Recently Instagram published an update to its Community Guidelines advising its users of several changes. For the most part, many of those were pre-existing, however the social network pushes for stronger comprehension of its practices. In essence, a reinforcement upon content authenticity, prohibiting profanity, and of course nudity. Even things like memes, screenshots, TV screengrabs, concert photos, and quotes may soon be considered as a violation of the rules. Wait, isn’t that the majority of what Instragram consist of currently?

It is difficult to predict Instagram’s course of action they will be taking to distill its social platform usage. However, if you compare the old Instagram community guidelines versus the new ones, it can be clearly interpreted that major changes have been put into place. The old community guidelines were created when Instagram initially launched. Now with over 300 million active users worldwide where majority reside outside of the U.S., it is clearly time to update those rules .

Instagram continues to strive for authenticity and freedom of expression by its users. Here’s a list of the top Instagram commandments one should follow to ensure positivity and full compliance within the social media platform.

The Instagram Commandments One Should Follow

• Share photos/videos that are authentic or you have the rights over – it’s imperative to remember that any content you post on Instagram should be your own. In other words, refrain from copying stuff from the interwebz and than posting it on Instagram with intent to be advantageous to you. The intellectual rights section of Instagram gets into further detail about this.

• Post appropriate stills and video footage that appeals to a broaden audience – remember that you’re not the only one watching on Instagram. There is 299 million+ users out there that are most likely in some form or fashion interacting with your content. Especially if hashtags are involved in a status update where the content becomes accessible by a larger audience. Additional tips can be found in the parental guidance section.

• Be meaningful and genuine – artificial collection of likes in the form of spam bots is a common way to build a following these days on Instagram. There is quite a bit of that going on currently. Having genuine intent and following an organic approach to community development says a lot about the intentions of a user on the social network. Instagram makes every attempt to prohibit spam on all levels. Therefore, refrain from mass production or mass communication with other users particularly from a commercial standpoint.

• Simply follow the law – like other social networks, Instagram takes has a zero tolerance approach to threats, attacks, terrorist acts, violence. Basically anything that a criminal would do in an ordinary offline environment. It is prohibited and punishable to the highest extent based on applicable laws. If you’re uncertain then I strongly advise to check the regulated goods and services page for more clarity.

• Respect members – be kind and tolerant of other Instagram users. Treat them in the same way that you’d like to be treated with courtesy, respect, comfort, and ultimate a sense of community cultivation. A violation of Instagram’s policy and rules would entail in public attacks of others based on sex, race, religion, vandalism, or anything else considered derogatory or offensive to users. In the gist of things, remain from being harmful to others.

Instagram strongly encourages its users to take full advantage of the internal spam and abuse reporting option. After all, positive community fostering is a goal that we all strive for congruently. If faulty behavior occurs than make sure to cast a note to the Instagram team regarding suspicious activity.

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