Instagram is one of the best image sharing platforms in the market today. Aside from sharing personal photos and getting “likes” or “reshares”, Instagram can be more than social media. It is also a good platform to save and store all your images. It is also a good tool to edit your photos and make them more creative. Moreover, you can use Instagram to do sales pitches by showing images as part of your presentation.
However, just like any other social media out there, Instagram is also vulnerable when it comes to content restrictions, forced advertisements, or worse, accessibility in other locations. There are still countries or locations that do not allow social media access like Instagram in their country. This is what geoblocking is all about. There are countries or companies that block the use of a specific tool from a certain IP address. One example of a country that blocks the use of social media is China.
So if you love to travel and get Instagram photos on your travel, but the country is not allowing you to use the app, it would be a frustrating situation. But you can do something about this. How? That is by using a VPN.
VPN stands for virtual private network. VPN is used to provide online security and privacy to users. If you are browsing the internet, your web traffic is going to public servers. And these public servers are vulnerable to attacks. Hackers can intercept this traffic to monitor your every activity and can even access your information or location.
But when you use a VPN, your web traffic is directed to an encrypted tunnel. This encrypted tunnel will hide your web traffic. Meaning, your online activities and the location are hidden and no one can monitor or intercept it while you are in the encrypted tunnel. You can safely browse the internet without the fear that someone is snooping on you.
So how does this affect your Instagram use? And, is it really necessary to use a VPN for an image sharing app like Instagram?
There are benefits of using a VPN with Instagram. You may think that it is unnecessary, but the benefits are high once you find the right VPN to use, so you can freely access Instagram. Here’s why:
Hide From Advertisers
Instagram is using geolocation to know the location of its users and uses this information to display appropriate ads. Well, not just geolocation, in general, whether Instagram uses geotags or geolocation, the fact still remains true that Instagram has the power to inject ads to your feed and profile. So, if you have a VPN, advertisers won’t know your activity and they cannot force you any ads. You are free to use the app without the worry of seeing an unsolicited ad from someone.
You Can Use Instagram In Other Countries
Remember China? They block all kinds of social media channels across their country. And once you are in their country, you won’t be able to access Instagram, not even Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn. But if you use a VPN, your IP address is hidden and China will not even know if you are in their country. With this, you can freely use the app and take Instagrammable photos while traveling around their country.
Avoid Censorship And Tracking
Another benefit of using a VPN is that it’s always safe to hide your IP address when traveling to other countries. This is to avoid any censorship or tracking. You can travel safely and use your phone freely without the fear that someone is monitoring or censoring your every online activity.
These are just some of the benefits of using a VPN on your phone, not just to access Instagram, but in browsing the internet on your mobile phone while traveling.
If you are still having a problem hiding your location while you are traveling, there are still other ways that you can do. Whilst, using a VPN is the most effective way that you can use, here are some of the ways that you can still try:
- Ask your home carrier or ISP if they offer online access to countries like China. Normally providers allow access to countries like China. But the drawback is that it is slow, inexpensive and sometimes unreliable too.
- You can use proxy services. However, proxy services are sometimes unreliable too, and are quite expensive, unlike using VPNs.
Tips on Finding The Right VPN
There are a lot of VPNs in the market. With hundreds of them, you might get stressed out picking the right one for you. So, to help you find the right VPN, here are some of the things that you need to consider:
Tip #1 – VPNs with a lot of Servers
If you are traveling to China, you should be reminded that it has already blocked hundreds or thousands of IP addresses to stop access to certain websites or apps. So make sure you look for a VPN provider that will hide your real IP address and give you an IP address that is not on the block list of China.
Tip #2 – Mobile Features
Another thing that you need to consider when looking for a VPN for Instagram or social media use is its mobile features. Sometimes, VPNs are only available on desktop. You should find a provider that also allows a VPN connection via mobile, so you can connect other devices too. Also, make sure that your VPN is working better on mobile since you will be using mobile most of the time. They should also have a wide VPN mobile support that you can contact if you encountered a problem.
Tip #3 – VPN Privacy Policy
You should also look into the VPN service provider’s privacy policy. There are a lot of providers out there who take privacy policy very lightly. Go with providers that have strict security and privacy policies. Make sure they don’t keep logs of your activities and other online data or information.
In a Nutshell
These are just some of the things that you need to consider if you are looking for a VPN, so you can use your Instagram app freely and safely. A VPN will not only allow you to enjoy the use of Instagram, but it will also give you online security. With this, you are comfortable to use Instagram without the fear of someone snooping on you or someone is giving you ads that you don’t want to see. You are also safe that no one is censoring or tracking your every move.
