Avatars have arrived on Instagram! After Snapchat pathed the way with Bitmoji avatar, Meta quickly followed suit introducing avatars to Facebook in 2020 and have been rolling them out to Instagram users throughout 2022. Love them or hate them, avatars give us a way of personalising our content and having a little fun! In this article, we talk about how to create your avatar, where you can use them and best practices.

What is an Avatar?

The avatar feature allows you create and share personalised Bitmoji-like stickers to represent yourself on Instagram. During the creation process, you are given various options to customise your avatar and make it look like you (hair colour/style, skin tone, clothing etc). Once you have finished creating your avatar, you’re ready to start sharing it on stories & in DMs (more on that later).

How do I create an Avatar?

Not sure how you actually create your avatar? There are a couple of different ways in which you can create one. The first is to head to “Settings” (top right menu on your profile), then “Account” then “Avatar” & you will then be guided step-by-step to create yours. The other way to do it is to open a story and head to the “Avatar” sticker to start the same process. Once you have completed your personalised avatar, you’ll then have the option to add it to your story or in your DMs!

Where can I use Avatars?

We are loving seeing so many people using their avatars in their stories to inject some personality & fun but most don’t know you can also reply stories and DMs with your avatar too!

• To add your avatar to your own story, simply open your sticker menu and tap on the “Avatar” sticker and then select from the various options.
• To reply to a story with your avatar tap on the “send message” option at the bottom and you will see you have the option to either send a traditional emoji or an avatar as a reply.
• To use them in your DMs, simply tap the sticker option to the right of where you would type your reply & select “Avatar”.

Instagram Avatar Best Practices

So you’ve created your personal avatar and know how & where to use it but, what are the best practices when it comes to using them? Well as much as we love seeing them, they can be overused so stick to these do’s & don’ts when it comes to using yours:

• Do use your avatar to personalise your Instagram and show a bit of personality especially if you are very shy or simply don’t like to appear on camera.
• Don’t overuse it! While they are fun, they aren’t everyone’s cup of tea so don’t use it all the time!
• Do have fun with it! They are designed to inject a little fun into your Instagram so why not use them to have a giggle with your audience. Try using a poll sticker to see what your audience thinks of the “new you”!
• Don’t use it as a replacement for yourself. Nothing can replace showing your audience the real you.

Are you a fan of personalised Bitmojis? While not everyone is a fan, it’s nice to see Instagram offering more options users to express themselves. If you’re looking for some story ideas which can incorporate your avatar as well as post & reel ideas AND caption templates, take a peek at rapidely. We even have a free trial so you can try it out for yourself!