Getting started on Instagram

Kristen Panthagani, MD, PhD

Kristen Panthagani, MD, PhD

— 7 min read
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Getting started on Instagram

Welcome to Episode 5 of The Communication Lab — my series teaching you science communication on social media (if you’re new to this series, start here).

This week we’ll dive into the world of reels and carousels (yes, despite falling down an Instagram rabbit hole a few weeks ago, I haven’t deleted the app.) While this post will focus primarily on Instagram, many of these lessons are applicable to other platforms like TikTok, Facebook reels, and YouTube Shorts as well. Here we go…

How to create a reel for scicomm

Reels (vertical videos) are among the most popular types of content on social media right now. People love video. Probably because it moves.

Making a scicomm reel that is interesting, accurate, and captures attention is easier said than done, and will take practice. For the last several years I’ve been experimenting with different types of reels to see what works and what doesn’t — here’s what I’ve learned so far:

  1. The first 3 seconds are the most important. People are going to decide if they want to watch your video within the first 1-2 seconds; unfortunately, that’s all the time you have to hook your audience. The same is true for the algorithm: it judges your reel’s success in part based on views past the first 3 seconds, and it will show your reel to fewer people if most viewers skip it quickly. Those first seconds matter the most — make sure you have a good hook and don’t spend those seconds clearing your throat, pausing, or saying “Hi I’m…”
  2. Don’t give a lecture, be a person. If you tell an academic to record a video talking about science, they’ll often default to a classroom style lecture, because that’s what we know. But that doesn’t work well online — audiences gravitate towards humans with personality, emotion, and storytelling, not a talking suit giving a seminar.
  3. Professionally produced ≠ better. The good news is you don’t need to be a professional videographer or orator to succeed. In fact, videos that appear raw and imperfect often come across as more authentic than professionally produced videos. This is why institutional videos created by marketing or communications departments often don’t do as well as the iPhone video of the random person driving in their car telling you their hot take. Human and relatable > polished and professional.

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