Completely up to date: the five Instagram trends of the moment

Instagram, the app where we scroll quite a few kilometers daily. You don't want to fall behind, so I'm giving you a quick update. Here are the five latest trends of the moment.

1. More real life

Insta has quite the reputation for being fake. No one is surprised by a retouched jawline, cropped waist, or bleached teeth anymore. However, there seems to be a shift happening in the world of wax figures. Nowadays, you see a bit more humanity behind the FaceTune. Especially Stories are used to show an unflattering double chin or pimple. Someone who couldn't resist using Stories is Vivian Hoorn, who with her account @jaqueline_timemachine shows over 31,000 followers the behind the scenes of Instagram daily. Stay Jaquelicious.

2. Photo tease

There is a whole marketing psychology woven into guiding followers to a newly posted post. A popular method is as follows: you post a photo and then put a similar image (you often have about 150 shoot leftovers) on your Story. Then you make a poll with something like ‘which one do you like better?’ (can of course also just be in Dutch). ‘Answer A: this one’ or ‘answer B: the one I posted’. Have you in no time traffic at your new shot.

3. Before & after

This ties into the ‘more real life’ trend. Influencers are increasingly showing the unedited version of their photos. Presets are for sale and editing secrets are shared. Because how do they manage to get a pastel blue/pink sky with flying birds and passing clouds on a gloomy Thursday? Well, I happen to have that answer for you. Download Snapseed and play with ‘Tone contrast’ or create with Quickshot and PicsArt the green screen of your dreams.

4. Super fast style tutorials

This is a very rewarding trend that is widely seen on OOTD Magazine. Here, fast-forwarded style videos full of outfit inspiration are posted. ‘Ways to wear a Christmas sweater’, ‘snuggly skirt outfit ideas’, ‘how to style over-the-knee boots’, and more. In less than a minute, four outfit suggestions. Thank me later.

5. Manipulative tagging

I can totally relate to the trends mentioned above. I have a bit more trouble with this one. Among young people, it is now trendy to systematically tag each other in a photo. Example: someone posts a photo of four girlfriends + boyfriend. The boyfriend gets a so-called ‘mouth tag’. The two girlfriends who are tagged in the spotlight belong to the besties. The two girls with ‘corner tag’ know that they are dangling at the bottom of the friends ladder. Mean Girls vibes.

Written by Lynn van de Vorst