How to Add a Pronoun on Instagram and Why Everyone Should Follow It
You can now add your preferred pronouns on Instagram, and I highly recommend that you do so even if you feel like you really don’t need to. The more people do this, the more we can normalize this behavior and make the process of exchanging and adopting pronouns better for everyone.
The University of North Carolina Wilmington notes :
The normalization of pronouns and the use of correct pronouns leads to the acceptance and destigmatization of people who “deviate” from traditionally used pronouns or pronouns that do not match their appearance or gender. Similarly, it removes the assumption that pronouns are only used by transgender people.
By specifying pronouns, the need to explain a person’s correct pronouns is eliminated, as well as the idea that a person’s pronouns can be inferred based on their appearance or name. When allies of the LGBTQIA + community take part in this practice, they signal to queer people that they are allies and also open up dialogue for the queer individual to share their identity.
It only takes one minute to set this up on Instagram, with one small caveat: you can’t do it through the Instagram website right now, a fact I eventually figured out after stumbling across different screens and not finding the option that all mine friends were talking about.
To add pronouns to your Instagram profile, simply launch the app on your iOS or Android device and tap your profile icon in the bottom right corner. Click on the Edit Profile link and you will see a new field for your pronouns. Tap it and you can choose up to four pronouns to use on your profile from a pre-populated list:
As you can see, you can also restrict this field to your subscribers only if you want a little more privacy.
Since you have to choose pronouns from a prepared list, you may not see your specific pronouns. If so, you just need to add them to your regular bio (as you did before). However, you can tell Instagram which words you prefer to use and they can add them in the future.
If you don’t see a variant of pronouns on your Instagram profile, this feature may not have been implemented for you yet. (It is currently being tested in several countries .) Wait until you add them to your regular bio and look for an official one in the near future. Perhaps by then we will be able to see all the pronouns in the web version of Instagram.