How to Embed an Instagram Post on Medium
3 ways to include Instagram links in your Medium article
Instagram is a dominant social media platform. Over 1 billion people use Instagram every month. The platform allows users to share visuals with a dash of text in the caption.
Here’s an example of what an embedded Instagram post looks like on Medium:
Embedding an Instagram post on Medium is easy. I’ll show you 3 ways to embed a post. The first two ways let you directly embed a link to the Instagram post. The third isn’t technically a direct embed but it makes sure the post shows even if it gets taken down by the user.
Option 1 — The Fast Way
Step 1: Get the Instagram post link
Go the Instagram post.
- Click on the three dots in the top right corner
- Click “Copy Link”
This will look similar on both a PC and on your phone.
Step 2: Paste the link into your article and Hit Enter
That’s it! It might take a few seconds for the embedded post to load into the article, but no other steps are needed.
Pros:
- Quick
- Easy to do
- Embeds Instagram post directly into your article
Cons:
- If the Instagram user takes down a tweet you no longer have a working link
- You have little control over the visual representation of the link
- This option is unavailable if you’re writing on a mobile device.
Option 2 — If the first doesn’t work
Only use this option if — for whatever reason — hitting Enter doesn’t automatically embed the Instagram post.
Step 1: Grab the Instagram link like in option 1
Step 2: Click the “+” button on an empty line
When writing on Medium, an empty line gives you a “+” button on the left-hand side of the line.
Click on the “+”, then click on the “<>” embed button.
Paste the Instagram link to embed it into the article.
The embedded Instagram post should show up within a few seconds.
Pros and cons of this option are the same as the first, only this option takes a little longer. Again, only use this if the Instagram post doesn’t automatically embed.
Option 3 — The future-proof way
This option isn’t technically a direct Instagram embed, but you can use it to make sure it works even if the post gets taken down.
However, you should only do this if you own the picture or if you acquire the rights to the photo. Because Instagram is a visual platform, the post will be a photo and Medium has strict rules for photo credit.
Step 1: Take a screenshot of the Instagram post
Step 2: Crop the photo as needed
Step 3: Embed the screenshot.
On a laptop
Click the “+” button. This time, instead of the embed button, click the photo button.
Find your screenshot and hit Enter. You now have a visual of the Instagram post in your article. Make sure to give proper credit in the caption.
If you want to include a link to the original post — which you should — you can:
- Click on the screenshot of the Instagram post in your article and hit Ctrl+K on PC or ⌘+K on a Mac. A popup will appear giving you the option to paste a link. Put the original Instagram link there. The reader can now click on the photo to go to the link.
- Create a caption for the photo, something like “Link to the Instagram post here”. Hyperlink the caption text with a link to the original tweet.
You can use both of these methods at the same time to make it super obvious the reader can click to find the Instagram post. Alternatively — if the original Insta post gets taken down — you can include a link to something else instead.
On a mobile device
Click on the Photo button that’s in the middle right-hand side of your screen — below your article text, but above your keyboard.
Find the screenshot from your gallery and add it to the article.
The downside of doing this on a mobile device is that you cannot include a link to the original Instagram post as a clickable photo link or through the caption text. You’ll have to edit your photo on a laptop to include a link or just write text below the photo and hyperlink that.
Pros and cons of using option 3
Pros
- Future-proof
- Can be done on a mobile device
- Unlimited design options if you know how to use a program like Photoshop or Illustrator
Cons
- Doesn’t automatically import a link to the original tweet
- Need to make sure you properly credit the visual to its original owner (which may or may not be the user who posted it on Instagram)
- Photos can be doctored, so it might not come off as authentic as including the original embedded tweet in-text.
Can you embed an Instagram post when publishing on mobile?
Unfortunately, you cannot embed an Instagram post link on a mobile device at this time.
Hitting Enter on a phone will not automatically convert the link and there are no options to embed in the Medium mobile menu.
Use option 3 as a workaround for mobile devices if you have the rights to the photo.
Can you add a link to an Instagram profile?
Technically, yes.
Medium uses its standard hyperlink boxes for Instagram profiles but — as you can see above — it doesn’t even show the Instagram user’s profile picture or profile description.
This is a big flaw that I hope the Medium engineering team is able to fix soon.
Instagram is a photo-heavy social media platform, making Instagram posts a great way to add some flair to your Medium article with added social proof. Use it in the right way and your article will have some extra pop.
