It’s hard to take anything with the word “dump”too seriously. And when it comes to the latest Instagram phenomenon, a photo dump embracing your goofy side is half the battle.
Among the filtered, edited photos we expect from the platform in 2022, there’s not the slightest chance that her room is actually clean, there’s a dump of photos – and she’s gorgeous. Celebrities, influencers and regular people alike reject perfection and share photos that are blurry, sometimes ugly and seem completely random. For all intents and purposes, quantity is more important than quality.
However, there is some strategy involved in posting the perfect photo dump. Sometimes it takes a lot of care to look like you don’t care. Here’s everything you need to know.
Don’t be grumpy. Post a dump.
What is a photodump?
An Instagram photo dump is a collection of images and videos randomly put together in a single carousel post. Unlike the classic carousel of carefully curated content (like this Met Gala post by Kylie Jenner), a photo post should look uncurated, unedited, and unpublished.
Photodumps often contain a mixture of “good”photos, blurry selfies, candid shots, silly shots, and maybe a meme or two. Here is a good example of a photo post shared by Olivia Rodrigo:
Typically, such posts will contain 4 or more separate photos or videos (the more the better – this is called a dump, not a splatter).
The photo dump vaguely resembles Facebook albums at their peak in the early 2010s. This is in stark contrast to the heavily edited single photo posts that Instagram is known for. It’s a phenomenon that overrides perfection and takes the pressure off of posting (or at least that’s how it should be – no one can tell how much time you’ve actually spent curating your photo dump).
Why are photo dumps trending on Instagram?
Like many of the greatest achievements in history, the photo dump is being spearheaded by young women. Youtube star Emma Chamberlain is known for her photographs, which range from a seemingly random collection of photographs to a detailed treatment of what appears to be a painful eye infection.
Photodumps are ugly – and that’s the point. Instagram has been criticized as a medium full of people who pretend to be more accomplished and collected than they really are, which is not true. And besides being considered morally superior, authenticity is what sells. Brands want to partner with influencers who appear to be real people, not one-dimensional internet personalities.
Also, photodumps — or, more broadly, carousel posts in general — are good for scoring points in the Instagram algorithm. At Hootsuite, we found that carousel posts get 1.4 times more reach and 3.1 times more engagement than regular posts. Users spend more time viewing carousel posts, who then prioritize those posts in the eyes of the Instagram algorithm.
In other words, in addition to being a more relaxed way to post, photo dumps feel more authentic, are algorithmically supported, and increase the likelihood of brand deals.
Bella Hadid dropped grams too. Her godlike supermodel shots include blurry carousel posts of melting ice cream:
Influential celebrities with millions of followers have picked up on this trend, so it’s only natural that others will follow suit (although it’s worth noting that adults with little social media experience have been posting bad photos online for years and they never get any recognition).
Which actually raises an important question: Photodumps are designed to look put together, but creating them has become something of an art. Is there a difference between photos of Emma Chamberlain with an eye infection and photos of your aunt posting every photo on Facebook from her family vacation in 2014?
Yes, yes there is.
How to create a photo dump that people will want to flip through
So, you’re going to be somewhere between a “supermodel photo shoot”and an “aunt’s album at Disneyland.”Here’s how to do it.
Step 1. Choose the right combination of photos and videos.
Breakfast is the first and most important meal of the day, and your cover photo is the first and most important image in your photo memory.
The first photo you choose should be attractive – it should encourage the viewer to scroll through it. There are two ways to do this.
First, you can make the first image a stunning superlative image that looks like a classic polished Instagram photo. A high-quality, eye-catching photo will make your followers swipe to see the rest of your collection. If you’re Conan Gray, it could be a sullen typewriter, a cute cat, and peeled blueberries:
Method two: Make the first image something random or weird enough to intrigue. Choose something completely different from the traditional Instagram photo—something that will make serial scrollers say, “Wait a minute, what was that?”
After you choose your first photo, work hard on variety. Photodumps can include good photos, bad photos, blurry photos, candid photos, screenshots of tweets, memes you made while half asleep, old school photos, videos from concerts. Truly, the sky (er, and your camera) is the limit.
If you are a brand that publishes photo dumps as part of their marketing strategy, you will also need a lot of variety. It can be very beautiful photos of your products, as well as behind-the-scenes videos, inspiring content that will resonate with your followers, or even content created entirely by your followers.
This photo dump from Crocs consists entirely of user-generated content (user-generated content). It’s not overly polished, but exudes a super authentic vibe.
This Netflix photo dump has a less curated feel – there’s a mix of behind-the-scenes photos, Polaroids and selfies, but they’re all centered around a specific theme. The cast raises two fingers, ostensibly to show that Heartstopper has been renewed for two seasons.
Overall, photodumps are an opportunity to get a little naughty and value your content less overall. Time to embrace imperfection.
Step 2: Write an intriguing caption
As Aristotle once said, “Damn, signatures are hard.”Despite the “who cares” attitude (real or imagined), captioning a dump of photos is no easier than captioning any other post. We have a few caption ideas later in this blog post, but overall you should keep it short and silly. One or two emoji never hurt anyone.
Photo dumps are usually not accompanied by paragraphs of soulful text – this is contrary to the spirit of the dump. Take a deep breath. Enter some words. Do it.
Step 3: Schedule a photo reset
Tools like the Hootsuite scheduler can help you schedule carousel posts and suggest the best time to schedule. You’ll want to set yourself up for success by posting a photo dump at a time that is statistically proven to be the right time to post—when your followers are awake, online, and itching to double-tap.
23 photo caption ideas
As we mentioned above, captions for photo dumps aren’t all that different from Instagram captions for non-dumps (and for this post, here are 264 captions just in case).
Being concise is the key to creating a cold photo dump look. And the simpler the better—many photo dumps are only labeled with the time or place the photos were taken, a few emojis, or even swipe instructions. To inspire you, we’ll start with this:
Photo captions related to time or space
- Today
- About last night
- 2022 so far
- Return
- Vacation vibrations
- Weekend
- Vegas (or where all the photos took place)
- January (or in which month all the photos took place)
- Tuesday (or which day all photos were taken)
Photo captions with emoji
- 📷💩
- Thursday repeat🧢
- Summer ☀️
- February ✓
- Any collection of emoticons that symbolize photos
Short and cute photo captions
- Photo dump
- From film
- A few favorites
- Random photos