Posting from Instagram to Twitter?
Noticed that your picture doesn’t show in the tweet stream?
Just a tiny thumbnail with a link.
Instagram would rather your tweeps click through to the Instagram website – bringing them traffic.
But there’s a better way to post Twitter images from IG.
Here’s how!
Post from Instagram to Twitter with Native Images
What you want to see on Twitter is a native photo – one that looks like it was uploaded right on Twitter.
Your tweeps are more likely to see and retweet Twitter images that are shown right in the feed.
Once Instagram was purchased by Facebook, they removed support for Twitter cards. This meant that images shared to Twitter via IG no longer automatically post to the Media Gallery on Twitter, nor do they show in the Twitter stream.
CEO Kevin Systom said this was done to drive traffic to Instagram.com.
Just say no!
How to connect Instagram to Twitter for full size photos
If This Then That, or IFTTT, is a service that allows you to connect any two web services and automate actions through the social web by creating “applets.”
That might sound complicated, but IFTTT user djuiceman came up with an applet to fix this issue, and all you need to do is add it to your own IFTTT account!
If you don’t already have an IFTTT account, you’ll have to set one up.
I’m sorry to report that IFTTT can no longer post to Twitter for free forever. But you can try out their Pro account for free.
1 | Go set up or log into IFTTT.
2 | Go to “My Services” and add your Instagram and Twitter accounts.
3 | Add DJuiceMan’s applet. Over 190,000 people have used it, so it must be good! (I’m one).
4 | Edit the tag if you want. I used #tw – it’s nice and short!
5 | Now, when posting an Instagram photo, include your chosen tag, and your image will post to Twitter as a native image with a card that will be seen big and bold in the tweet stream.
Top tweet posted via IFTTT, bottom tweet direct from Instagram to Twitter.
Ten times the impact when posted with the IG to Twitter hack described above!
You don’t even need to keep the caption short for the sake of Twitter, now that long-form tweets are the norm.
Check this out about the ideal Instagram caption length.
I love this shortcut and use it daily.
What do you think of the Instagram to Twitter hack? Pin the image below as a reminder!
Zev says
Ironic that Systrom said the change was to drive traffic to Instagram, but the workaround is there’s NO link to instagram. What a stupid change Twitter made that both harms Instagram and its creators who are trying to link their accounts together.
Marc Köhlbrugge says
Hi Louise, thanks for sharing this.
While IFTTT is a great service, it can be a bit intimidated to less tech-savvy people. Therefore I’ve created a (free) service to make this process even simpler. Just connect your Instagram and Twitter account, and it will automatically share your Instagram photos/videos in a way that makes them show up on Twitter.
Have a look.
Curious to hear what you think.
Louise Myers says
Sounds interesting.
Nubes De Caricias says
Thank you so much for this insight. Works like a charm!
Louise Myers says
Glad you found it useful!
Marisa Barone says
Its not working for me :/ I don’t see anything that says ”channels” or a customized tag to add.
Louise Myers says
They’re now called “services.” Then if you go to the applet linked in the article and turn it ON, you should see the tag field.
Tasha says
I followed your directions and for some reason it’s not working. 🙁 My chose tag was #yeg, when I posted a photo from Instragram with a short description and the tag I chose, it posted to my twitter account, but the picture doesn’t show. What am I doing wrong? lol I’ve tried this a few times now with no luck…
Louise Myers says
Hi Tasha!
When I go to your Twitter page, it does show in the stream. So I think it’s working correctly!
Tasha says
Looks like it took a couple of days to kick in. Working now! 🙂 I had to come back and see if you replied, you should install the Comment Reply Notification plugin, so people know when you’ve responded. 🙂
Louise Myers says
I’ll check on how to enable comment reply notification – thanks for letting me know it’s not available! I can’t add plugins on this new platform 🙁 But I bet it’s here somewhere!