Instagram is a wonderful app. It allows us to peek into the lives of our loved ones, which is especially vital as we continue to observe global lockdowns to try and eliminate the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Although Instagram is more known for its picture posting and viewing features, it is just as convenient when you wish to watch or share something in video format. Compared to pictures, videos are a more effective way of capturing and sharing memories, adding vividness and clarity with the inclusion of sound and visuals. Want to increase your social media visibility but do not know where to start? Socialgreg has your back, buy instagram views and build your dedicated following.
In this article, we shall discuss multiple ways in which you can share your favorite videos on Instagram.
HOW TO POST INSTAGRAM VIDEOS ON YOUR FEED:
Firstly, you need to open the Instagram app from your IOS or android. Once you are on Instagram, you can select the “+” symbol right at the bottom center of the mobile screen
Once you select that option, you will have the choice to either post one of your already recorded or saved videos, or to record a video right then, and post it. If you would prefer choosing the former option, select “Library” towards the bottom of the screen, and then choose the video that you want to share. If you want to choose the second option, simply select the “Video” option, and then press the circle towards the base of the screen, in order to begin recording.
The “Next” option towards the top-right will bring you to the screen where you will be able to edit your clip. Once you have executed any changes that you might want to, select “Next” once more.
The screen you will be directed to will allow you to write a caption, share a particular location, and tag other users. Also, you will be provided the option to post the Instagram video to other social media platforms, such as Facebook. Upon performing all desired actions, hit “Share”, and the video shall be posted on your Instagram feed.
HOW TO POST VIDEOS ON YOUR INSTAGRAM STORY:
Firstly, open the Instagram application. Next, simply swipe right from any point on your screen, or choose the camera symbol present on the top left. Performing either of those actions will open the camera view on your screen. Pressing downwards on the circle towards the base of your screen will commence the video recording. Alternatively, swiping upwards on the screen will open up the video library, from where you can select an already recorded video.
Upon recording a new video or choosing one of the already stored videos, you need to select the “Send to >” option, present at the bottom right of the screen. Tapping that option will take you to the “Share” interface, where you can upload the Instagram video story for all your followers to view (a public account will enable you to share the story with anyone who views your Instagram account). Additionally, Instagram also presents you with the choice of selecting a few “Close Friends” with whom to share your video story. Once you have specified your audience, select “Share”, and hit “Done” towards the bottom of the screen.
HOW TO SEND A VIDEO AS A DIRECT MESSAGE ON INSTAGRAM:
After opening your Instagram application, you will need to access your ‘direct messages’ screen. To do so, simply swipe left from any point on your screen, or select the triangular icon that resembles a paper plane (present at the top right of the Instagram screen).
You will be presented with a list of all the people who have sent an Instagram message to you or received one from you. Besides, you can look up any contact that you want, through the search bar present at the top. It is also possible to look up a contact by choosing the ‘pencil’ icon on the message screen.
send a video as a direct message on Instagram
Upon selecting a contact, a private message screen will show up. Selecting the camera icon will start the recording of a video directly through the Instagram app. The ‘picture’ icon on the opposite hand will allow you to choose a video that is already present in your library.
Now, if you are picking a video directly through the app and sending it to one of your contacts, the profile picture of the potential recipient will be displayed at the bottom, just above the words “Send”, right after the recording has been completed. However, if you want to send one or more of the videos from the library, you need to select the video(s), and hit the “Send” button.
HOW TO POST VIDEOS ON INSTAGRAM FROM YOUTUBE:
Unfortunately, Instagram does not have a feature that allows you to download and post videos directly from YouTube. However, users can take help from a number of other applications that allow video downloading from YouTube.
One of the most simple and easy to use apps was “Tube2Gram”, and, as indicated by the name, it downloads your desired videos from YouTube, and allows uploading on the Instagram app.
Simply copy the URL of the YouTube video that you wish to post, and put the highlight bar across the one-minute portion of the video that you want to share on your Instagram account. Next, press the download button and, once the download is complete, save that video clip. You can now post that video just like you would post any other pre-saved video on your library, using the steps already discussed above.
The drawback is that Tube2Gram only allows downloading a one-minute segment of any video, at a time. However, if you feel that you want to share more than just sixty seconds of a specific video, you can repeat the entire downloading process multiple times, and share more than a single one-minute portion on your Instagram feed.
HOW TO SHARE VIDEOS ON INSTAGRAM FROM A COMPUTER:
Unfortunately, Instagram does not yet allow the sharing of videos or pictures from its windows application. Even though you can access certain tools and apps to share videos through your PC, almost all such tools charge hefty subscription fees and can be shut down overnight. However, we will guide you on how to download, edit, and post your videos on Instagram, for absolutely no cost.
Firstly, you would need to crop your video to a length that is adequate for an Instagram post. Cropping can be performed on Instagram itself, but the tools available are rather simple, and might not serve the purpose. Hence, it is better to utilize software that has been designed particularly for editing and cropping video clips.
Out of such apps available for free, ShotCut is considered to be the best one. It is straightforward and simple to maneuver and gets the job done for an Instagrammer.
Once you are done with the cropping, the next step is to trim and export the video. Dragging and dropping the clip from the preview section onto the timeline allows you to choose the point where you want the video to begin. Select the “Split at Playhead” option, and right-click on the portion of the video you wish to eliminate, and hit “Clear”. Repeat the same procedure with the prune towards the end of the video.
Once satisfied, go to ‘File’ and choose the ‘Export’ option (ensure that MP4 is the chosen export format). Adjust the height and width to identical values, so that the video turns square.
Hit ‘Export’, type in a file name, and select ‘Save’. Upon doing this, the video will start encoding and once that is complete, you can upload the video to Instagram, using a Dropbox account.
HOW TO POST VIDEOS ON INSTAGRAM FROM A MAC:
There are several methods that can be achieved, one of which is Airdrop. This is a feature present in more recent iPhones and Mac computers. This is basically an ad-hoc feature that has been around since OSX 10.7 and iOS 7. What it does is form a wireless link between the Mac and iPhone, allowing the transfer of all kinds of data. It is operable through Bluetooth or WiFi, but cannot function via a 4G or any other cellular package.
Naturally, you can only make this method work if you own a Mac that has one of the more upgraded OSx versions, and an iPhone that is no less than an iOS 7. If those two boxes are checked, it is possible for you to operate Airdrop whenever those two devices are linked through WiFi or a Bluetooth connection. Airdrop permits you to move data from the Mac to the iPhone, and there are no restrictions on the maximum size that is transferable.
All you need to do is create a video through the Mac and then send it over to your iPhone via Airdrop. Using your iPhone, you can easily post the video on Instagram. Once again, it is worth highlighting that an Instagram clip can only be up to sixty seconds long and be a minimum of three seconds in length. Moreover, the highest possible resolution of an Instagram video is 1080p, while the framerate is 30fps and the bitrate can be up to 5,500 kbps.
Also, as mentioned previously, the format of the video should be MP4. If you try to upload a video in any other format, Instagram will fail to acknowledge it as a legitimate video clip, and will not execute the upload. Thankfully, you need not worry even if your downloaded video is in a format other than Mp4; using Handbrake, a free converter, you can convert your videos into the required format. Even though the tool is slightly tricky to operate, it should not be very complicated to take a file, alter its format, and re-encode it in a manner that will allow Instagram to acknowledge it.
Even though there are other, simpler conversion tools available, it is not known if they will be compatible with Mac.
To be able to use Airdrop, it needs to be active on either device. To activate it on your iOS device, you will have to swipe up from the bottom, which will turn both the Bluetooth and the WiFi. Next, select the Airdrop option and ensure that it is adjusted either to ‘Everyone’ or to ‘Contacts Only’. It is important to note that setting Airdrop to ‘Everyone’ might not be safe, since it may cause you to send files to people you are not acquainted with. Therefore, it is recommended to only use your contacts. You need to ensure that you are also logged onto iCloud.
After that, search for the video you want to upload. Once you have chosen that file, you can either drag-and-drop it towards the Airdrop window or control-click the file and select ‘Share’ before Airdropping using the menu. For either option, you will have to select the appropriate contact, that is, the iPhone, and transfer the video file. Once that is done, the video shall be ready for posting on Instagram.
However, if you do not own an iPhone or the iPhone you possess belongs to an older iOS version, you will require a different way of transferring the file. The simplest method is to do it through a kind of cloud storage. The most popular way is Google Drive, along with Dropbox. The benefit with Google Drive, in particular, is that it is almost always pre-installed on Androids, so all that will be required of you is registering the account, activating it, and installing drivers on the Mac.
As for using Dropbox, you will have to go to its download page, and it will identify that you are using OSX, and will start the relevant file downloading. The process that files to activate Dropbox, before making an account and configuring the storage. You will have to ensure that there is enough memory to store the video that you wish to upload. Excessively large video files might require the premium version of Dropbox.
Additionally, you will require a Dropbox application for the smartphone. There are different versions, depending upon whether you are using a Windows phone or an Android. Next, log in using the account that you made previously, and sync all the data. This will make the video appear, permitting you to easily post it on your Instagram feed.
Whenever you wish to upload a video next, all you will have to do is add it to the Mac Dropbox, and it will be available via your cell phone.
The process to upload videos through Google Drive is almost identical. You can get the app through Google Drive’s download page, or through the Play Store (Android devices normally already have it installed). Even though there is no official way to get the app on a Windows phone, there are other intermediate options such as Metro Drive, if you wish to access them.
Google Drive will be included as a new folder on the Mac, similar to other folders. Put your video in the folder, and it will sync itself with Cloud. Now, whenever that happens again, you will be able to see your video and upload it through your Instagram account.
To conclude, being able to upload videos on Instagram, maximizes the overall experience of using the tool. This article attempted to cover several methods through which you can easily and simply share your desired videos with your followers, or even with the larger Instagram family.