Up Your Insta Game With These 6 Hacks

Have you mastered the art of the selfie? Is your thumb sore from double-tapping 24 hours a day? Even if your resume contains the phrase “Professional Instagram Queen,” there are still a bunch of Instagram hacks floating around out there that you might not be aware of — but I'm here to fix that. You can thank me later.

Since its birth in 2010, Instagram has become a way of life for over 150 million people. You can see people sharing everything from their baby’s first steps to their favorite city's skyline and from their latest manicure to what they had for breakfast. The app has, for better or for worse, changed the way we share our lives with each other — or, you know, our dogs’ and cats' lives, because our pets also factor prominently in our Instagram activity. The Internet loves animals.

Instagram is a pretty straightforward app. You select a picture or video, add some fancy-shmancy filters, write up a caption, send it forth into the world, and patiently wait for the likes and comments to start flowing. There’s not much more than meets the eye when it comes to Instagram, and that’s one of the many things that makes it so great.

Yet, there’s still a handful of Instagram secrets not nearly enough people are making use of. So, to help you boost your game, I've compiled a list of my favorite ‘Gram-related hacks to help you make the most out of your favorite social media pastime.

1. Add Multiple Lines of Text To Your Bio

If you type your Instagram bio manually, you're restricted to one line of text. Even if you press "Return," your text will show up as one continuous line. If you want to create a multi-line bio, type it out in your Notes app first and format to your heart's desire. Then, copy and paste this text into your Instagram bio. When you save, the formatting should be identical to how it shows up in Notes.

2. Add Hashtags In The Comments

A lot of people avoid using hashtags because they hate how clunky it makes their captions look. To avoid this, simply comment on your pictures with the hashtags you want to use. Your image will still show up in hashtag search results exactly the same as if you had put them in the caption.

3. Hide Ads

It seems like you can't scroll through Instagram these days without a bit o' "sponsored content" finding its way to your face. If you're getting annoyed by the constant ads, click on the "Sponsored" label in the upper right-hand corner. This will pull up a menu allowing you to choose to "Hide This."

4. Save Data

Is your Instagram habit running your data plan dry? The app has a built-in solution with its "use less data" option. To access this, go to your Settings menu and select "Cellular Data Use." You will be able to turn on an option that will use data efficiently.

5. Hide Photos From Your Profile

If you get tagged in a particularly unfortunate group selfie or you want to purge yourself from a frenemy's Instagram account, it turns out the power is in your hands! You have the option to show or hide the photo from your profile, as well as the option to de-tag yourself from the image completely. To do this, go to the photo in question and click the "..." in the lower right-hand corner. In the menu that pops up, select "Photo Options" and you'll be prompted with a menu to control your public image to your heart's content.

6. Use Iconosquare To Track Your Stats

If you're a fiend for statistics, you'll love using Iconosquare. It's a free third-party Instagram app that tracks things like where your followers are from, what kinds of pictures people like and comment on, and basically anything you could ever want to know about your Instagram account. Even if you're not trying to create a social media empire, it's still a really fun insight into your life.

Images: Pexels; Kate Fustich/Bustle (6)