What your Instagram photos say about you, according to Harvard psychologists

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Your Instagram photos might reveal much more about you than what you had for breakfast or who your #mancrushmonday is, new research suggests.

Whether you like it or not, Instagram has become an integral part of our generation’s lives and, be it a picture of a cute puppy, your partner or a duck-faced selfie, what we post pictures of says a lot.

In fact, according to scientific and psychological analysis from Harvard psychologists, your images can reveal if you’re popular, conscientious or even depressed, Sheerluxe reports.

So, what do you social media posts say about you?

If you’re the kind of person that shares snaps of your other half then, far from being publicly affectionate, you could in fact be insecure about your relationship.

Relationship experts have suggested that people who post gushing images might be doing so to mask problems, while using captions like "my girl" or "bae" can also be signs of possessiveness.

Alternatively, if you post selfies in which you’re dressed to impress then you’re more likely to be self-disciplined and enjoy orderliness. Researchers also notes that these type of people are more likely to appear older than they actually are as they tend to post about more "mature activities."

Another type of photo that’s significantly telling is the #gymselfie. The study revealed that those who place great emphasis on fitness progress and physical appearance on social media are in fact narcissists.

Aside from the images themselves, experts also found that the type of filter used can be telling. It found that, while those who use warm filters like Valencia tend to be more popular than their peers, people who use Inkwell or black and white filters could be depressed.

Researchers at Harvard University recently had a higher success rate than doctors at diagnosing depression just by looking at patients’ Instagrams.

Depressed people in the study posted photos that were bluer, darker and greyer than their healthy peers.