous projector in the tiny island somewhere in Maldives or having a coffee on a hot-air balloon surrounded by another 50 of them. Or that dangerous looking Bali swing or kissing on the train while barely even holding on to it. Dangerous, ridiculous and, thankfully, gone! Realistic, approachable, minimalistic, environmentally friendly and consumer conscious – these are the things that matter right now.
People and experiences that everyone can relate to, following your own path and not just copying others is what makes social media great. Instagram should be the source of inspiration and never of frustration. Let’s all contribute to the positivity!
Images credit: @sophiaroe, @josefinehj, @mvb, @laurencefortincote, @eliinaolofsson
