· By Joseph Welstead
That One secret trick to taking the perfect Instagram selfie
Have we caught your attention? Taking a good Instagram selfie is great, isn’t it.
Crack the algorithm with a bunch of early likes and you’re in for an endorphin ride that may last a couple of days, casually reeling in the interaction. But get it wrong, and you’ll be left disappointed, comparing your results to that other person who just seems to always look flawless, and feeling sorry for yourself. Well worry no more: in this post, we have the one fool proof solution to hacking the Instagram algorithm. OK, this is a tongue-in-cheek article. We don’t actually have the one secret trick to taking the perfect Instagram selfie (sorry). It was a click-bait title. And bear with us, because we’re taking this the whole way and making sure this article is fully SEO-savvy with all the right keywords, like selfie lighting, iPhone camera, using the right filter, maybe a touch of our favourite editing app VSCO… We’re also including all the right headings like:You’ll want to learn this one secret for taking the perfect Instagram selfie
And maybe some extra cheeky H3s (subheadings, that count towards an article's Google ranking) like:How to hack the Instagram algorithm
Or downright outrageous ones:Download the latest Instagram update and get thousands of followers with this trick
Why are we doing this? We’re providing a gentle reminder that the Internet is full of tools to get specific information in front of your eyes. Brands, influencers, media companies, all use clever SEO tools like typing just the right keywords and hashtags combined with a click-bait title or image that is likely to get shared. This does not guarantee an accurate representation of the truth. In fact, it is likely to lead to exaggerations or outright lies (sorry, we meant alternative facts). And this is exacerbated when financial incentives are in play - like when an influencer is paid to post about a brand, or when an online magazine lives off advertising revenues, or when someone wants to be President of the United States.The tools you’ll need to get hundreds of followers in one day
Why is it important to bear this in mind? Because taking the perfect Instagram selfie, breaking the Instagram algorithm (bear with us, please, we’re getting the keywords down a bunch of times) and appearing as good as others online can often become a little too important in our lives. If you’ve kept up with the news lately, or if you are simply active on social media, you’ll know that young people, girls particularly, suffer under pressure of online 'perfection'. Make sure you and the younger, perhaps more influenceable folk around you, are aware that online titles are mostly exaggerated to catch their attention. The same applies to Instagram pictures, videos, captions and so on.How to appear super sexy on Instagram
The web may seem like a place of free speech, like a huge canvas where everybody has a voice. But there’s a lot of noise on that canvas. Ever wondered why highly shared articles are written in very short sentences? That's because Google prefers shorter sentences and will rank them better. But that doesn't exactly mean that the content is accurate or truthful. Clever tools are used to promote specific messages, and those messages that rise above all the noise tend to be the more outrageous ones – click-baity, sexy, politically incorrect and so on. Naturally, it can be hugely misleading to compare ourselves to that type of content.Learn how to rise above the Instagram noise
Take a step back. Remind yourself of why this particular article or image or video landed in front of your eyes (in this case, it’s because of keywords like hacking the algorithm and a click-bait title like that one secret to taking the perfect Instagram selfie).Bonus: Getting the perfect fitness workout selfie
You see this image, but there's more to it than meets the eye. In the background of the image are the words: "how to take the perfect workout selfie". This is common practice and makes sure the picture helps this article to get more views when people search for selfie tips. Sneaky.