#This meme caption has an audience of me and a very select few friends

[thathilomgirl]

[jungkookienoona]

The Meme and His Tutor

Part 13: The Time There Was A Meme War

Recommended Song: I Luv It by PSY

|All Chapters|

Summary:

Jungkook started something he could not finish and you begin to question yourself.

Genre: Fluff, comedy

Pairing: Jungkook X Reader (Y/N)

Warnings: Swearing

Word Count: 3745

Length: 13/?

Since your first lesson back after returning from Korea, you had taken Jungkook's advice to study harder. For the past few weeks your lessons focused on correcting the errors brought to light on your trip, and you were slowly gaining a better understanding of how to speak less formally.

When Jungkook rang you it just so happened that you were busy studying, a highlighter between your teeth as you answered the Skype call.

"Annyeonghaseyo Kookie." A small smile gracing your lips as you gave a wave.

A mischievous grin appeared on his lips, "Hello Noona."

There was a look in his eye that had you feeling suspicious.

"I don't like that look." You said, closing your textbook. "What are you up to?"

"Nothing."

"Do you really expect me to believe you?"

He ran a hand through his hair and you felt your heart stutter a little at how attractive he looked while doing so. No, stop. It wasn't the time for that.

"I'm not doing anything Noona."

"Okay... so what have you done?"

He bit his bottom lip in a failed attempt to stifle an amused chuckle. Why did he have to look so good? You shook your head. That look plus his amusement meant only on possible thing. You quickly opened your browser and typed in the address to his blog. There it was. The first thing to greet you on his site, a meme of you.

"Jeon Jungkook."

"Ye?"

"Prepare to die."

Jungkook started laughing, leaning back in his seat with an arm thrown across his face as you open up that one folder on your desktop. You were prepared for this day. Since spotting his folder full of memes on your first day in Korea, you had been plotting your revenge. And when you arrived safely at home you put your plan into action, screenshotting Skype and downloading pictures sent over KaKao. And with each new image, you created a new meme for your arsenal. It was time to release your creations onto the world.

Having recovered from his little laughing fit, Jungkook was watching you intently from the other side of the screen.

"Noona..."

"Yes, Kookie?" You said, creating a new Tumblr post and selecting your meme. It was a tough choice.

"What are you doing?"

You recycled his earlier words. "Nothing." You added a few hashtags and pressed post with a smile.

You heard Jungkook's phone vibrate. He picked it up and quickly checked it with a shocked gasp.

"Noona! That's so mean! I look ugly in that."

"I looked ugly in your one!... Also, do you get notifications every time I post? How long have you been doing that?"

"Since I followed you." You were going to ask why when you noticed a new notification had appeared. Clicking on it, you were not surprised to see Chubs’ ship blog reblogging the posts. You had an audience already.

"Noonaa~" Jungkook called and you refreshed the page.

Sitting at the top of your dash was your face, eyes wide and mouth open as if prepared to sneeze. Beneath it was the caption: 'when Jungkook Skypes you'. He'd even watermarked it.

"You little shit!"

You went into your folder again as he cackled in the background. It didn't take long to find one you wanted to use. It was the screenshot you had taken from when he was shirtless (the one that was still your desktop background) but with "Yokhareulharyeoko fuck boi cheoreom (Tries to act like a fuck boi)" at the top and "Hajiman geu-i museowo yeosang aidol. (But is afraid of female idols.)"

Jungkook was wiping tears out of his eyes when his phone went off. He paused and narrowed his eyes at you.

"Yah! What's a fuck...boi?" He glanced back at his phone, "And I'm not afraid of female idols!"

You lost it, covering your face with your hands as Jungkook mulled in his own confusion.

Between laughs, you managed to explain that a fuck boi was similar to being an international playboy, but meant acting even more like a dickhead.

"I'm not a fuck boi." He pouted.

"I don't know, going on Skype shirtless seems pretty fuck boi type behaviour to me." You grinned evilly.

"I put on a robe for you!" He said then winced at the sound of his voice. "I have to be quiet. Hoseok went to bed early."

"And how can you say you're not scared of female idols? You move away from them and hide behind the members."

"I'm being polite and respectful."

"There are compilation videos of you avoiding them. You backed away from a few with a terrified expression."

"... I was scared of accidentally starting career damaging rumours."

"Yeah right."

"If I was scared of women I wouldn't be friends with you." He gestured across the screen to you.

"I'm not an idol. It's different."

You got another notification about Chubs' ship blog reblogging from you but this time with a caption. 'HOLY SHIT! HE LET HER SEE HIM SHIRTLESS! AND SHE HAS BLESSED US BY SHARING IT WITH US!'

"What is it?" He asked.

"Check the ship blog." While he was doing that you scrolled through your folder, deciding what to post next.

"I don't see what the big deal is about me not wearing a top."

You sighed and minimised the folder to look at him. "Why do you have to wear swim shirts when you do things involving swimming on camera?"

"Because we don't want ARMY dying at the sight of our abs?"

"Exactly- wait, no!"

"Yep."

"It's because BigHit makes more money by teasing us with little glimpses of skin."

"And because in Korea we have to swim clothed."

There was another notification waiting for you on your Tumblr.

"Are you not going to look, Noona?" He was sitting smugly and you wished you were there in Korea to push him off his chair. "It's a good one. One of my best!”

It was you in your panda onesie, face bright red. 'Says she isn't adorable but is adorable af.'

"Next time I'm in Korea you're going to die."

You decided your next attack would include more than one meme. You found the ones you were looking for and started uploading them. Meanwhile, Jungkook was staring intently at his screen. A pair of circle glasses had found their way onto the bridge of his nose and you had to tear your eyes away from the Skype window. They were your weakness.

You heard his phone go off and sat back while he took a moment to look at them.

"Yah! Noona! Why so many?!"

"Don't call me cute!"

"...At least you Korean is improving."

You smirked and remembered the ones you had selected, one of him being shook, another of him spinning in his chair out of boredom and a selca of him with a bad hair day.

"I've been practising."

"Good." It was his turn to smirk when you saw he had uploaded half a dozen pictures of you including ones he'd taken on your trip to Korea.

"Is...Is that me sleeping?" You enlarged one particular photo you'd never seen before. It looked like it was taken using the front-facing camera and you could just make out the leather of Jungkook's jacket as you leant against his shoulder.

"It was after you landed. Remember?"

"Oh yeah... You took a picture of me sleeping?"

You swore you saw a hint of pink get added to his cheeks as he scratched the back of his neck with a sheepish smile.

"I couldn't help myself. Noona looked so peaceful and childlike."

"I'm just glad it's dark. You can't see a lot of my face."

"I didn't want to use flash and wake you."

"How considerate," you grumbled, going back to looking at the other images. "I need to stop wearing my panda onesie. All the worst pictures are of me in it."

"Noooo~ Noona should wear it more. Noona looks best in her onesie. See."

Your Skype chat was then filled with screenshots of you in the onesie as well as some pictures that were sneakily taken on the movie night.

"How did you take those without me noticing?" You said, eyeing one particular picture. It looked like a failed attempt at taking a photo of you from the side as all he managed to capture was your linked hands in his lap.

He tapped the side of his head with a smirk, "That's a secret."

"Aish. You're an impossible child."

He frowned, "I am not a child!"

"You act like one. I have proof."

You uploaded a dozen more screenshots to Tumblr all with various pieces of text of the images. There was a candid one of him you snuck at the restaurant after going to the market. He was cradling his phone in his hands, eyes bright as he stared down at his new phone case it in adoration. A screenshot of him pressing a kiss to Honey's head was followed by one of him with a blanket draped over his head.

"See, a child."

His frown deepened.

"Does Noona only see me as a child even after all my goodnight selcas?"

By some miracle, you didn't blush as he reminded you of the selcas he sent you when he was preparing for bed every night.

"T-t-that has nothing to do with your child like behaviour."

"But I have muscle." Jungkook pushed up his shirt sleeve to give you a better view of his flexed bicep. "Does this look like a child to you?"

"Stop!"

"Or this?" You noticed his hand grip the hem of his t-shirt and in a burst of panic, you slammed the laptop shut.

You got a message over Kakao.

'Or this'

It was followed by the image that you wanted to avoid. His shirt was pulled up revealing his abs and he had the cockiest smirk you had ever seen.

'By the way, you were very rude just now. You're going to pay for that.'

Your eyes went wide as you opened up Tumblr on your phone to see even more memes. This was meant to be your revenge. Why the hell were you taking turns?

Jungkook was waiting for you on Skype, his shirt back in place. You coughed to get his attention.

"Has Noona recovered?" He teased.

You scowled at him, "You're the biggest little shit. I'm supposed to be getting back at you and it turns into a competition."

"Which I won."

"You think you won?"

"I always win."

"Prepare to lose then."

There was a video file from back near the beginning of Jungkook's lessons when his English was still broken and he frequently switched between the two languages. You had recorded it to see if you could find a way to improve your teaching strategy. With a merciless grin, you uploaded a small segment of it to Tumblr.

He tripped over his words and stuttered often. It was adorable and was sure to make him angry. It always embarrassed him when you reminded him of how he started off. And sure enough, not a minute later, Jungkook had his head buried in his hands.

"Noona~ delete it!"

"Not until you admit I won and upload a post saying you concede."

You were lying. He looked thoughtful for a moment then nodded.

"Fine Noona. You win."

And then he was clicking and typing away. You waited patiently for the post to appear on your dash. When it did you were a little confused. It was a video with Honey as the thumbnail and the caption: 'Noona wins (this was filmed before I changed her name)'

You pressed play and was met by the familiar intro to Cypher Part 4. Jungkook was nowhere to be seen as the camera pointed at the wall of his bedroom you had grown accustomed to seeing.

All of a sudden, Jungkook's head popped up over the edge of the desk in a pair of oversized sunglasses. He mouthed the words 'ireum, ireum!' And then ducked back down only for Honey to pop up in a matching pair of glasses in time to 'Sorry bae.'

The video continued like that until the end of Namjoon's verse where the video also ended. You were bent over, clutching your stomach in a fit of laughter, temporarily forgetting that you were still in a Skype call with Jungkook.

"Oh god. Why is he like this?" You said when you finally regained composure, wiping a tear from your eye.

"It's a talent of mine." He said, surprising you enough to yelp. "Did you like it?"

You pressed a hand to your chest, willing your heart to stop hammering. "You're the biggest meme possibly on earth."

He gave you a smile and then he was clicking and typing again. It didn't take long for a new post to appear. Another video. It was a video of him singing along to Very Very Very by IOI but when it got to a certain point he would chug a little Thomas the Tank engine along. It was captioned: 'I'll be a meme more because I like Noona's laugh.'

A giggle slipped out while you watched him push along the little train. Where he got it from you didn't know but it didn't matter.

"That was adorable, Kookie!"

He ducked his head but you could see he was smiling proudly for making you laugh.

"Losing was worth it."

You decided to check on the ship blog to see how Chubs was handling the memeage. Apparently, not very well. She had moved on to flat out saying she was dying. Jungkook noticed you had gone quiet and asked you what you were doing.

"Are you plotting something? Because I have no other videos to post."

"I'm checking in on Chubs. She's said she's dead five times now."

"Ask her whose memes killed her!"

"Jungkook!"

"Judging by the tags on each meme post she reblogged, it was both of us... tell her not to die. I need someone to document our history."

This time your cheeks did heat up.

"I'll get right on that."

You heard a door open and Jin came into view, peering over Jungkook's shoulder.

"Igeos-eun jeolm-eun sarang-i doen geos? Naneun neohui dul-ege silmanghaessda. (Is this a young love thing? I'm disappointed in the both of you.)"

There was that word again. Why did it keep popping up so much recently? And why is it always Jungkook? You noticed Jungkook glance at you before apologising and giving his attention to Jin.

"Do you need something?"

"Oneul sueob-e chekeu-inhaneun geosman-eulo, Kookie. (Just checking in on today's lesson, Kookie.)" Jin caught your attention with a wave. "Igeos-eun yeong-eo sueobcheoreom boiji anh-eoyo, Y/N. (This doesn't look like an English lesson Y/N.)"

You sent your message to Chubs and gave Jin a sheepish smile. "Urin swigoiss-eo? (We're taking a break?)"

"... Seoloui mim-eul mandeuneunga? (By… making memes of each other?)"

"Geuneun geugeos-eul sijaghaessda. Naneun modu sueob-eul gajil junbigadoeeo iss-eossjiman, geuneun yaggan-ui ttong-idoegiro gyeolsimhaessda! (He started it. I was all prepared to have a lesson but then he decided to be a little shit!)"

"Noona!"

"If I'm going down I'm taking you with me!"

Jin braced himself on the back of Jungkook's chair as he broke into laughter.

Jungkook pouted, "But I didn't do anything!"

"You know what you did!" You nodded in Jin's direction, hoping that despite being on Skype Jungkook caught on to not wanting to say anything in front of Jin.

"Neo dul-eun neomu isanghae. (You two are so strange.)"

Chubs finally responded to your message about not dying.

'How can I not die when you two act like you were made for each other.'

'Don't say stuff like that. I'm just Y/N-chingu.'

'Yeah right. You two are totally not just friends. I see the way you look at each other.' Was her immediate response.

You let out a huff and typed out a reply. 'Even if I did feel something more for him (which I don't!) he doesn't like me like that. Nothing is ever going to happen.'

'Keep lying to yourself.'

"Noona~ don't get distracted. You're meant to be spending time with me!" Jungkook whined, drawing your attention back to him. You noticed Jin rolling his eyes.

You got another message from Chubs, 'You seriously need to sit down and have a think about how you actually feel about him. It's not good to be in denial for so long.'

"Noona~!"

"Sorry Kookie, Chubs was over reacting to our little meme war."

"Chubs-i nuguya? (Who's Chubs?)" Jin asked at the same time Jungkook wondered what she was saying.

"Geunyeoneun nae chingu ya. (She's my friend.)" You told Jin before looking at Jungkook, "Nothing important."

"Why won't you tell me?"

"I told you it's nothing."

"Noona~"

Jin smacked his shoulder, "Neoneun Y/N-i anj-aseo agicheoreom uneun geos-eul deudgo sip-eo handago saeng-gaghanayo? (Do you think Y/N wants to sit and listen to you whine like a baby?)"

"Geunyeoneun geugeos-eul saranghanda. (She loves it.)" He said with a smug smile.

For some reason, you couldn't bring yourself to argue with him about it. Jin chuckled to himself and ruffled Jungkook's hair, "Jeulgeoun aireul gaj-ja! Neomu heungbunhaji mala. Geuneunleohji anh-eumyeon oneul bam jamdeulji anh-eul geos-ida. (Have fun kids! Don't get too excited. Otherwise he won't sleep tonight.)"

"Hyung!"

You waved goodbye to Jin and watched Jungkook shake his messy hair back into place. You couldn't help what you said next.

"Messy hair suits you."

He paused at that looking slightly shocked.

"R-r-really?"

"Ye."

His hands immediately shot up into his hair, messing it up again.

"Like this Noona?"

You pursed your lips in thought, "Separate your fringe... Ye, like that."

He grabbed his phone and took a picture. Your phone buzzed. He sent the selca to you over Kakao.

Your heart skipped a beat. What on earth was wrong with you? This was only Jungkook. Jungkook, your tutor and tutee. Jungkook, the Golden Maknae of BTS. Jungkook who saw you as Y/N-chingu and nothing more.

You cleared your throat, "It really suits you Kookie."

"Taehyung tells me he likes my hair different but if Noona likes it messy, I like it messy too." He smiled and the sight of his dimple made your tummy do a little flip.

"You can't like something just because I do. What do you prefer?"

"Messy."

"Honestly?" You asked, ignoring the flashing light on your phone alerting you of Tumblr notifications.

"Honest. I don't like the product they put in it. It feels icky."

"Icky? You're such a child." You laughed.

"Yah! What do I have to do to make you see me as a man?!" There was a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"Why does it matter?"

He hesitated for a moment, "I don't want Noona to treat me like a child. To see me as a child. I'm an adult."

You started to giggle which only riled him up further. "I am the strongest member and only an inch shorter than Namjoon-hyung!"

"That doesn't necessarily make you a man. You still act like a child." You were dragging it out, seeing how far you could push him. And watching him grow hot and bothered was an extra.

"Was I not a man to you when you visited? I drove you around Seoul and bought you things. I treated Noona like a princess!"

"Yeah... you did. So it seems you can only act like an adult when I'm there in person."

Your phone screen lit up with yet another Tumblr notification. You decided to check it.

"Next time you visit I'll show you how much of a man I can be. I'll treat Noona like a queen."

The next time you visited...You had yet to tell Jungkook that even after picking up a few more hours at work it didn't look like you were going to be able to afford to visit after exam season like you had discussed. He'd only insist on paying if you told him and you couldn't have that. Not again.

"Yeah. Next time."

"You're going to love it, I have so much planned!"

You felt your heart sink with guilt. Maybe you could get a second job... you scrolled through the notes you had received on the mobile app. The responses were overwhelming. Jungkook's video had already hit a thousand notes in just under an hour. The ship blog was thriving with activity; a new post appearing every time you refreshed. You were suddenly aware of all the attention on the two of you.

"Noona?" You heard Jungkook call but you were busy reading one of Chubs's responses to a very annoyed anon yelling at her to 'spill the details on the couple'. "Noona!"

"Yes, Kookie?"

"When are your exams over?"

You bit your lip thinking about it.

"My last one is in three weeks time."

"Okay, I'll-"

Before he could finish what he was saying Jin came back into the room.

"Neuj-eoss eo. Neoneun jaleo gaya hae. (It's late. You should go to bed.)"

"Hyung~"

You giggled as he pouted and crossed his arms.

"Neoneun naeil malhal su iss-eoyo. Jam jal sigan-iya. (You can talk tomorrow. Time to sleep.)"

Jungkook nodded, "Okay, I'll say goodnight."

You said goodnight to Jin who left the two of you alone.

"Go to sleep, Kookie."

"I'm not tired."

"It doesn't matter. If you stay up you will be tomorrow."

"Fine... Goodnight Noona... I really had fun today. Your laugh is beautiful."

A warmth burned your cheeks, "Your hair makes you look handsome."

"Don't you mean more handsome?" He teased, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Go to bed!"

"Goodnight Noona! Sweet dreams, think of me."

"It's still the afternoon here. Sweet dreams Kookie."

He smiled, then an idea seemed to have popped into his head as the smile gained a hint of mischief. You wondered what on earth it could be until your thoughts were interrupted by him imitating Jin's signature flying kiss. You sat there, a little stunned not knowing what to do.

Jungkook was quick to tell you, "You're meant to catch it!"

"Oh, uh, try it again."

He blew you another and you reached out to grasp the kiss then clutched your hands to your chest as if holding something precious.

He grinned. "Have a good day and think of me tonight."

"Goodnight BunBun."

He grinned and gave a little wave then hung up.

What the heck just happened?

A/N: Co-written with @tragicshadows . So Y/N is finally beginning to question herself thanks to Chubs and the constant appearance of the L-word. And Kookie seems to be trying his best to make Y/N see him as a man, I wonder why that is? As always we would love to hear from you guys so feel free to message either one of us.

This work of fiction is copyright © JungkookieNoona and protected under UK and international law. All rights reserved. Any unauthorised broadcasting, copying or reposting will constitute an infringement of copyright.

[unifiedsocialblog]

15 of the Most Important Instagram Trends to Watch Right Now

Instagram trends can make or break your social marketing strategy. That’s why it’s important to stay on top of them.

Brands that keep up with the top trends on Instagram can take advantage of new features and beta tools ahead of their competitors. They also show their followers they know what’s up.

With added pressure from TikTok and a new head of company, Instagram is rolling out lots of new innovations, features, and tools.

These are the top trends on Instagram we’re watching right now.

Bonus: Download a free checklist that reveals the exact steps a lifestyle photographer used to grow from 0 to 600,000 followers on Instagram with no budget and no expensive gear.

15 top Instagram trends to watch for

1. More Instagram Stories, fewer posts

Instagram Stories have taken over, with more than 500 million viewers every day.

They have also become the place where people keep tabs on their friends and family, according to Instagram research.

On the other hand, the Instagram feed is primarily associated with polished content and discovery.

Getting rid of the chronological feed has only reinforced that perception. Posts now need to be slightly more evergreen. Stories seem more real-time by contrast.

The majority of users see the Instagram feed as a place to find information and discover products and brands.

While that’s good news for brands, regular users find it more difficult to imagine their content in the mix. Some have viewed Instagram’s decision to test hiding likes as an attempt to spur more sharing from those who feel intimidated by the feed.

2. Growth of the Explore tab

More than 200 million Instagrammers check the Explore grid every day and that number is expected to rise this year.

The feed’s new navigation bar now offers shortcuts to IGTV and Shop. From there, people can delve into their niche interests, like beauty, travel, food, or art.

Or, they can get lost in a selection of Stories that will now be algorithmically fed into the Explore feed.

3. Sound on for Instagram Stories

It’s still important to design for sound off environments. But a recent Facebook (and Instagram) study found that viewers like voiceover and music. 80% of Stories with voiceover or music performed better than ads without.

Currently 60% of Instagram Stories are viewed with sound on.

Maybe TikTok’s musical platform has helped turn up the volume across social media channels. Either way, expect TikTok to influence more Instagram trends to come.

4. Strategic stickers in Instagram Stories

Stickers are popular on Instagram Stories, but businesses have had mixed results with them. That’s going to change this year, though.

Expect to see fewer unnecessary and generic stickers, and more polished and original branded stickers over 2019.

5. More interactive Instagram Stories

While stickers have been a mixed bag for businesses, interactive stickers have been a hit.

Questions, poll, countdown, and emoji-slider stickers don’t just prompt more engagement, they make Instagram Stories more sticky. In other words, people stick around longer if there’s something for them to interact with.

For instance, Instagram internal data shows that nine times out of 10, the polling sticker increases video views.

Look for Instagram to unveil for interactive elements over the coming year.

6. Easier ways to shop on Instagram

With more than 70% of shopping enthusiasts using Instagram to explore brands, Instagram now rivals Pinterest as a platform for product discovery.

Over the past year Instagram introduced product tags in feed posts, product stickers in Stories, and a shopping feed via the Explore tab.

With more than 130 million taps on these tags each month, a direct buying option is the logical next step. In March 2019, Instagram rolled out a beta in-app Checkout feature that it’s testing with 20 brands, including Adidas, Burberry, Nike, and Revolve.

Instagram charges merchants a selling fee to use Checkout. But, if it spikes enough sales, the fee won’t stop more brands and influencers from getting in on the action.

Pick up tips on how to make your Instagram account more shoppable.

7. Shoppable influencers

Instagram influencers face a barrage of comments and DMs that often ask the same question: Where’d you get that?

To save influencers’ time, Instagram now lets creators tag products in their posts, which can be purchased directly with Instagram Checkout.

Only a select few currently have access to the feature, including Chiara Ferragni, Kylie Jenner, and Vogue.

Right now, they can only tag businesses participating in the beta Checkout program. But more will be available soon.

8. More realness and representation

Authenticity is so last year. 2019 is all about #nofilter.

Celebrity influencers like Jameela Jamil have waged a war on airbrushing, photoshopping, filtering, body shaming, and non-inclusive creative.

View this post on Instagram

Boob stretch marks are a normal, beautiful thing. I have stretch marks all over my body and I hereby rename them all Babe Marks. They are a sign my body dared to take up extra space in a society that demands our eternal thinness. They are my badge of honour for resisting society’s weaponizing of the female form. ❤️ ps. My face is white because I wear spf 100 sunscreen like a boss. ???? PS. LOVE YOUR BROWN SKIN. I tan responsibly but I love to tan! I love to embrace and celebrate my heritage. This skin bleaching and whitening should be banned. It’s inherently racist, classist and emotionally very damaging. #brownandproud

A post shared by Jameela Jamil (@jameelajamilofficial) on Apr 1, 2019 at 7:50am PDT

Expect to see stretch marks, zits, and more from brands, especially in Instagram Stories. And with it expect to see more real talk about mental health, body insecurities, and other important issues.

In fact, Jamil’s radically inclusive @i_weigh account continues to gain followers. And with a follow from @sussexroyal, the official account of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, I WEIGH’s profile will by royally amplified.

Expect brands to more frequently sub models for real people. You should also see more diverse creative.

Aerie has earned major social klout for its “Retouching free since 2014” aesthetic. This goes for influencer partnerships, too. See IKEA’s partnership with the rainbow Amina Mucciolo being @studiomucci.

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#tbt I can’t believe it’s already been a year since this happened! Caption from the original post: “Total full circle moment! @mrstudiomucci and I got married at @ikeausa 10 years ago and now our loft is featured in the @ikeafamilymag ???????????? and my mug is on the cover ????!” See link in my bio for the full #Ikea home tour.

A post shared by Amina Mucciolo (@studiomucci) on Mar 28, 2019 at 10:36pm PDT

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"Middle school and high school years were really hard for me. When it came to accepting my body it felt like a forever struggle that would never ease up. Now I know that my beauty is not determined by how skinny my waistline is or how perfect my skin is. The truth is I know I am beautiful, every day, outside and in. Every pimple, stretch mark, every roll and curve are real and unretouched. My beauty shines every day in every way. And yours does too." @daniebb3 Loves the swim she's in! Share your unretouched swim photos with #AerieREAL @Aerie & we’ll donate $1 (up to $50K) to @NEDA for every post.

A post shared by aerie (@aerie) on May 20, 2019 at 6:00pm PDT

9. Rise of relatable influencers

Users are looking for authenticity from their influencers, too. The unrealistic lifestyles and picture-perfect aesthetics of certain Instagram influencers has given rise to Instagram vs. Reality memes. Out of that has come a new breed of influencer: the relatable influencer.

For example, mommy blogger Laura Izumikawa shares the ups and the downs of parenting. Joana Ceddia channels her awkwardness into humour. Jen Gotch talks anxiety and bipolar disorder. These influencers attract followers who are going through similar experiences.

As Izumikawa shares, “People are on social media to connect—or at the very least—relate to others. Being open and transparent will go a long way to help you connect with your audience.”

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This is feels like my new normal. Swollen eyes, constant flow of tears and long, beautiful hair. It’s stress, and insecurity and sadness.  it’s emotions – some of which I haven’t felt in a long time.  And it’s not that my meds don’t work or that I’m having a depressive episode, and part of me wishes it was, because I know exactly what to do when that type of situation arises.  Strangely they come with less pain than this. Less tears.  Less rumination and obsessive thinking because the sensation is closer to no emotion than all emotion.  Add in a little shame, because I thought I was stronger than this.  And also I realized that I am not immune to vulnerability and vulnerability has kind of become my brand.  And it feels scary to share and it feels oftentimes meaningless to share, because it is really personal and I don’t have a solution and I usually like to offer solutions along with problems. And I’m in this fucked place because I asked to be and I should be grateful. I’m here alone, in solitary confinement – a form of psychological torture, writing this book that I really want a lot of people to read, because although it is a memoir, the goal is not just to share funny stories from my past. The goal is to enlighten people about their own mental health, to deglamorize success, build emotional intelligence, help as many people as possible feel less alone and yes of course, make everyone laugh. And I feel that instagram was a big part of what brought me this opportunity so I feel accountable to the platform and more specifically to you. So yeah, no solution here. Just an update, because the lack of an update was making me feel worse than an actual update. I know there is a light at the end of the tunnel.  I believe there is a light at the end of every tunnel. I just am not deep enough until the tunnel to see it and I want to go back, or lay down & cry or watch the entire first season of the Walking Dead while drunk.  But I won’t because I know moving forward is the only way through. Don’t feel bad for me, I am just identifying what is happening and acknowledging that I hate it more than going to the dentist naked – which I never have done, but it sounds awful.

A post shared by jen gotch (@jengotch) on Jan 27, 2019 at 3:59pm PST

10. The influence of TikTok

The unstoppable growth of TikTok, a music-backed video-sharing app that’s popular with teens, may inspire copycat behaviour from Instagram—as we saw with Snapchat.

IGTV will probably see the most changes, since many think the channel is due for a revamp.

And there are already early signs. Instagram’s recent overhaul of the IGTV feed resembles a cross between TikTok and Snapchat’s Discover feeds. Horizontal scrolling has been replaced with vertical scrolling. And, an algorithm automatically queues up the next video for you to view.

TikTok’s popular challenges have already organically migrated into Instagram follower feeds. So it wouldn’t be surprising to see Instagram attempt to foster more of that, especially since these challenges inspire content creation.

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anxiety has left the group chat.

A post shared by Liz Plank (@feministabulous) on May 14, 2019 at 11:19am PDT

11. More channel-to-channel sharing

With posts in Stories and IGTV videos in the feed, Instagram has been toying with increased linkage between its different formats. Expect to see more crossover from brands who are attempting to boost views in different streams.

For example, when Instagram changed its feed algorithm, we saw more people sharing “new post” alerts in their Stories. Also, one-minute IGTV teasers have been popping up in the feed to direct viewers to the main channel.

Stories are no longer contained to the top of the app either. Now, they’ll show up in the Explore grid too.

The grid will offer personalized Stories recommendations, reminiscent of TikTok.

Instagram is reportedly testing adding direct links for Instagram Stories, too.

12. Sharing Twitter takes on Instagram

Hot takes have taken over Twitter, and they’re showing up on Instagram more and more.

It’s true, @fuckjerry’s been stealing (ahem, now crediting) Tweet memes for years. But, accounts like @will_ent show that this Instagram trend is not letting up.

As The Verge author Megan Farokhmanesh notes, “For some meme creators, Twitter and Tumblr are a canvas, while Instagram is the wall where they display their work.”

Look for Tweets appearing in more Instagram-friendly templates, from branded backgrounds to cleaner, cropped screenshots.

Expect also to see more text-a-gramming, too, ranging from Rupi Kaur-esque poems to more type-moding in Instagram Stories.

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#ElleWoods2020

A post shared by Hello Sunshine (@hellosunshine) on May 17, 2019 at 9:59am PDT

Read more about what meme creators get right on Instagram.

13. Increased social activism

With heightened activism spurred by social unrest and the upcoming elections in Canada and the United States, people are sharing their opinions on social media more than ever.

Text-friendly platforms like Facebook and Twitter have traditionally been associated with social activism. But Instagrammers now have a stronger-than-ever grasp of how to use the platform to share and amplify their views.

From “I voted” stickers to climate change memes, it’s become increasingly common and sometimes inescapable for people and brands to take a stand on the platform.

Activism on all fronts often involves calls for donations to nonprofits.

In February, Instagram introduced a donation sticker that can be added to Stories. While the feature is not yet available to everyone, people will be able to select a nonprofit and even customize the name of their fundraiser.

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School strike Day 1… Now I’m not alone anymore! On Friday 24/5 we are striking in 1387 places in 111 countries. And counting! I Stockholm samlas vi i Humlegården kl 11:30 nu på fredag. Sen går vi till Kungsträdgården. Forskare och aktivister talar, inklusive jag. På scen: Astrid S, Molly Sandén, Jireel, Danny Saucedo, Lamix och Annika Norlin (Säkert!) Dela detta!! Sprid till alla!! #FridaysForFuture #schoolstrike4climate #climatestrike

A post shared by Greta Thunberg (@gretathunberg) on May 21, 2019 at 11:50am PDT

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Saw this sign near my neighborhood coffee shop. It, like all of last night’s firsts, gives me so much hope. For the first time in HISTORY, there will be more than 100 women in Congress, speaking for us. Check out @glennondoyle’s latest post for a great list of where things stand. #midtermsmatter

A post shared by Natalie Portman (@natalieportman) on Nov 7, 2018 at 1:51pm PST

14. Crackdown on Instagram bots

Facebook and Twitter have been under the microscope for their role in influencing elections and harbouring hate speech. And more recent reports are uncovering the role Instagram has played, too.

Over the coming year, we’ll likely see Instagram take steps to combat abuse on its platform. We’ve already seen a few, including increased access to verification and the addition of “About this Account” to profiles with large followings.

Bans on Facebook may start to apply to Instagram, too. For example, far-right figures Louis Farrakhan, Alex Jones, Milo Yiannopoulos, Paul Joseph Watson, and Laura Loomer were removed from both sites this month.

But before there were any headlines about Russian meddling, Instagram already had a bot problem. Fake engagement bots have long been the scourge of the app, and Facebook has already started the year off by slamming bot sellers with lawsuits.

More purges, enhanced security, and increased scrutiny will likely follow in 2019.

15. Changes to Instagram Direct

Rumours that Instagram would completely push direct messaging to its standalone Direct app can finally be put to rest, at least for now.

With Direct gone, it’s likely that Instagram users will see some changes or improvements to the in-app messaging feature instead.

GIFs were introduced last year, and the Quick Replies tool was added to help businesses quickly answer frequently asked questions. It’s possible that Instagram will offer more filtering options for business and regular accounts.

For example, the option to make a Close Friends list for Instagram Stories makes it easier to direct message a group of friends at once. There are also rumours that Instagram will make direct messaging available on desktop.

Instagram is testing option to share content to Close Friends each separately pic.twitter.com/p21B4oiPof

— Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) May 15, 2019

Manage your Instagram presence alongside your other social channels and save time using Hootsuite. From a single dashboard you can schedule and publish posts, engage the audience, and measure performance. Try it free today.

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Hi r/Entrepreneur, this a collection of "Don'ts" that I've come up with after being in the Instagram game for a while. It's about a 7 minute read, I haven't done a TLDR because I think the titles of the points would be a enough for anyone in a hurry :) The original article is here for anyone who wants to read it there or give me some love. Without further a do...7 Deadly Sins of Instagram MarketingSome basic wisdom gathered from managing several social media accounts, running countless campaigns and growing a pet blog to to 75k plus followers (don’t judge the stats, I’ve neglected growing it lately OK!). Avoid doing these things and you will get some great traction with your Insta-Endevours.1 - Trying to make every post an advertInstagram, or any social media platform is not for sticking your product in a person’s face. You know who you become when you do that? You become that one guy that everyone knows, who’s constantly trying to sell you something. You’re the digital version of that. Don’t be that.Instead, use your profile to congregate people that enjoy your content that will likely be interested in your product. Your profile should be a home for your customer. If you’re selling beard oil. You shouldn’t be posting your product in the foreground of every photo, not even in the background. You should be finding models with killer beards, videos of barbers doing their styling on a customer, beard maintenance guides. Build social arbitrage. If you’re providing entertainment, information and value to your customer, your product will sell itself. Every now and again, promote your product. And for fuck sake make it personal, don’t talk in corporate-language. We’ll get to that..2 - Loading every post with every somewhat relevant hashtag under the sunLook it’s fine to load your post with hashtags as long as they’re relevant and thought out. You get 30 hashtags and each one has the ability to lead a potential customer to your content. Is your product related to cats? Cool, #cat and #cats are probably the most mediocre hashtags you could tag your content with. Why? Because they’re not targeted at all, completely broad and off the mark when you’re trying to find enthusiastic cat owners. Instead think of tags as small communities. Say you product is a cat toy — you’re looking for cat owners, who are enthusiastic about cute fluffy things and regularly active with their pets. Try tagging your content with #dailyfluff, #petscorner, #kittenlove. Try finding large blog accounts that have their own hashtags, that they use for selecting content to feature, use them. Don’t just load a post up and wait for magic to happen, find a good mix of small and large hashtags to grow your account. Tagging all your content with hashtags that have 20 million photos attached to them will only drown your content and make it compete with thousands of other photos. Pro Tip #1 — If a significant part of your audience (say 15% or more) is from a different country or has a different first language, it may be worth it to use a few of those 30 hashtags to cater for that segment by using their language.3 - Neglecting the CaptionHave you seen a post with just hashtags under it, without a caption? If you have, you’ve seen the Instagram equivalent of a pizza without cheese. Is it a pizza? Sure, it’s got the sauce and all… Am I eating it? Get that abomination out of my face.The caption is the content, just as much as the picture is… Instagram lets you post a picture and a maximum 2200 character caption. You’re absolutely nuts if you don’t use that to your advantage. How bland is a picture on it own? A picture says a thousand words but 2200 characters is about 400 words extra. That’s almost half a picture and you could probably use it to 10x the value of your post. Why do you think memes are so popular? It’s not because of the picture, it’s the picture and caption combined that’s making that fucker go viral. If you’re selling wine and you post a picture of your co-founder and yourself having wine together, why wouldn’t you caption that and describe what’s happening. If I saw the picture and read “Nothing beats enjoying a lovely Sauvignon blanc and some cheese on a Sunday afternoon by the coast, with your best friend — Have a lovely weekend everyone!” — I’m now instantly craving wine and cheese, and likely to be your customer at some point since you conveniently sell the wine I just saw. As opposed to seeing the picture and not knowing the context at all. Be smart, write a well written caption.Common Sense Tip #1 — Don’t neglect your profile Bio either. Describe what you’re about and invoke some interest — and for fuck sake, utilise that 1 link you get. Link them to your latest product, e-mail list, video, god… something… If I see one more blank bio or one less link, I’m going to shoot myself.4 - Spraying, praying and making it rain when approaching influencers to promote youNot all influencers are created equal and just because an account has 100k followers, doesn’t mean it’s going to be effective for your purposes. You might be thinking. “Well yeah, we have to check if the followers are legitimate, we have to check the engagement rate and make sure it’s a real account.” You would be correct in thinking that, and if you weren’t thinking that, please do that before committing to a promotion… What I’m actually talking about comes after all the vetting has been done. My problem is with marketing campaigns that set a budget and go nuts with any old account that appears to be somewhat related to your product/service. Even if these accounts have been vetted and confirmed to be real, you need to apply the same principles as we covered with the hashtag situation. The influencer accounts have to be relevant to you niche, highly targeted, have enthusiastic followers that trust the influencer. No matter what your product is, there will be accounts out there that are pumped about that product, so find them. When spending your money, don’t go wide and shallow, go for depth where it counts. 7–8 generic 100k accounts will be less effective than 3–4 high quality accounts, even if they’re less than 20k each.Pro Tip #2 — Micro-influencers seem to be the best bang for your buck these days. These are accounts with less than 10k followers who have built deep trust with their followers not unlike that of a friendship. Their followers are highly engaged and will take their recommendation at high regard. They’re also very lovely to work with for the most part and will go the extra mile if your product fits their audience. Start DM-ing ladies and gentlemen.5 - Not keeping up to date with the rollout of new features that could greatly benefit youHow many of you have created a serious strategy or routine for Instagram stories and Instagram carousel? Scratch that, how many of you even regularly use those features? Instagram’s story feature has eclipsed Snapchats by 2 fold as of the beginning of this month. That’s 300 million users that are actively engaging with this new feature. A feature that lets you embed locations, links and even polls… polls! People crave expressing their opinions and Instagram Stories lets you give your audience just that! Look if you aren’t getting aroused by that piece of information, then this article is not for you.You need to keep up with what Instagram is doing and you need to follow the stats that inevitably become available for those new features. This isn’t even a Instagram thing, it’s a marketing thing. Create a strategy around what you’ll share using stories and carousel, how frequently you’ll post them and how best to engage with your followers using them. You can do so many things with Carousels. You can treat them as comic strips if it works for your business. If you need to hire someone to tell your business’ story, then do that. You’ll find thousands of young up-and-coming marketing professionals, that would kill to create Snapchat and Instagram content to tell your story. Just make sure you’re at least experimenting with the new stuff.6 - Not engaging with your followersIf you’re serious about selling and serious about Instagram, you better be replying to comments left right and center. If your post has 4 comments and 2 of those aren’t from you replying to the other 2, you’re doing it wrong (the exception being people tagging each other). If you have a direct message in your inbox that you haven’t replied to or acknowledged, reply! If you are replying, but you’re doing it in corporate lingo resembling that of a PR statement, you’re coming off as disingenuous.Remember when we talked about the micro-influencers in our second pro tip. They have built trust by befriending their followers. Friends talk and interact with each other, don’t take each other too seriously and are there to help. Be that friend for your follower and they just might become your customer.Pro Tip #3 — As much as we want it to, Instagram doesn’t solely revolve around our content. Engaging with our customers means engaging when it’s their content as well. Sounds hard? It could be if you’ve got a fair few followers but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try your best in this department.7 - Being out of touch and not tailoring your content.Have you ever seen an Instagram post that is a cropped flyer with the caption that goes something like — “Hello dear followers, we are extremely excited to announce that we are running a new program called x and we are inviting you to join our e-mail list so we can update you on our upcoming blah blah blah” — this isn’t an e-mail, this isn’t a flyer, this isn’t a notice board. This is social media, learn to be social for god sake. When you try to become a part of a community, a platform, you need to tailor your content for those eyes. If you go around like you’re at a networking event handing out business cards, you’re just not going to get any business here. You need to appeal to your audience AND optimise for the platform. No matter how much I love burgers, I’m not going to get excited about a burger joint that’s on Instagram posting clear cut stock image bullshit and captions that sound like the human equivalent of a terms and conditions copy. For all the people who haven’t seen this… you haven’t seen this because those profiles never ever grow. They do exist however, they are there and they are infuriating.Instead of doing that, make sure the photo/image is actually aesthetically pleasing or interesting. This is an image platform after all. Also, make your caption informal. It can still be professional and informal without going full suit and tie. Define the purpose for your Instagram account, research how hashtags work, observe how your followers interact with you on the platform and tailor you content accordingly.Hey guys, if you enjoyed this I'd appreciate some love on the actual article here