Many people know and live the struggle of posting Instagram pictures. Common questions arise in the poster’s mind that prolongs this activity of posting a picture. What should only take a matter of minutes turns into twenty minutes of messing with the lighting, shading, sharpness, filters, and on and on. Once the image looks aesthetically pleasing to the eye, the poster has to now embark on a much longer and strenuous adventure: the caption.
Now, let me break it down into three types of captions.
First: Obvi
In this category, the obvious is stated. I answer all questions about who is in the photo, where I am located, why the baby was cut out of the picture, etc. This is the least creative of all captions because you’re simply documenting a moment, place and/or an activity. Meaningful, yes. Creative, no.
Second: WTF
In this category, many questions, concerns, disagreements, etc. are brought up do to the caption. This category is basically the polar opposite of the “Obvi” method. In these type of photos and captions there is no documentation happening, they are here to be artsy, cause confusion and draw attention.
Third: LOL
In this category the main goal is to distract. Draw attention away from the reality of the picture or selfie and give a light-hearted comment. It could be a funny caption or a quote caption, a reality check caption or a societal involvement caption. They all serve the purpose to distract from the pictures content. Whether you’re feelin’ yourself, got all dressed up for an outing, looking good for a job interview, or just bored, selfies are usually posted. Now, all of your followers are going to know that you thought you looked really good, or you thought this picture was a good idea. That’s a lot of pressure because they may not agree… This is the risk us posters take, so we lighten the mood by using this type of caption.
The caption of a photo is arguably the most important aspect of the picture. It is a short little piece of information that allows followers to absorb some context about the photo. If the poster makes the caption straight up what is happening in the photo, there is no room for viewer interpretation. The poster has answered all the questions a viewer might have.
Detailed Examples of “Obvi”
Here we see an adorable picture of my friend Adam and me, a viewer might start to think, “this is awkward because they had to ask someone to take this picture in an empty hallway, in the middle of Day 1 Orientation…so extra”. But, the caption serves the purpose of explaining all the viewer needs to know. It’s #MCM (Man Crush Monday) so that is purpose number one. Number two is everything I listed (bromance, BFFs, fraternity brothers, roommates and SOL brothers).
Another cute picture, this time of my mother and me, where I tell the viewers why I am posting this sappy picture. It’s Mother’s Day, I have a mother and an Instagram, so obvi there’s going to be a picture.
Why is Drew biting his finger? Who are those men? What are they doing? Read the caption…it’ll tell you.
Detailed Examples of “WTF”
No one knows what is going on in this picture. What are we looking at? What does that mean? The picture and the caption are rather vague and unresolved. This caption provides no explanation for the post, but that is what I intended. Vague captions sometimes draw viewers in; and it either confuses them, raises concern, or they find the whole thing creepy.
Here I am embracing the selfie aspect of this picture, while at the same time renaming my generation. Think about it…
Honestly, we don’t know. I went through a vampire phase.
Detailed Examples of “LOL”
I took a picture of myself probably after 8 p.m. in the midst of doing my homework. I had to distract from that depressing reality by pretending I wrote a poem or something, but really I just copied and pasted Taylor Swift’s song, "Blank Space."
One-hundred percent single. One-hundred percent alone. One-hundred percent feeling the lighting of my room that day. So I took this picture. My caption was inspired by no one other than Jim Carrey’s Grinch. He says, “Pucker up and kiss it Whoville.” Clearly I made some modifications to the wording.
With all the shade being thrown at the solid red Starbucks cups, I decided to confirm the rumor and let everyone know that Starbucks employees are all, in fact, devil worshipers. We hate Christmas, but decided to be inclusive and name two of our coffee blends “Christmas blend” and “Blonde Christmas blend.”
I hope this article will help you win all the likes, slay all your fans and inspire those less informed.
