By Shreya Vaidhyanathan, Co-Managing Editor
Getting Instagram-worthy pictures is an ordeal in itself: outfit, location, poses, lighting — and the list goes on. But just when it feels over, those three words flash at you: “Write a caption.” Here are some types of captions you’ll see on a typical scroll and a couple tips to keep in mind.
Song lyrics
Song lyric captions usually consist of a music artist’s lines from their more famous or recent releases. Using an artist’s lyrics for your caption after seeing them in concert is a classic, but use caution when selecting lyrics for certain occasions — I promise that no one needs to see your witty “I’m feeling 22” birthday caption on their feed.
Emojis
Emoji captions are really versatile; flags for the international vacation posts; hearts for the photos of you and your loved ones; specific foods for reviewing new cuisine. A step up from a single emoji caption is one that uses multiple. Combinations are endless, from color-based categories to emojis that relate to your photos. Word of caution: Don’t use too many.
Season-based
As fall and winter approach, keep an eye out for the standard season-based captions. From “sweater weather” and “trust fall” to “winter wonderland” and “‘tis the season to be freezing,” captions that correspond with the months are timeless. Spring and summer counterparts can be anything from “spring has sprung” to “summer loving.” With so many options to choose from when you’re celebrating a solstice, the most important thing is to not overuse cliches.
Mentions
An easy way out of coming up with a caption is simply tagging the person in the picture with you, a sports team or a music artist. While they should be used sparingly, a simple mention can be refreshing from time to time.
Inside jokes
Joke captions can either be hilarious or annoying. If all of your captions are inside jokes that you and one other person understand, it’s time to reassess your purpose in having Instagram; your inside jokes could be sent back and forth over text instead of broadcasted on the internet. If the joke is understandable to the general public, however, by all means go ahead and make your followers laugh.
Birthdays
Posting after you celebrate your birthday is one of the most routine things to do on Instagram. The yearly “go me!” posts are almost obligatory and so are the captions that go along with them. One caption is based around the fact that it’s your birthday, like “everyone’s favorite holiday,” which is one of my favorites. Your other choice is to write your caption based on how old you’re turning, like “season (your age) episode one” or “so my expiration date wasn’t (past age), huh.”
Hashtags
A classic for all ages, hashtags are perfectly suited forInstagram and the internet in general. A cute one to clue people in at the end of a regular caption, like “really good one #summer23” is perfect to add more info, or even a clever “#jeaniors” for an event like senior jeans. They can definitely be cringeworthy at times, but that’s the price you pay for being on point with your captions.
Photo dumps
Curating a good photo dump is an art in and of itself: The perfect collection of outfits, adventures, friends, food and screenshots is vital to the post. As always, the next step is a caption, which can be shorter, cute phrases like “at the moment,” “bits & pieces” and “currently” or longer lines like “things I’m doing,” “things I’ve done” and “cute people and cute places.” No matter what you decide, photo dump captions really can’t go wrong.
A caption can make or break the post, with the potential to sway people to like and comment or swipe right past. Next time you’re about to type in those characters to go along with your Instagram post, keep in mind all the options you have and which one matches your pictures the best.
Shreya Vaidhyanathan can be reached at [email protected].
