Instagram needs no introduction everyone knows how big it is. It is one of the most popular and active social media platforms in the world. In fact it is even bigger than Twitter which is why it is so good for building your brand and growing followers. However many developers avoid it completely because Instagram is predominantly an image based social network whereas Twitter is text based which is more ideal for talking and sharing code. I think its a missed opportunity though because if you are working on building your network and growing your audience then obviously you should be on Instagram it is just too huge to ignore.
For some people Instagram can feel a bit weird because lets face it the platform is mostly all visuals and you would go on there expecting to see pictures of people, locations, food etc... Having pictures of code is just not quite the same is it? But if you step back and take a look at the big picture you will realise that there are multiple ways for you to engage with people on Instagram. First let's break it down. This is my own opinion here but I think there are at least 7 types of developer related Instagram accounts.
- Programming snippets
- Image links to blog articles
- Personal selfies and computer setups
- Joke/Meme Illustrations
- Web design
- Personal motivation
- CSS Art
So as you can see there are actually a lot of opportunities for growth there. Ideally you would want to create a new business account for your developer work so that you do not contaminate your main personal instagram with too much developer focused work that your friends and family might not understand. It is just easier to have a branded channel for that content. I recently created a tech focused Instagram account for myself this month and it seems to be doing well at the moment. I still need to work on being more active but I have plenty of ideas based on the type of developer related accounts out there.
If you were to post even some of that content then you will grow an audience. So far I have had quite good engagements even though I have put little effort in so far. I have even gained more than 30 followers already at this rate it will surpass my personal Instagram which I should really be more active on. Coronavirus has not really helped much with so much indoor time due to having 2 years of lockdowns 😅
Many developers and communities are already using Instagram. DEV, Hashnode and CodeNewbie already have a presence on there among others. Each of them have thousands of followers already so use that as motivation you are also capable of building an audience on Instagram.
This is my developer Instagram account andrewbaisden_tech I hope to see more of you on there.
Final Thoughts
I really hope that you enjoyed reading this article and learned something from it. As a content creator and technical writer I am passionate about sharing my knowledge and helping other people reach their goals. Let's connect across social media you can find all of my social media profiles and blogs on linktree.
Peace ✌️