“Instagram needs a photo or video”

Munshi checks each version of a post against its network's rules before anything is sent. On Instagram, a feed post, a Reel and a Story all need something to show. A post with no media is held back.

• In the composer, the Instagram tab shows a mark. The line above the buttons reads Instagram: Instagram needs a photo or video. with Fix in tab beside it. Nothing is scheduled until you fix it.
• A draft sent or scheduled from Social gets the same check. Munshi refuses it with “Instagram needs a photo or video. Add media to the draft first.” and marks the card Failed.

• Open the post. For a failed draft, click Edit draft on its card in Social.
• Add a photo or a video in the All platforms tab. It goes to every network on the post.
• To keep the other networks text-only, add it in the Instagram tab instead. Media added in a network's own tab goes to that network alone.
• You can also take Instagram off the post: click it in the network row. The other networks can still go out.
• Schedule or post again.

• Instagram and Pinterest need a photo or a video. For Pinterest, the composer says: “Pinterest needs a photo or video.” A draft sent from Social is refused with: “Pinterest needs an image or a video. Add media to the draft.”
• TikTok and YouTube need a video. With nothing attached, you see: “TikTok needs a video.” With a picture, you see: “TikTok needs a video, not an image.” YouTube's messages read the same with its own name. A Short says “A Short on YouTube needs a video.”
• A Reel is always a video: “A reel on Instagram needs a video.”
• LinkedIn, Facebook, Threads and Bluesky take text on its own.

This is why the composer first asks what you are making. It never offers a Text post to Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok or YouTube. It never offers an Image post to TikTok or YouTube.