Is YOUR Instagram passé? Expert reveals the no-nos making your feed look dated – from posed-up engagement photos to ‘cringe’ gender reveal parties

• Gen Z TikTok users are sharing ‘candid’ holiday snaps rather than staged posts 
• British popular culture expert Nick Ede insisted: ‘Instagram perfection is over’
• Instead people should embrace the ‘unflattering’ if they want to appear ‘modern’

Is your Instagram peppered with posed-up engagement photos and OTT gender reveal parties? Then unfortunately you are well and truly passé, according to a pop culture expert. 

Whereas once social media was all about embracing curated photographs and perfectly staged holiday snaps, trendy Gen Z users are ditching the picture-perfect lifestyle in favour of using platforms like TikTok and Instagram to show a more ‘authentic’ side of life.    

‘Instagram perfection is over in the eyes of Gen Z. It’s all about real life, real problems, without a filter in sight,’ explained British popular culture expert Nick Ede.

‘It’s back to basics Instagram, when it first came out and people were struggling what to post. Instagram was all about authenticity but soon became synonymous with beautiful people posting beautiful posts. 

‘TikTok has shown users that Gen Z are sick of filters and want to show their perfect life properly, which probably means it’s imperfect like most of our lives are.

‘So it’s time to ditch the sweet staged pictured or heavily-edited beach photos and show yourselves how you truly are and who you are in all your fabulous glory.’

Here, Nick Ede reveals the dos and don’ts if you don’t want to look completely behind the times (and it’s time to say goodbye to those gym mirror selfies…) 

NO ‘CLICHÉ’ BABY GENDER REVEALS 

Selling Sunset star Heather Rae Young became the latest celebrity to throw a lavish gender reveal party, even enlisting the help of a party planner for the event

Charlotte Dawson looked radiant in a white jumpsuit for her gender reveal party – complete with a balloon wall – but one pop culture expert predicts they are on the way out

The baby reveal is over – setting up a whole room with colour coordinated balloons to share on Instagram isn’t something that Gen Z will be looking to do. 

They don’t want to share such an intimate part of their lives like a Clinton card.

They want to show off a scan image and reveal to their friends the sex of the child without helium balloons galore and cupcakes that no one’s going to eat. 

I would suggest getting your friends and family over and doing a fun reveal that isn’t like a cut and paste one you see on Instagram but more organic and real.

DON’T LOOK ‘TOO GOOD’ IN FITNESS SNAPS 

Kim Kardashian, pictured, and her sisters are the queens of curated gym selfies but these are on their way out, according to Nick 

Khloe Kardashian, pictured left and right, is also careful to choose the right lighting, poses and outfits to get her best gym photos

Fitness photoshoots are a big no-no – everyone knows that it takes a lot of sweat to get a six pack but in the world of Instagram its as If six packs are two a penny.

This doesn’t really show what goes into a fitness influencer’s life – the Gen Z attitude is to embrace bodies of any shape or size and to show off fitness but highlight that it’s hard work and no one looks good after 30 mins on a treadmill and 1000 sit ups.

It’s time to show how much effort it takes to even get up and out – how long a perfect protein shake really takes and how long meal prep does, which is a whole day plan – not a quick story.

AVOID STAGED ENGAGEMENT PHOTOS 

When TV personality Vicky Pattison got engaged to her boyfriend Ercan Ramadan earlier this year, she posted several stunning photographs on Instagram to mark the occasion

Staged engagement shoots are a must for members of the Royal Family but should be avoided if you’re just a regular couple, according to Nick Ede. Pictured, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (left) and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in their engagement shoots

Brooklyn Beckham and his now wife Nicola Peltz were photographed in the countryside to announce their engagement (pictured)

DON’T TURN HOLIDAYS INTO ‘EPIC FILMS’

It’s time to ditch the drone and creating epic Spielberg-like versions of your holiday and actually take those hours to enjoy where you are staying and also who you are with.

Show your followers what it’s like to be in these idyllic places but also show them that having a bath with a robe on and full make-up just isn’t how it’s done anymore. – its out with the glam and in with the comfortable.’

Over the top engagement images are a no-go. 

Gen Z social media users don’t want to see a Travis Barker-inspired engagement Instagram photo op, where thousands have been spent to show off their love. 

They want to show real images of engagements, where they have been taken by surprise at a local restaurant or on holiday – not a staged engagement that the whole of the venue are in on. 

It’s about a very intimate moment so maybe just share online a cool image of the rings.

STOP USING FILTERS (UNLESS THEY’RE FUNNY ONES) 

Gen Z are not into filters unless they are fun ones.

It’s a big no-no to have beauty filters that smudge your face, tweak your nose and plump your lips.

It’s time to get real and show off your sweat and your blemishes. 

It shows off your personality more if you don’t put fillers on and you show off your blemishes, your makeup fails and your real skin.

DITCH POLISHED HOLIDAY SNAPS 

Kim Kardashian is the master of the posed-up holiday snaps, although she makes them look like she has simply strolled out of the ocean (as seen above on a recent getaway)

Rita Ora, pictured in Paris, has embraced the trend for candid snaps and regularly posts shots that are a little bit blurred or out of focus, like the one above

Eva Longoria still looks stunning in this candid photo from a recent holiday, but chose to share one where she is looking away from the camera in a more ‘natural’ pose

The perfect holiday pictures for Gen Z are not about airbrushed, perfect tans or private jet photographs.

They are all about the fact they are on a budget airline, sleeping on the airport floor, and drinking a warm can of Diet Coke. 

Show your real journey and make fun of the situations you’re in – from over-packing your suitcase with clothes you’ll never wear to sharing a packet of Pringles when the airline runs out of sandwiches… that’s what makes it more fun.

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