Wondering how to repost on Instagram?
Where you copy a post from someone else and post it to your feed?
If you don’t repost, you’re missing out on a great way to grow your Instagram account. Not only do you get to network with other bloggers, but you can also expand your own account’s reach.
However, there are a few things you need to know to keep it legal.
Let’s look at how to repost on Instagram the right way!
Why Repost Instagram Content?
One of the most popular reasons to repost on Instagram is because someone’s tagged you in their content.
User-generated content (UGC) is where someone uses your product or service and then gives you a recommendation. They make a post on Instagram, tag you in it, and tell everyone how amazing you are.
These posts are super important for social proof, and you need to repost them.
In fact, 90% of consumers say user content influences their buying decisions more than your promotional emails and website.
Plus it’s great to acknowledge the person who went to the trouble of posting it!
Another reason to repost is that you see something your audience would love. You don’t want to recreate it yourself, so you repost it in a way that credits the original creator.
Coming up with Instagram post ideas every day can be difficult. Add reposts to the mix to boost your account too!
How to Repost on Instagram – the Legal Side
But reposting on Instagram is trickier than just retweeting on Twitter or sharing on Facebook.
That’s because it falls into a bit of a legal gray area. Instagram doesn’t offer a share or repost option in the way the other sites do.
In the IG app, you can only repost to a Story – and those only last for 24 hours.
Instagram is a place for creatives, and not all of them want their creations shared. Many photographers, designers, and other artists on Instagram rightly consider their work to be their intellectual property.
IG is quite clear on how they handle this issue. Here’s an excerpt from their latest Terms of Use in 2023:
You can’t … do anything that violates someone else’s rights, including intellectual property rights (e.g., copyright infringement, trademark infringement, counterfeit, or pirated goods). …
You represent you own or have obtained all necessary rights to the content you post or share. Learn more, including how to report content that you think infringes your intellectual property rights, here.
What this means is you need to get permission from the person originally posting the content to repost it to your feed. Then you need to do it in a way to ensure you show their information and give credit to their account.
This applies to content you are tagged in and that’s posted about you, as well as any other content you choose to repost.
How to Get Permission to Regram
There are a few ways you can ask for permission to repost content. Which one you use is up to you and might depend on how often you’ll be doing it.
DM someone to ask manually
The simplest route is just to direct message someone and ask if you can use their post. Confirm you’ll give credit and tag them in it.
Note: If you plan to add a filter or alter the image in any way, you should ask permission for that also. Many creators don’t want their content altered.
According to Later, 65% of people respond within 24 hours to give permission.
By doing this, you’ll know you have done everything correctly.
You can ask also via the comments of the image, but it tends to be more personal via DMs.
If they don’t respond, or if you need a quick response, you can also comment in the post and ask them to check their messages.
Quick replies setting
If you want to make reposting a regular thing, the quick replies setting on Instagram is a great feature to use.
To set up this feature, access your profile and tap the three lines in the top right corner.
Hit Settings, then into Business, and there you will see the Quick Replies setting.
Open Quick Replies, where you’ll see any you’ve already created.
To create a new one, tap on ‘New quick reply’ or simply the ‘+’ in the top right corner.
Choose a shortcut – this might be a series of letters. Try to use something you wouldn’t normally type so it doesn’t add it where you don’t want it!
Then add the message that you would want to send to someone.
Save it, then when you type that shortcut, the saved message will appear.
Any time you want to DM someone to ask permission, you can use the shortcut!
You can also tap the square speech bubble with three dots to access Quick Replies when in your messages area.
Auto DM tools
If you plan to do a lot of reposting, you may want to try using an auto direct message tool or app.
There are free and paid versions that can do a range of tasks.
I’m not sure if any are authorized by Instagram. If you do want to test one, make sure it has a very high level of security to protect your account.
With these tools, you can create a custom list and then send an automated message to them.
So you could set up a list of anyone who tags you in an image. The app then could send them a permission request.
You’d need to check for replies. If you received a confirmation, you would then repost the content if you wish.
Since the messaging is automated, it’s possible you’ll get confirmations on content you don’t care to repost, so I’d suggest you word the automated message so it doesn’t promise a repost.
Some tools also have a follow-up option. With this feature, you could send another message after the repost is live to let them know, in case they don’t see you tagging them.
How to Repost on IG Manually
Once you have received the go-ahead to repost the content, you can do it a few ways.
The simplest is to do it manually.
Simply screenshot the photo and upload it to your Instagram account.
Make sure you add your caption and your Instagram hashtags. But most importantly, that you credit and tag the original owner of the image.
Don’t leave it until the end or amid the hashtags. Make sure it stands out.
I personally recommend placing the account tag within the first 125 characters so it shows before the ‘…more’ tag. I feel this is the most respectful of the original account’s work in creating the post.
Some people use the camera emoji before the credit to show this was the person’s image.
View this post on Instagram
Apps to Regram Content
The other way you can repost content is through some of the Instagram approved apps.
Tailwind
With Tailwind, once you have received permission to repost, you can use the browser extension on your computer.
Go to the Instagram account you want to repost. Just type in:
instagram.com/usernamehere
Click the extension and all images will appear. Scroll down if you need to load more.
Just click the ones you want to repost and they’ll be highlighted in blue. Tailwind will count them up for you at the bottom.
Hit the ‘Go Schedule’ button.
Then a window opens where you can edit the original caption and hashtags. You can get more exposure with their Hashtag Finder!
Tailwind automatically credits the original account for you.
Add to your queue or select and time and date to post.
Not a Tailwind user? Try Tailwind forever free!
Disclosure: If you upgrade to a paid plan, I’ll receive a referral fee at no cost to you.
Later
Later has a feature where you can search by hashtag to find content to repost.
Once you have permission, you can then repost straight through the app.
It correctly adds the photo credit so you don’t need to worry about it.
They also have a Chrome browser extension that works in the same way as Tailwind’s.
Check out Later for 14 days free.
Various repost and regram apps
Sure, there are numerous mobile apps that supposedly help you repost on Instagram. These will have iterations of the words “repost” or “regram” in the name.
The problem is, none of them are approved by Instagram.
What you really need is to get permission to repost. Then use one of the Instagram Marketing Partners mentioned above, or just repost manually.
Reposting to Instagram Stories
Another good way to use reposted content is in Instagram Stories. Here Instagram provides 2 options right in the app.
You don’t really have to ask permission since IGers can turn off the ability for their content to be shared in others’ Stories. Not turning off this option implies permission.
How to share someone’s Story in your own Story
The only legit way to repost someone’s Story is if they’ve tagged you in a Story on a public account. This is a great way to repost testimonials!
When someone tags you, you’ll see a direct message right with all your other DMs. It’ll show their Instagram username, and below that it’ll say “Mentioned you in a story.”
Just tap to open the message, and you’ll see the option to “Add this to your Story.”
The Story content will open, and you’ll tap “Add this to your Story” once again.
It’ll open at a reduced size, framed by a blurred background.
Now you can make any edits you like, including:
- Enlarge, reduce, or tilt the image.
- Add a Story filter.
- Embellish with stickers.
- Overlay text.
Now tap the ‘Send to’ button in the lower right, then ‘Share’ next to “Your story’ at the top.
Here’s the how-to’s in a 3 minute video:
The account whose Story you shared will be notified in the same DM conversation. It’s a great way to build a relationship.
How to share an Instagram post to your Story
In the bottom corner of virtually every Instagram post, there’s a paper plane icon. This is true of both images and videos.
Click this and you can repost the Story to your own Story feed.
When you share someone’s post to your Story, anyone who views it can see who originally posted it and can tap it to view the original account. So it’s properly credited automatically.
Here’s the how-to’s in a 1 minute video:
How to share an Instagram reel to your Story
This works pretty much the same as a post, except the paper airplane icon is found on the lower right area of the reel.
Tap the airplane, then tap Add reel to your story.
How to share a Story without being tagged in it
There are options to do this too, but none are approved by Instagram.
Don’t just copy and paste Story images as this isn’t permitted under IG terms, and doesn’t give the correct credit.
You can try to get permission to screenshot or record the Story from the original IGer, but it’s a bit tricky because their Story will expire in 24 hours after posting.
There are apps where you can download any public account’s Stories, but I do not recommend this as it is copyright infringement – unless you’ve obtained permission from the account owner to do this.
If there’s an account whose Stories you’d love to repost regularly, it’s a great idea to ask for permission in advance so you can repost immediately when you see one your audience would love.
I recommend keeping their permission agreement to avoid any issues down the road.
How to prevent your content being reused in others’ Stories
If you don’t want people to be able to repost your content in their Stories, go into the Story feature, then tap the Settings gear in the top left corner.
Scroll down until you see ‘Allow Resharing to Stories’ and toggle this off to stop resharing of your posts as Stories.
There are also settings here to stop sharing as a message or to your own Facebook story.
And if you don’t want people to repost Stories you’ve tagged them in, just avoid tagging them in your Stories.
Reposting to Instagram the Right Way
Reposting to Instagram can be a great part of your strategy.
It can highlight user-generated content.
Or it can help you reach a bigger audience by reposting popular content.
As long as you do it correctly and obtain permission, it’s a great tactic to use.
Want more?
Learn how to grow your Instagram followers 11 ways!
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