How to Regram Instagram Content

One of the integral features of social media is sharing each other’s content. This is clear-cut and quickly done on such platforms as Facebook and Twitter – indeed retweeting is at the heart of Twitter. However, it is more problematic on a visual platform like Instagram, which has a strong visual content focus.

When you share content on Instagram, you are sharing an image that belongs to somebody. There are strict copyright laws about sharing pictures that don’t belong to you, particularly if you don’t attribute the photographer or other rights holder. You have to be very careful that you don’t steal other creators’ work.

However, you shouldn’t underestimate the importance of regramming Instagram posts. According to Buffer, “reposting was a key factor in our growing our Instagram audience by over 60 percent.”

People consider it morally dubious (and legally wrong) to steal the work of photographers and designers on Instagram and call it your own work. It is vital that if you regram content, you must acknowledge the original source of your imagery.

How to Regram Instagram Content:

What is Regramming?

Regramming is sharing someone else’s Instagram post on your own page. However, because sharing is not a common practice on Instagram, unlike most other social sites, you don’t have a simple Regram button to make the process easy.

There are ways you can get around this lack of a Regram button, though. You can regram posts manually, essentially making an Instagram post using identical images and content as the original. There are also apps that make the regramming process much more manageable. Several of the social media scheduling tools also simplify the process of regramming.

One of the reasons Instagram discourages regramming is that it wants people to focus on instant content – hence its name. Regrammed content is not instant, new material. However, it is still essential to many Instagrammers. Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom made the official view clear when he told WIRED, “That decision is about keeping your feed focused on the people you know rather than the people you know finding other stuff for you to see.”

While Instagram’s leadership team may prefer people to share only original content on Instagram, many people have been conditioned to the benefits of sharing on their other social networks. Regramming is surprisingly common practice on Instagram, despite the lack of a one-click button.

Ironically, although Instagram makes it tricky to share content on itself, it makes it easy for you to share Instagram posts to other networks, including Facebook, Messenger, and Twitter. It also permits you to share a post’s URL, and embed it into a blog post if you want.

The Etiquette of Regramming

Instagram is very different to a site like Twitter. On Twitter, most users want their followers to retweet their posts – people see it as a critical part of social engagement. On Instagram, as we have seen, regramming is frowned upon by officialdom, except in unusual circumstances. You need to be open and upfront about any regramming you do. In particular, make a point of getting approval from other businesses before you regram their content unless you have already set up a relationship. Similarly, don’t regram the work of professional photographers without their explicit permission.

Even if you gain approval to regram a post, it is essential that you make no significant edits. You may be regramming the content, but it still belongs to the original poster. You need to respect that by essentially reposting the original content intact. You may be able to tidy up any errors, particularly if you share user-generated content that somebody has customized for your business, but don’t change it significantly. With the possible exception of user-generated content, even adding your logo to a regrammed post would be considered unprofessional by many.

If you do feel a need to make significant edits make sure that you contact and receive permission from the original poster first.

Some people have a personal dislike of businesses sharing their content for commercial reasons. Groupon faced a class action lawsuit in 2016 because they reused peoples’ Instagram photos to promote its deals.