When it comes to social media, no one knows better how to win than celebrities—and when it comes to Instagram, no one knows better than It girls. They regularly utilize the platform not only to show off their fabulous lives but also to generate income, connect with fans, and further prove that they do indeed rule the world.
So when it comes to what to do (and not to do) on Instagram, we turn to them. Keep scrolling for seven things you should always do on Instagram, according to It girls!
"Tip: open your mouth when you smile—like you're having the time of your life," Lively shared on her Instagram.
One of Lauren Conrad's central Instagram tenets is to get the perfect crop. "Instagrams don’t always have to be square," she writes on her site. "While I prefer most of mine to be squared off, I do think some photos can look much better when they are horizontal or vertical. There are many apps out there to help you size a horizontal image appropriately for Instagram while keeping the background clean. Try using Whitagram or Afterlight."
As we learned late last year, Chrissy Teigen is seriously anti–bad food photos.
"My big pet peeve with people posting food—and I love it when people post food—but my number one thing is when you're posting at a restaurant and it's dark like a date night, food never looks good. Flash looks horrible, no flash looks horrible," Teigen advises. "It's important to only do food photos during daylight."
Veritable Instagram queen Eva Chen says it's important to know the difference. And what does it come down to? Lighting.
"If the lighting is good, it's Instagram. If it's not, use Snapchat," Chen has said. Noted.
Kendall Jenner's approach to Instagram is a more minimalistic one. She advises to just keep it as simple as possible. Start from the building blocks of any good photo: lighting and angles.
"We actually like to keep it really simple. It's all about knowing your light and angles," Jenner told StyleList.
If Kim Kardashian decrees it, then it must be so. The reality star insists that posting more than three photos from one event is in poor taste, as it clogs up your followers' feeds. Stick to three or fewer, and you're in the social media clear.
Song of Style blogger Aimee Song takes the whole lighting thing one step further, by encouraging that Instagram users try to only ever use natural light in their photos. "Natural lighting is always best," the blogger says.
Taylor Swift's top Instagram rule is a little more metaphysical than the other ladies'. She thinks it's most important to know when not to post.
"What gets tricky is when something great happens and you didn't capture it, then you feel this sense of loss," Swift wrote for Glamour. "That sense of loss and anxiety that you didn't get to your phone fast enough then completely overtakes the magic of the moment that just took place. So lately, I've learned to really live my life, and not worry so much about documenting every split second of it. The most magical, exquisite, spontaneous things happen when there is no time to grab your phone."
What do YOU think are the most important rules for Instagram? Tell us in the comments below!
