Good Tuesday Morning to you . I see the sun is shining, I’ve heard the birds chirping. That means it will be a wonderful day, right? Oh, and it’ll probably be hot because we are in the middle of summer and that’s the way the weather rolls. So as of late you’ve heard us speaking of having an Instagram account (follow us @ExtremeSportsScubaOfficial). On more than one account I’ve had someone ask me just what is Instagram and how do you sign up for it, so I thought I’d do a special post this morning to help anyone who is having difficulties with Instagram but wants to learn more. Afterall, they say you should learn something new every day!
So first things first… you’ll need to go to iTunes or is it the Google Play store for an Android and download the free Instagram app. I’ll wait while you do that. I do need to mention, I’m an iPhone user (7 years and going strong) so when it comes to Android’s I’m not totally sure the correct wording, but I did set Deb’s account up for her on her Android and the screens all looked the same.
Once the app is downloaded, open the app up. Simple enough, right?
Now that you’ve opened the app, you’ll see this screen. Normally you’ll only see this screen the first time or if you log yourself out. There are 2 options here, sign in with Facebook or with an email. I went the email route, so I’m not exactly sure what the Facebook route looks like. Experiment .
Because I went the email route, it asks me to place in my email address. Now it says you can sign up with your phone number also, I sometimes avoid that so that’s your call there. 
Once you type in your email address, hit next, you’re brought to this page. Here’s where you type in your name, and then search for a user name that isn’t taken as well as attaching your password to your account. If the user name is free you get a green check mark (if I remember right) and if it is taken, you get a red X and try again. 
I guess this picture was just of me showing you I know my name… lol…. Well at least partially… 
Then you’ll hit next, once all your information has been plugged in and accepted. The next move it allows you to do is connect with your Facebook account therefore any of your Facebook friends who have Instagram. At the bottom you can obviously skip that step, or you can click on the Facebook button and it walks you through the simple steps to find friends. By the way if you want to friend me, I’m Boomerbear on Instagram. Just saying . 
It also allows you to search through your contacts on your phone to see who might or might not have Instagram accounts. 
Finally it takes you to a screen to help you find people to follow. You definitely don’t need to follow anyone you don’t want, therefore you don’t have to go through that phase either. 
Now we’re referring to the picture above, it’s just easier to talk about the buttons on the bottom side of it that way. So your first button is your home button. This is what you click and you’ll scroll through all the photos of everyone you follow (hint hint ExtremeSportsScubaOfficial). The magnifying glass, the next button, allows you to search. You can search hashtags (i.e. #extremesportsscuba) or you can search for people by name or user name, you can search people they suggest for you, etc. The button that looks like a camera is your next feature. This is where you add pictures or videos. Yes, you can do still shots as well as videos. The heart is where you get notifications of your comments. When you first log on to the app, you’ll see it pop up with the number of likes and comments. Then if you don’t immediately check it, you’ll have that pinkish red dot underneath the heart notifying you that there are comments for you. Finally, The last circle that looks like a blank person will actually show your profile picture once you have it set up. That will take you to your page (look at the screen below). There you’ll see the number of posts you’ve posted, the number of followers you have, the number of people you’re following, your pictures, settings, etc.
Now we’re referring to the picture below. Just making sure I don’t loose you in our transitions here! If you want to look for someone you’re specifically following or they’re following you (whichever the case may be you’re searching for) click on the followers or following and it takes you to that list. The thing that looks like a gear is your settings. That allows you to add in your profile picture, search for Facebook friends, etc. And then obviously you can edit your profile and make it say anything under the sun you want. You could in fact make it say “Anything under the sun you want” if that’s what your heart desires. Just saying.
Finally this is the view from the home button. It shows you who posted it, the picture they posted. The heart below the picture is the like button. The bubble is what you push to comment, and finally the arrow allows you to directly send that photo to another Facebook user. At the top of the picture you’ll see 3 dots. If you click on those you’ll see REPORT, SHARE TO FACEBOOK, SHARE TO MESSENGER, TWEET, COPY SHARE URL, TURN OFF POST NOTIFICATIONS, and CANCEL. I think those are pretty explanitory, but if you need help, holler, I’m a wealth of knowledge sometimes… Like I can tell you all about British and American Literature, things you never thought you wanted to know… Just saying.. 
I hope that today’s tutorial was beneficial. If you’re already an Instagram user, why aren’t you following us?!?! We’d sure love it if you would!!! And remember, your diving posts, hit up with the hashtag #extremesportsscuba so we can see them too!!!