How to get more likes on your Instagram photos

#blessed

| UPDATED national

You’ve just taken a photo and want to upload it but it looks a bit rubbish. The answer is simple, edit the shit out of it on Instagram. It makes your holiday destinations look that extra bit hotter, your pets extra cuter and you extra fit. It’s a win-win situation.

But research recently carried out by Yahoo Labs suggests that the filter and effects you use can make a huge difference to the number of likes or views you receive on your photos.

7.6 million photos uploaded to Flickr from phones were analysed and found photos with filters had loads more comments, likes and shares than those without.

A little filter never hurt anybody

Choosing a filter on Instagram can be one of the hardest life decisions you ever have to make. But lay off the smug #nofilter tag – according to the research, Instagram photos which are filtered are 21 per cent more likely to be looked at, and 45 per cent more likely to be commented on.

Warmer filters like “Mayfair” are more likely to be successful than colder filters. As well as this higher contrast and exposure can dramatically increase your popularity as well as your appearance.

Do I look hotter yet?

Having extra background in your pics can help too. The research says this can give you a massive boost of 29 per cent. Texture is also important, as these photos received a huge 80 per cent more likes than flat photos.

But whatever you do, stay away from age effects, not only do they make you look old and saggy, they can reduce the number of likes you get dramatically and no one wants that.

it’s getting toasty in here

Light photos were also found to be 24 per cent more popular than dark photos, which finally explains why those messy nightclub photos don’t get as many likes as messy predrinks photos.

It was previously thought colder filters were more popular and received 24 per cent more likes if they were blue tinted, but the latest research contradicts this.

so cold and so few likes

Researchers at Yahoo Labs said there were two types of filter users, serious and casual. “The serious see filters as correction tools and prefer milder effects. Casual photographers, by contrast, use filters to significantly transform their photos with bolder effects.”

So when you do your next Insta selfie go for warm filters like Mayfair, X-Pro II and Earlybird and not only will you be looking mega hot, you’ll get loads of likes and attention.