Reposting Instagram content is an excellent way to fill gaps in your content calendar, give shout-outs to feeds you love, and highlight some eye-catching content your fans create about your brand.
But as a regular Instagram user, you’ve probably noticed that Instagram isn’t the most share-friendly social platform. Unlike Facebook and Twitter, you can’t simply reshare posts you love to your feed. That’s because Instagram thrives on unique, user-generated content that Instagram somewhat protects by making it more difficult to share.
But that doesn’t mean that you can’t repost content you love from other users or brands. You just have to do it in a way that Instagram and its content creators approve of.
Important Instagram Sharing Rules and Practices to Follow
Image by Memed_Nurrohmad from Pixabay
Instagram favors originality, but it doesn’t technically copyright the photos posted to its platform. Instead, all content is the property of the original creator.
According to Instagram’s Terms of Use, “You can’t post someone else’s private or confidential information without permission or do anything that violates someone else’s rights, including intellectual property rights. You may use someone else’s works under exceptions or limitations to copyright and related rights under applicable law. You represent you own or have obtained all necessary rights to the content you post or share.”
In other words, you can’t just grab an Instagram photo you like, screenshot it, and post it to your feed. Here’s what to do instead:
Ask First
Always ask a content creator if it’s okay to reshare their Instagram photo before doing it. You can comment on their post, but direct messaging them privately is usually the best option. This way, you can work out the details of the repost, such as any restrictions the owner might have for sharing their work.
Always Credit
Once you have permission to share an Instagram post, you should still provide credit to the creator. This is good practice even if the owner doesn’t explicitly state that they would like credit. Most Instagram users do this by tagging the original photo’s creator in the beginning of their captions so their audience can easily find their account.
Never Modify
Most creators won’t want people resharing their content to edit it in any way, whether that’s adding a filter to the photo, resizing it, or placing text on top. If, for some reason, you need to crop or edit the image slightly so that it looks right in your feed, ask the original creator first and get their written permission to do so.
5 Ways to Repost on Instagram
When you seek permission from a creator to report their content on Instagram, you should also ask if they have a specific method they prefer for reposts. The following are potential options:
1. Screenshot a Photo
Perhaps the easiest way to repost a photo to your feed is by taking a screenshot of it using your mobile device. Then, crop the screenshot so that only the picture shows. However, be sure not to crop any parts of the photo, especially if the original creator is not on board with modifications.
Then, post the photo to your Instagram feed as usual, captioning it with a tag to the original creator.
2. Download a Photo
Depending on your device and its screenshot settings, your screenshot could be low-quality. In this case, it’s better to download the photo from Instagram. Instagram automatically saves the photos you add to your Instagram feed if you have the feature turned on in your settings. But, to date, there’s no way to download other creators’ photos from their Instagram feeds.
To do that, you’ll need an Instagram download website or app, like Inflact’s Instagram Photo Downloader. Copy the URL of the photo you’d like to download by tapping the three dots in the upper right-hand corner of the photo and tapping Link to copy the link. Then, paste that into the URL box of the website and click Download Now. Wait a few seconds, and your photo will be ready for download.
3. Ask for User-Generated Content
Sprinkling user-generated content through your feed is a great way to post more frequently while also building a community around your account. In an Instagram post or on your Story, ask your audience to send you photos that they’re willing to have posted on your feed. You might ask them to take pictures of a specific subject, theme, or one of your products.
When you get a photo you want to post, send a quick DM to the creator to confirm that they give you permission to post it.
4. Share to Your Story
Screenshot via Instagram
Instead of sharing to your feed, you can repost Instagram posts to your own Story. Instagram even provides a direct way to do it that keeps the original creator’s username and caption intact and includes a link back to the original post.
To do it, find a post you want to share. Click the arrow below the post, right next to the heart and comment symbols. Then, choose Add post to your story. You can do it with Reels, too. Follow the same steps and click Add reel to your story. Keep in mind that users can choose to disable these sharing options, so if you don’t see an option for sharing the post to your Story, that’s likely the case.
5. Use an Instagram Repost App
Some apps help you repost content on Instagram without needing to screenshot photos. They work similarly to Instagram photo-downloading websites. For example, Repost has you grab the link of the photo, use the app to download it to your device, and repost the photo. You can also copy the caption through the app to include it with your repost.
Check out our other Instagram marketing guides for Instagram tips and hacks. Ready to start growing your Instagram audience to kick your Instagram marketing strategy into high gear? Install the Instagram follow button on your blog or website to give your visitors a simple (one click) way to follow you on Instagram so they’ll never miss your posts.
