Recovery Month's New Media Newsletter for November

	Instagram Blog

November

A Fast, Beautiful, and Fun Way to Share: To Write Love on Her Arms on Instagram In two years, photo-sharing site Instagram has become a household name across the United States and the world. The mobile application allows users to snap photos on their smartphones, apply unique filters and a quick caption, and share with friends and family. Similar to many other social media resources, Instagram has quickly evolved from a place to share photos with close friends and family to a platform where organizations and brands are sharing images and updates with targeted audiences. An example of one of these organizations is To Write Love on Her Arms (TWLOHA). This non-profit movement dedicated to sharing hope and finding treatment for people struggling with mental and substance use disorders has more than 18,500 followers on Instagram. Since joining Instagram, TWLOHA has published almost 250 photos, sharing everything from birthday celebrations and event photos to t-shirt designs and inspirational quotes. Instagram allows users to like and comment on photos, similar to the interactive functionality on Facebook and Pinterest. For the first few years, Instagram had no web presence and was only accessible through mobile devices, requiring organizations like TWLOHA to post, interact with followers, and view pictures directly through their phones, tablets, or third-party sites. However, last week, Instagram began rolling out profiles online, allowing users to follow, comment and like photos directly on the web. To view TWLOHA’s Instagram profile, visit www.instagram.com/twloha. If you are interested in engaging users and sharing creative content for your organization through Instagram, here are a few tips for beginners: Be original. Take photos that share a unique aspect of your organization or cause that followers will not find anywhere else. Choose an appropriate filter. Depending on the subject of your photo, some filters might work better than others. Your filter should make your photos visually appealing and eye-catching for your audiences. Caption wisely. Allow the photos to tell the story and use the description feature to include an added bonus, like a geographical tag, direct mention, or hashtag. To learn more about some of the organizations, like TWLOHA, that have already developed a significant presence on Instagram, check out the Instagram blog.

Instagram Blog